Faerie

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Karina stood motionless, watching us collect our satchels and attach our weapons to our bodies. The dagger Mac had given me slotted neatly into the belt that Karina had given to me, it fit perfectly around my waist.

"You're not coming with us?" I asked. I knew the answer already.

She smiled and shook her head. "This is your fate to take. I will only slow you down and besides someone has to keep giving excuses to the museum as to why you have disappeared off the face of the planet." She smiled.

I had forgotten about that. It never crossed my mind that work would wonder where I had gone.

"How long have I been gone?" I asked, curiously.

"Six months have passed in the human world. I told them you had family problems to sort out." She grinned. "They completely understand." She said with a wink.

I knew she must have used glamour. I couldn't imagine any employer allowing that much time off of someone for that reason. It was still a shock that six months had passed when i had only been here a couple of weeks, it seemed.

I smiled. "Thank you."

She nodded.

Karina seemed unearthly quiet compared to the previous night. It was as if she could see into the future and know what would happen. It looked bad, nonetheless. She handed me a leather pouch filled with some kind of herbs and a lotion. She explained that the Manticore poison would still be in my system for a few days. I had to mix the lotion and herbs together and drink it, in order to starve of the poison. I watched her quietly explaining what to do, it seemed like she hadn't come across this sort of thing before. She looked up at me then with knowing eyes, hoping that whatever she had just given me would work.

"Look after her Mac." She said, with bright eyes.

"Of course." He muttered, shifting a steady gaze towards me.

They knew something I didn't.

We began our journey towards The Unseelie Court at a slow pace. Mac had warned it was dangerous once we left the borders of The Seelie Court. We trod down dusty pathways and through deserted villages. Everyone in a while I would glance at Mac and he looked worried as the closer we got the more unpopulated areas seemed to pop up. Sometimes the path was over grown with vines and grass and we had to keep our eyes up ahead, in fear that the path would snake off and get us lost.

I noticed a group of hobby lanterns fluttering close by, they had been following us for some time. I wondered if they had hoped to lead us astray as we trudged slowly down the hidden path. I edged closer to Mac.

Dusk came down quickly as we made our way towards the border. We slowly walked downhill and up again, until at last we saw lights twinkling some distance ahead.

Before us rose a flat plain barring the way, a mass of dim-lights and small fires against the misty stars; and under it nestled a large city. We stopped and stood staring at the strange sight.