Half-Faye

Chapter 16

The waiting was torturous. Ever since they dragged Ridel away my breath would get caught in my chest and I felt as though tears were trying to force their way out of the corners of my eyes. I had no idea where they had taken him as all I could see was the campsite in front of me.

As the hours wore on I became my alert to sounds around me. Night had settled around me and every shadow seemed to dance as if they were alive with creatures. It was hard not to feel afraid when I no longer had Ridel by my side. I bit my lip impatiently. How long was I going to have to wait?

At last I heard a rustle from behind me and an assortment of faye stumbled into the clearing. In the darkness I could make out two trolls which stopped at the edge and took up guard, there were also a few faeries who each collapsed into tents. Walking with heads held high came forward the three elves. The tallest and most menacing wearing an intricate mask. His companions, a female and male elf, broke off from the other elf whom I assumed was their leader and sat around the fire pit.

The masked elf stopped a few feet from my tree and stared right at me. I wanted to shout at him, tell him to bring back Ridel, but the words never came.

He took me in with a steely glint in his eye.

“Bailn dhair raisr du na,” he whispered and then I felt the ropes binding me to the tree release and a sense of relief spread through me.

I had no idea what was going on but I doubted he was releasing me.

“Do not try to run away or you will inflict intense pain upon yourself,” He directed at me before sweeping away into the darkness.

I was not going to try challenge his words however the new sense of freedom was going to test my limits.

I drifted over to the fire, asking its warmth to fill me up. I had been so cold and so uncomfortable tied to that tree. My wings ached in a gentle continuous buzz that was slowly ebbing away. I wouldn’t have been able to fly on them even if I wanted to.

The two elves looked up at me, their conversation stopping abruptly. She said something to me which I didn’t understand before turning to the male elf beside her and whispering something in an undertone. She stood up, showing off her true height and marched towards me grabbing my arm in a talon like grip. I didn’t protest as I was shoved into a tent and then told in my tongue to go to sleep.

I moved into the centre of the tent under the canvas roof and drew my arms around my knees. Steady tears poured from my eyes. This was all so foreign for me and I just wanted to go home.

Somehow I ended up falling asleep on the thin mattress on the floor, my crushed wings above me.

What could have only been a few hours later I awoke as the camp erupted into life. I scrambled out of the tent to see Ridel standing in the middle of the clearing, his arms raised above his head as the faeries and trolls pointed their weapons towards him. He now had a massive gash across his check and one of his arms looked very disfigured. Ignoring the group I rushed towards him and flung my arms around his neck.

He was just as surprised to see me as I was him.

“You are still alive,” he said weakly.

“So are you,” I replied into his shoulder.

He slowly lowered his arms in the pre-dawn light and I released my grip from around him and stood by his side. We weren’t going to be separated again.

The masked elf suddenly broke through the circle.

“What news do you bring boy?” he said maliciously.

“They no longer have the stone,” it looked like for a moment the whole camp was going to be in uproar but he managed to finish, “They’ve told me that it is in the mortal world.”

The female elf looked at the masked leader, “Lord Verrann how are we supposed to get it back?”

Verrann, the elf, paused for a moment before sweeping forward and pulling me out of Ridel’s grip, “the girl will retrieve the stone or she can forget about seeing her friend here again.”

I shivered at the sound of his voice and my stomach dropped. I swallowed hard, I had no idea what they wanted but I had no choice but other than to retrieve it for this Lord Verrann. I didn’t want to even have to think about losing Ridel.

Ridel was frowning and looked like he was ready to shout but something was holding his mouth shut.

Verrann then began to talk directly to me, “I shall remove the binding charm from you now but be aware there will be consequences if you fail to return. I’ll just say your father might get into a spot of trouble with some trolls again.”

If I was afraid before it was nothing compared to how I felt now. The whole reason for me leaving for Avalon was to protect my father from the faye and keep our worlds apart.

“What do you need me to get?” I asked.

Verrann must have been smiling behind his mask when he replied, “All I want is one little stone. It is black and as I can recall strung on a chain.”

“That’s it?” I spluttered.

 All he wanted was some necklace, and then I frowned how many necklaces of black stone could there be in the whole wide world? How was I supposed to find it if I didn’t know what it looked like? But then again if Verrann thought that the royal family must have had it then maybe they did, they just moved it to the mortal world for safe-keeping.

And then it struck me. It had been under my nose all along. When I had discovered my mother’s letter in her scrap book I had completely disregarded the necklace that had fallen out. That must have been it. My eyes shone with understanding.

“Okay, I’ll go get it for you,” I said in a monotone, then another problem occurred to me, “What about my wings.”

“Oh, I can fix that for you,” Verrann muttered something and then the buzzing sensation of my broken wings disappeared and I was shocked to find that they were completely gone, “My little reward to you once you bring back the stone.”

I swallowed hard. He had taken away my wings. I sudden blissful thought occurred to me. I could now go back home and live my old life again. I no longer had my wings to hinder me. A shadow of doubt lingered at the back of my mind however. I would have to leave Ridel behind, and my father wasn’t safe yet.

“Deal.”

Verran gently pushed me away from him and then I found myself in a mass of swirling colours, sights, and sounds. I closed my eyes as my stomach churned and opened them once the ground felt solid again. I looked up at the portal and gave a deep breath. Everyone was counting on me.

Brushing myself off I stepped through the portal, back into the place which I thought I never would return, home.