"Me?"
We started to circle around, Lucy sticking to my back.
"You"re the one who went all trance-like and danced us into the leprechaun lands."
I felt Lucy"s shoulders shake as small chuckles escaped her. "Pixie, Abbs, this is pixie land."
"Our energy called you through the portal." The voice was closer this time. His words were a question and a statement.
We halted our dizzying steps as a figure stepped out of thin air. Actually that wasn"t quite right, it was almost as if a small split had formed in the air and he"d moved through the gap. He stood before us and I reached out and gripped Lucy"s hand as we stared. And stared. And then stared some more.
The man stared back at us. He was small, probably around Lucy"s height, and slender. His chest was bare, with a belt made of leaves strapped across his hips and down to mid-thigh. His hair was bright green, the color of new leaves as they first emerged in spring. His eyes were a kaleidoscope of pinks and purples, and he most definitely had "Pointed ears," Lucy huffed. "Are you s.h.i.+tting me? He"s right out of a faerie tale."
He took a step closer to us, his freaky eyes flas.h.i.+ng his distrust. In his left hand was a short-bladed double-edged sword. How had I missed his weapon? The beauty of his eyes was a big distraction.
"Who are you?"
The pixie spoke with no accent at all. Which was weird, right? Almost as if his English was so generic it would slot into any society. So very bland, almost unforgettable, and yet I knew I"d never forget the strange monotonous nature of it. When he moved closer I noticed his skin was green. The same tone as his hair but a thousand shades lighter, almost like a green ivory. He face looked ancient, and it was not exactly like a human"s: his eyes were too large, nose too tiny, and lips disproportioned. But still there was something enchanting about him.
"My name is Lucy," she said, stepping forward, "I"ve had visions of this land and I believe that I"m half pixie."
His flower eyes locked on to her. "Impossible, we"ve had no young born since the queen"s..." He trailed off as he stared, which went on for many minutes. He never blinked or moved once.
I"d have thought he was a statue, but I could still heard his weird rhythmic heartbeat.
After many minutes of this awkwardness, Lucy looked over her shoulder at me. I shrugged having no idea what was happening. I didn"t exactly have a manual of pixie behavior. Finally he seemed to pull himself together and straightened.
"Follow me," he said as he turned. "Do not delay; the pixie lands are fraught with danger. You"re lucky I happened to be patrolling close to the portal today."
As he started to move, I thought he was gliding over the short stalks of vibrant gra.s.s, in the same way Lucy had hovered on Regali. But then I realized I was wrong; he was not gliding, he was flying ... because he had freaking wings. Emerging from joins in his shoulder blades, the large wings spanned most of his back and down his thighs. They were translucent in nature, but with s.h.i.+mmers of color shooting up each of the pointed tips.
I nudged Lucy, before realizing she"d definitely noticed his appendage. Her jaw was about on the floor and filling with gra.s.s as she dragged it along. With a shake of our heads, we both managed to pull it together. He was already moving rapidly away so we hastened to keep up with him.
This continued as we traveled up and down miles of diminutive hills. The landscape gradually changed the further we moved from the portal. Looking behind us, I was worried about the lack of distinctive landscapes. I feared we"d struggle to find that portal again. And would I be able to trace with the pixie land doing strange things to my energy?
"Where are you taking us?" Lucy"s impatience spilled over.
We were striding toward flatter lands with small pockets of forests. And beyond this was a blue lake, its sparkling s.h.i.+ne illuminating all of the landscape that surrounded it.
The pixie replied, "I"m taking you to our queen, for your own safety. She will hear your words." At my huff of breath he continued. "There"s no going back through the portal, and you would not survive one night out in our land."
"How is he doing that?" I asked Lucy. It sounded as if he was standing right next to me, his speech was that clear. And yet he was pretty far in front of us. "This place is freaking me out," I muttered. "Everything is too perfect."
"What do you mean?" Her brows arched as she swung her head in my direction. "It"s lovely."
I wasn"t kidding when I said that everything there was perfect. Each strand of gra.s.s s.h.i.+mmered green with no brown patches, the sky was a royal blue, and there was not one cloud marring the color. If I had to guess, I"d say there was so much energy in that place that it had infiltrated the land, turning it into something that was no longer natural. It was the most luscious environment I"d ever seen, but I didn"t enjoy the sensation of being there.
I pulled my gaze from this unnaturalness to study Lucy. "You seem different. Is the energy affecting you?"
She shook out her curls. "I feel amazing, free and strong." And with those words she began to glide above the ground like our guide. Well, minus the wings, of course.
I was thinking as I ran to catch up with them that Lucy was starting to look different. Her blond hair s.h.i.+mmered more than usual, threaded through with new shades of gold, yellow and white. It might have even been longer and thicker as it trailed down her back. Her eyes were still very blue, but now around the pupil there were flowery shaped shoots of yellow. In short she looked even more stunning than usual. And just the tiniest bit like a pixie.
She caught my eye as I examined her.
"What?" she said, her lips straightening into a fine line.
"I don"t think there"s any doubt you"re a pixie," I replied drily.
And at that point she glanced down, gasping as she finally realized she was floating again.
"Coolest thing ever," she gushed.
d.a.m.n, where was my smarta.s.s friend? She was all ... dreamy now.
"Hey, pixie man," she trilled, like church bells or something.
"I am called Refis." His haughty voice sounded back.
"Okay, Refis. So is this flying thing normal for pixies ... uh, minus wings? Because I"ve suddenly started floating when my emotions are heightened."
He stopped, spun around and was back at our side in seconds. Lucy dropped to her feet and they stood eye to eye. "You"re gifted with the skills of our kind. But there are too many unanswered questions. We must speak with the queen." His features hardened. "I don"t like that you arrived with a Walker, and why are her marks visible?"
I almost lost it. Laughter bubbled up inside me trying to force its way free. His tone was one of disdain, and he was such a wee little fella. At this point Lucy lost some of her blissed-out expression as the mellow grin flipped into a frown.
"Abby"s my best friend, and you better watch how you talk to her." She growled a little.
He shrugged, his eyes brus.h.i.+ng over me again before he turned and walked away. Did pixies not like Walkers? Or was it just me specifically he didn"t like? Oh, well, it had been known to happen once or twice. We continued our journey, heading toward the sparkling lake.
And then, as we crossed into a cooler shaded section, a rumbling sound started around us. Great, what was coming at us now?
"Cease." Refis" voice rang out in command.
I studied our surroundings, before resting my gaze on the surly pixie again. As with Refis" appearance, what one saw in pixie land wasn"t always what was there. Which I did not like.
"You must step aside, I need to enter at once." Refis was still talking to the invisible growler.
And Lucy and I were still pretending we knew what was happening, hands on hips and expressions calm. We were rocking our, I"m-a-bada.s.s vibe. I almost had myself convinced that nothing could shock me, when from the shadows stepped out one of the scariest freaking things I"d ever seen.
It was shaped like a dog ... or maybe a wolf ... s.h.i.+t, no it was something even scarier but definitely in the canine family. Wait, what the h.e.l.l was I doing trying to cla.s.sify it? The important point I was missing was the fact it had two heads. Two ma.s.sive, growling, drooling, filled-with-razor-sharp teeth heads.
Dragging my eyes from those heads, I studied the rest of him ... yep, he was definitely a male. Built like a black bear, he was huge with four powerful legs, the muscled sinew visible under his short and s.h.i.+ny black fur. The paws were tipped with lethal looking claws. Moving my gaze upwards, I met two pairs of dark eyes and they were studying me. I paused. There was something familiar about what I was seeing. But there was no way I"d forget meeting a two-headed beast. Wait a minute...
"d.a.m.n, it"s like that dog from Greek mythology." Lucy clicked on at the same time as me. "The one who guarded the gates of h.e.l.l."
"Cerberus," I murmured, having always enjoyed mythology, but never truly believing in G.o.ds until the Walkers. "But he had three heads."
"Incorrect, Cerberus always had two heads," said Refis. "He"s not one of us but was captured when we were trapped in here. He is fond of Malisna, our queen."
I raised my brows so high I swear I could feel them hitting my hairline. "Are you saying this is the actual underworld creature that was legend on Earth?"
Refis was giving me that "are-you-deaf-or-stupid look" but still answered. "Yes, stories say that Walkers took him to Earth long ago. Some of the pixies tagged along on the adventures. We were a mischievous creatures and didn"t follow rule or order very well."
Cerberus continued to growl and drool, his double heads, which were joined at the base of his necks, seemed to be mostly focused on me.
"I wonder why the stories gave him three heads?" Lucy said.
The growls increased then, which had her taking a step back.
"Oh, you know humans, two heads probably wasn"t scary enough," I said as I rubbed my hands up and down my jacket.
"Oh, yeah, of course, nothing"s ever enough for humans." Lucy snorted.
I gripped my coat hem in an attempt to stop myself lurching forward. Unlike Lucy and Refis who were retreating I was getting a strong urge to move closer. And since I wasn"t currently entertaining any suicidal thoughts, I had no idea what was happening. My energy surged and rolled inside me, pus.h.i.+ng me forward. And before I could stop myself, my feet were moving.
"Abby," Lucy screamed, "what the effing h.e.l.l are you doing?"
Refis captured my wrist, stilling my movements. His smaller hand was quite green against my ivory skin.
"I can"t protect you from Cerberus. He does not follow any command but his own," he said.
Turning away from the pixie, I faced the hound again; I had the strangest feeling about him. I shook off Refis, striding forward until I was under the animal. The top of my head did not even reach the underside of his heads. My heart rate increased, but I wasn"t really afraid. Acting on simple gut instinct, I sent my energy toward him, keeping it calm and friendly. And from Cerberus" depths a reciprocating power mingled with mine.
Letting out a mournful howl, he dropped down at my feet, laying both of his huge skulls before my shoes. I pressed my hands to my cheeks as spontaneous laughter fell from my lips.
"Walkers," I gasped. "Cerberus is born of Walker energy."
Four dark brown eyes were watching me and I could feel his loneliness; he"d been missing his own kind. Reaching out hesitating for only a second I placed a hand on both heads. The ominous rumble slowly morphed into a gentle purr.
"Well, I"ll be d.a.m.ned," Lucy said. "Abby"s the demon dog slayer."
Refis snorted but didn"t drop his little sword. Had he been prepared to jump in to defend me, despite his previous words? Then I noticed where his focus was. All on Lucy. Yep, on second thoughts, he wasn"t worried about me at all, he"d been protecting her. Interesting.
"I know men fall at your feet, Abbs, but this is a little ... extra, don"t you think?" Lucy moved, as if to approach me, but Refis blocked her path. "What ya doing, green man?" she said, her hands on her hips.
"It"s not safe, you must be protected, Lucy."
He stood like a warrior, despite the fact Cerberus could cut him in two with one well-placed swipe of those ma.s.sive claws. I lifted my hands from where they had been scratching Cerberus behind the ears and moved to lend my support to Lucy, but I"d only taken two steps when the distinct scent and feel of hot doggy breath washed over me; I was not alone. Lifting my head and looking back over my shoulder, I was rewarded with a lick up the side of my face from Cerberus" right head.
I laughed; I had always wanted a dog.
"He"s claimed you," Refis said, his tone disgruntled. His flower eyes were narrowed on me, as if he was trying to determine my inner secrets. "The queen will find this both a joyful and frustrating visit from you outsiders."
"Why has Cere never left?" I hoped he liked nicknames. A second lick indicated he was a fan.
"No one ever leaves the pixie realms," Refis said brusquely.
My chest clenched at his words. Lucy s.h.i.+fted her newly transformed blue-and-yellow flower eyes to me, and I could read the panic there. Her face was pale and her lips trembled as she looked around agitatedly. Refis clearly knew about Walkers, which probably meant the doorways wouldn"t be accessible, but my tracing power was ancient. I had to hope it would trump whatever energies were working here.
"What happens to the other First Worlders who"ve stumble in here?" I asked.
Refis shrugged. His pet.i.te but lithely muscled body moved gracefully like a dancer. "No concern of the pixies. Most were killed by the magicks in our land. A few who were saved in time serve our queen."
I clenched my fists at my sides. Uncaring little a.s.shat. Pixies were as arrogant as Walkers, but I doubted they had the same power to back it up.
"If you tell your pet to heel, we must move forward." Refis pointed toward the lake and the path that led around the side. "That"s the way to the castle."
"He"s not a pet," I growled, liking the pixie less and less. "Cere, we need to find the queen, can you lead us?" I took away some of Refis" power over us.
Cerberus" dark eyes seemed to brighten. I detected a real twinkle there. His huge body was more agile than I"d expected as he turned and led us along the path. As we followed along, my eyes widened when his ma.s.sive bulk started to shrink. Within a few minutes he was the size of a medium horse, his heads now level with my own.
"Um, did he just get smaller?" Lucy croaked.
I nodded, and at the same time Refis spoke. "Cerberus can change his size, a very useful skill in battle."
Useful indeed.
As we walked, the lake finally came into focus and I realized there were beings everywhere. Swimming, lazing and playing around the huge stretch of sparkling blue water. The majority bore a vast resemblance to Refis definitely pixies both male and female. All of the pixies seemed to have Refis" pale green skin.
The females were small, standing only around four feet tall, and all of them had sweeping hair in varying colors that reached their ankles. It was the same with their eyes. Many shades of flowered two- or three-colored eyes were turned in our direction as we walked past. Their laughter and play died off as we became the focus.
"Finally a world where I"m tall." Lucy waggled her brows up and down at me.
I grinned briefly before my gaze was drawn back to the lake.
The confidence of their stance told me that pixies ruled this land, but there were other creatures here also. A tiny fluff-ball, which looked like a rabbit-hamster; a small breed of horse or donkey; and a few others which I didn"t get a good look at. Mainly because the moment they saw Cerberus they scampered for the hills.
Both of his doggy heads looked a tad pleased as he marched along, tongues lolling from the sides of his mouths. When I"d first looked into his large, dark eyes, I"d seen a trapped sadness, but already he seemed to be happier. He was so scary to look at that most wouldn"t have seen past the double heads, ma.s.sive sharp teeth and monstrous body, to the pain beneath. But the intermingling of our energy had told me how intelligent and powerful he was. And I was pretty sure I was already in love with his huge, hairy b.u.t.t.
"Stick to the path; don"t drink from the lake," Refis ordered as we skimmed the body of water.
Thousands of eyes continued to follow our path, giving me that p.r.i.c.kly feeling on the back of my neck.
"This is similar to the land of fey and strangers should not partake of the food and water."
"Fey?" Lucy said, jerking her head back to find his eyes. "As in faerie?"
Refis looked confused as he scratched his chin in a jagged manner. "There are many creatures that fall under the t.i.tle of "fey". Faeries and pixie are fey; we separated from their land almost twenty years ago."
"Where is the land of fey?" I said, my lips slightly parted.
Refis bared his teeth at me. I was starting to think that was his version of a smile. "Most of the fey are in the emerald isles, a realm close to the Emperor"s castle."
I wondered if Lucas knew that. Something told me he wouldn"t like them so close.
I was really interested in hearing these stories. I wanted to know why First World"s inhabitants featured so heavily in the folklore and myths of Earth. Had they all somehow visited Earth over the last few thousand years or had Walkers spread the stories? And if pixies and faeries and all of the rest had visited Earth, how did they get there? Did they know a Walker and use the doorways? Or were there other powers to travel between the worlds? Similar to the way the pixies lived in this dimension of First World.
Our conversation died off as we rounded the far left side of the lake. Refis came to an abrupt halt before pulling out his sword and starting to perform a complicated cutting motion in the air. Lucy and I stopped close by, outside of slas.h.i.+ng range, watching and waiting; I had no idea what pixie man was doing. Cerberus sat on his haunches next to me.