The Gypsy & The Fae (Helvinski Territory Book 1)

Chapter 11

"Now, let's start with something...tangible. History," Sandri waved her hands about.

"This house is built on top of the original compounds that paranormals in these lands used when Heaton's grandparents first came here. Over the many years, it's changed. Additions and reinventing of this place to match the times. Paranormal packs used to live together for the greater good. Now though, everyone likes a sense of privacy that we currently manifested in mansions on their own," she quirked an eyebrow at me. "Thus, this place has the many rooms and compounds still in tact that could be used. It's now converted in to a place where visiting paranormals would most likely stay. This plot of land has been ours since before George Washington fought for America's Independence."

"So how," I couldn't really say.

"How old am I?" she suggested. I nodded my head. "I'm...hm...198 years old. Heaton's 201 years old. We inherited this place after Heaton's father passed away. He chose to slumber two years after his Life Mate passed away. Gavril's the same age as you. I've had...problems, carrying him to term. My health has not been very good since I was young."

"My Ma told me. Do you wish...are you feeling well?"

"Yes! I'm thinking it has to do with spending more time with my daughter-in-law as the humans say," she smiled so happily, she seemed to glow again. I gave a hesitant smile. I felt my heart jump when she called me such. We went through more information about the establishment of the Native Speaker as someone from a local Native American tribe in touch with Nature - the original Gypsy line. The original line died out and the pack here had to look for a branch off the main maternal tree that carried these traits - which was the line I'm from. Thus, we became the Gypsy line that Helvinski Territory used for the past hundreds of years.

A servant came by with tea and crackers. Since I had coffee earlier, I didn't drink any of the tea. I definitely got hooked on the crackers. Some of them are the tingly sweetness I loved! I learned that here in Helvinski Territory, the pack of paranormal dwellers had a set origin for most of them. The Fae, witches, harpies, and crows came predominantly from Eurasia, either following the original pack leader here or desiring a new life. The Canis Lupus, vampires, goblins, etc were a mix of those from Eurasia and those already existing in this area, desiring a more stable and safe living in numbers. After the history lesson that set my mind abuzz with names and people - none standing out, Sandri took us outside and into the Fae Garden.

Grandma told me about this place. It was the one place in the entire American continent that the sprites and pixies resided peacefully and held the most purest embodiment of Nature's magic. Not just any one was allowed in here. Even now, only a handful of people have been inside. "It's so peaceful...so many colors I don't know where to look," I laughed. Sandri smiled as she sat down at an outdoor, white patio table and chair set. "Your Mother and your Grandmother have said the exact same phrase," she chuckled. I blushed and shrugged. "Like mother like daughter, like they always say."

"So. Lets try the next one. Magic. What can you do?"

"Well I can do electric...static," I said, forming a tiny ball of electricity in my right hand. I focused and it suddenly burst into tiny sparks fluttering around to the ground. "Oh lovely! Can you form barriers? Traps?" she asked. I shook my head. "No. Ma never really made me focus on learning how to use it. And I don't know any fighting stuff either."

"Oh dear," Sandri paused.

"I know. I...when I was growing up, Grandma and Mom worried about humans seeing. So the farthest I've ever gotten was just zapping. After being here and finding out that there was actually classes and I was suppose to be able to do more than zap, I've gotten to the point to be able to do these things."

"Little One, you don't need to explain anything to me." My gaze snapped up to her's. She gave me a smile, "Circumstances force us to adapt. Your circumstances living in Florida didn't allow for such a growth. However, you're here now. You don't need to catch up to anyone. You just need to work up to potential you are suppose to have." I sighed. It felt like a weight lifted off me. "Say, you called me Little One. Is this something that um...Gavril calls me that," I explained. She nodded her head and sipped some tea. "It's what Heaton calls me because I'm far more shorter in stature than him."

"Oooh! I see. So Gavril picked it up from there," I nodded my head in understanding.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I wanted to do some bodily harm the first few times after I finally found out why he called me so." I gave her the thumbs up because now that I know, it added to the list of frustration I had with Gavril right now.

"Try seeing if you can form an electric barrier. I could go into detail but...I'll leave that with Heaton. You've seen to grasp the basics already without really knowing. Heaton's into the details more than I ever will be."

Sandri brought up her hands and with just a flick, formed a shiny line of light stretching between her two open palms. "I know Heaton will bore you with the foundation things. I'll just let you try and practice this and get to feel it out. I learned better through trial and error. Try making your magic flow and connect. Once you're able to establish this link, you may possibly form it into a net...a barrier of sorts," she explained as she the line of light slowly morphed into a fish net right before my eyes. It suddenly popped out of existence, Sandri heaved a sigh and relaxed back in her seat. "The more you stretch and hold it, the more magic will be needed. It takes practice to be able to hold it up for longer periods of time. Go on, try it!" I nodded my head and held my palms out and pointed to each other. Crackling occurred but kept fizzing out as soon as I moved my palms further away from each other.

I kept working with Sandri's input. A sprite suddenly zoomed right in front of my face surprising me. I overloaded and sent a shock that tossed me backwards off my feet. "OOF!" I wheezed as the air whooshed out my lungs.

"Oh! Shelly! You all right?! Do you need help?! Terrence! TERRENCE!" Sandri yelled.

"I-I'm finnnee," I huffed. Sandri's face blocked out the sunlight as she patted my body. "Are you hurt anywhere?! Can you move?!" she fretted. I nodded my head. Another shadow blocked out the light from the other side. "My Lady, allow me to help her up." I found myself suddenly on my two feet, my head whirling. A tall guy in a suit was brushing the dirt off my clothes as I tried to find my balance. "Woah, you're strong," I blinked my eyes up at him. He stood up to his full height. I had to crane my neck back to see him. He had glowing yellow eyes and slicked back grey hair. "Hey...you look familiar..." I pondered at this and flashes of memories came to the forefront. "OH! You're that wolf! Gavril chased you around when he was little. The guy blushed but nodded his head. "This is Terrence, Shelly," Sandri said. Terrence gave a bow, "Would you like some water?" He had a smooth voice that put people at ease. I shook my head, "No I'm good. Thanks." He bowed and left. Sandri stood there looking at me with concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine. I want to continue. Just surprised by a sprite," I looked over to the side, seeing a few sprites hovering around one in the middle. I sent some images of warmth and happiness to the sprite. The little light fluttered and hopped around happily. I smiled and went back to work.

Sandri called for me to stop. I plopped back down on the bench and took a breather. Sandri sipped at her tea. "You're improving quite nicely. You don't have to worry about your control going bonkers," she said, "I can protect myself. I'm not that weak." I winced. She knew I was holding back after the last incident. "Yes Ma'me." Wind blew through the Fae garden. The little pixies and sprites were playing together and floated around like little fire flies with their glow coming in and out of focus. Watching them being happy and playing around, I felt this pang in my heart. Tears started dripping down my face until it became a torrent. Sandri stared wide-eyed at me. I was so embarrassed! "I'm-I'm sorry! I just...I don't know why," I started sobbing and wailing. Sandri quickly got up and came rushing over. "Dear, did you over use your energy? What's the matter? Are you in pain? Do you need a doctor?" I shook my head and kept crying into my hands.

"I just feel so...off...like I'm hollow inside."

"Oh Shelly," Sandri engulfed me in a warm hug. It made the water works go to full blast. I have no clue for how long it's been going on or how long she had been telling me everything will be okay. I was rung out and tired. As she patted my back, I couldn't help but fall asleep.