When we landed, the air was warm and sticky and my hair immediately stuck to my neck. It had been night when we left the sparkling city of Feloix Felaii, but here it was mid morning; the sun was a sultry white orb in the sky and a lazy seagull flapped its way across the pale blue sky. Exotic trees sprung up beside us; there were tall, waving fronds that towered over our heads, and thickets of bamboo and banana trees crowding around us. I turned to look at Apollo, the sweet, pungent smell of the trees pressing down on me, and found him looking around as well.
"Where are we?" I asked him forlornly. Our hands were still linked; it was Edilara who had used her Vita water to send us on our way. I could still see her lovely face in my mind, serious and unquestioning, as if she knew something was very wrong and wasn't about to get in our way.
"We're a couple miles outside of Ningde, a small town in China." Apollo told me softly, drawing the hood of his cloak up even though the trees' wide leaves easily shaded us. His eyes were still searching the foliage, as if he was waiting for something to emerge. "A very good friend of mine lives here, away from prying eyes."
"Is he a fugitive?" I asked curiously.
Apollo's laughter was suddenly mingled with the deep, sonorous sound of someone else's laughter. I stared in surprise; where there had been only a crooked banana tree looking forlornly down at the overripe fruit it had dropped, there was now a very old faerie staring in amusement back at me.
The only reason I could tell his age was because of the thin, spidery lines criss-crossing his luminously pale skin. His hands were the gnarled trunks of pale old trees, and his soft white hair cascaded down his back in a long braid. His wings were as delicate and beautiful as all the other faeries I'd seen, however they looked dusty and frail, like an aged spider web. He wore a simple pale robe that barely brushed the ground. And his eyes! They were a bright, energetic blue that almost seemed electric; they spoke of immense wisdom and experience, and they twinkled kindly.
"I suppose that is what I am, my dear." His voice was deep and soothing, like a lullaby. "It's best you accompany me inside before the authorities catch wind of a crook like me."
I blushed deeply, but Apollo beamed at the faerie and tugged me along as he approached him.
"Gantris, old friend." Apollo's voice was warm, and his bright green eyes sparkled like the faerie's. "It's so good to see you. This here is Lilah, my love."
I blushed even harder at Apollo's affectionate introduction. He'd been calling me that for months to his friends, but I doubted I'd ever get used to it.
Gantris took my hands in his, and I marvelled at how soft and silky his skin was. His bright blue eyes peered into my own, and I had the curious feeling he was peeking into my soul.
"Lilah." He whispered, a smile tugging at his lips."What a lovely name."
"Hello." I said shyly. This was a man I would love to have as my grandfather.
He smiled and held my hands for a moment more before abruptly turning away, waving at us to follow him through the thicket. "Come along now, it's no good for an old man like me to be standing in this heat."
Apollo chuckled in my ear as we followed. "Quite a jokester, that Gantris. He's probably five times stronger than me and can withstand this 'heat' easily."
"And he also has exquisite hearing." Gantris called back, and Apollo laughed again.
Gantris led us into a small circular clearing with tall thickets of bamboo surrounding it. A simple stone cottage had been constructed there, but it looked strangely out of place in the exotic surroundings. There was a basket of geraniums hanging from the window, and I was pretty sure those didn't grow here. A thin spiral of white smoke curled lazily into the air from a chimney on the sloped roof. The wonderful smell of coffee drifted back to me.
Inside, it was as simple as the exterior. There was a bare minimum of wooden furniture, and light blue rugs covered large parts of the stone floor. A huge fireplace took up one wall, and a doorway to the right led to a small, homely kitchen.
"Make yourselves at home, I'll just fetch the coffee. It's as if my old bones sensed you were coming." Gantris disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Apollo and me to look around.
I wound a lock of my red hair around my finger as I looked around. Being in other people's homes always made me awkward, and the level of my discomfort seemed to skyrocket here, in this beautiful faerie's home. Apollo plonked down on a wooden chair, but I drifted to the wall, where several pretty water colour paintings hung. I had a feeling that Gantris had painted them himself; there were paintings of wildflowers and watery sunsets, and my eyes were drawn to a portrait of a nice faerie family.
The father in the picture was obviously Gantris, except a far younger version of him. I was pleased to notice that his hair was once red, like mine. The beautiful dark haired faerie beside him was obviously his wife; she had soft eyes and a shy smile, and she was absolutely gorgeous. Standing in front of the beaming couple was a small, red haired girl who looked about six; she shared her father's bright blue eyes, except unlike her parents, her face was strikingly sombre. I leaned forward to inspect her a little more. She looked like she had wise eyes, wiser beyond her years.
"Her name was Lily."
I turned to find Gantris sitting beside Apollo, the two of them watching me. I hadn't even heard him re-enter. Three steaming cups of coffee were sitting on the stout coffee table, and Gantris' face looked strangely weary as my eyes met his.
"My wife Heitka and I wanted a simple name for her." His voice was quiet. Beside him, Apollo looked strangely cautious as he looked back at the faerie.
I looked back at the little girl - Lily - and her wise eyes suddenly filled me with dread. Her father had used the past tense when he'd spoken of her.
Apollo cleared his throat, and I abruptly turned away from the painting and dropped into the chair on his other side. I couldn't meet Gantris' searching gaze, so I picked up my coffee.
"So," Apollo's voice was nonchalant, casually moving the conversation away from Lily, "I presume you know why I'm here?"
Gantris looked evenly back at Apollo. "I assumed it was because you longed to see my attractive face."
I stifled a laugh, and Gantris winked at me. He was obviously keen to move the conversation as well.
Apollo smiled and took a sip from his mug. "Well, that's one of the reasons. However, have you heard of the mass slaughters happening in Saii?"
"I have." Gantis nodded.
"Why were you not at the meetings?" Apollo asked boldly. "I'm sure you were invited."
Gantris' responding snort surprised me, and the voice he spoke with was hard and bitter. "I'm sure as well, Apollo, but I chose this place to live for a reason. Even if those treacherous fools scoured every inch of the earth, they would not find me unless I wanted them to."
"I see." Apollo's voice was quiet.
After a few moments where Gantris waited fruitlessly for him to go on, he spoke again."What have they decided to do at the meetings?"
"That's the thing," Apollo set down his mug, "they didn't."
"Pardon me?"
"Do you know of a faerie named Neroii? He was married to the daughter of Banye."
"I know of Banye, not his daughter." Gantris' brows were beginning to come together in a frown.
"He lost his entire family in the slaughtering." Apollo was watching the faerie closely. "Halfway through the meeting, he became agitated. He ended up taking off back to Saii; he's going to tell them the council decided on non action. He wants a war, Gantris."
The silence seemed to ring in the wake of Apollo's heavy words. Gantris was very still, and his eyes were locked with Apollo's. I looked at the two men curiously; although no words were spoken, the conversation still seemed to be going.
"No." Gantris said suddenly and stonily.
"Gantris, they'll listen to you, you are the strongest figure in their history! If you would only speak to them - "
"I will not!" Gantris roared, and he was suddenly on his feet.
Outside, there were the sounds of shrieking and cawing as various creatures reared up in alarm at his outburst. Inside, the room seemed to vibrate in the hold of the raw energy and power radiating from Gantris. His eyes seemed to have gotten brighter, and his face had twisted in rage as he looked down at Apollo. To my amazement, he still sat calmly as he watched the faerie.
"Do not ask me to return to that multitude of scum." Gantris thundered. "I was their loyal king for centuries; I brought glory and prosperity and peace to thousands of wrens. I was always there for them! Always!"
His wings vibrated imperceptibly, and he was suddenly in front of the portrait of his family. "Never once did I realize how greedy and murderous my people truly were. Their single minded mutiny was bloody and devastating, Apollo, you know nothing of what I went through! They beat me and threw me into the ocean, sure that the water would weigh down my wings and drown me. They nearly succeeded! When I managed to drag myself from the water, I find to my horror that they had stabbed my lovely Heitka and Lily and tossed them into the flames."
He slammed a fist into the stone wall, and a crack slithered up the masonry and a few paintings fell from their hooks. Piteous cracks rendered into the humming air as their frames splintered.
"And then, when they realized their hasty actions were faulty, they came to me and begged me to retake the throne." Gantris looked between Apollo and me, his face still thunderous. "They had the audacity to come back on their knees, the blood of my family still on their hands! I turned on them immediately and fled. I wanted nothing to do with a kingdom that had such bloody intentions in their hearts."
He turned, and his fingers traced the faces of his wife and daughter tenderly. The movement broke my heart.
"I know all of this, old friend." Apollo's voice was gentle as always, and his eyes radiated the empathy he felt for the faerie. "I was the one who found you, remember? I wiped your daughter's blood from your brow."
"I remember Apollo, and I am thankful." His back was still turned, and his voice was suddenly soft and exhausted.
There was a long silence after he spoke. I stared into the dark depths of my coffee, but I had lost any desire to drink it. The air was still humming, even though Gantris' rage had abated.
"Don't make me return, Apollo." Gantris turned, and his face seemed to have aged decades in two minutes. "I don't think I can bear it."
"I understand." Apollo nodded."I'm so sorry I awakened such horrendous memories."
Gantris sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Forgive me for my rudeness, Apollo, but I must ask you to leave."
Apollo was on his feet. "There's nothing to forgive, Gantris. Lilah and I will be on our way."
Gantris didn't look up as Apollo walked by him, not even when he clasped his shoulder supportively. I trailed behind Apollo meekly, but as I walked by the painting I couldn't resist looking at Lily again. Her eyes hadn't changed of course, but somehow they looked sorrowful now.
I turned and looked at Gantris, who still hadn't moved.
"You're daughter looks like how I did at her age." My voice was cool. "But much, much wiser. Did she get that from you, or her mother?"
Gantris looked up at me slowly, and his eyes were pained. "From me."
"Are you sure?"
We stared at each other another moment before I turned and swept out of the cottage, where Apollo was waiting for me. He didn't say anything, but I knew his keen ears had heard my cold words. As we set off, I didn't look back.
We had been pushing through the trees and thickets for about five minutes when Apollo spoke.
"Good job." He said quietly.
i stared at him around a tree. "Excuse me?"
Apollo's eyes met mine through the drooping leaves, and he smiled."You did more work than I did in the bare ten minutes we were in his home.
I stared at him blankly. "How?"
"You'll see in the long run." He turned away. "And Gantris will as well."
I opened my mouth to form another question, but I was cut off by a terrible roar from to our left. Apollo's hand immediately found mine and his legs braced defensively as he turned toward the noise.
"What was that?" I asked fearfully, edging closer to him.
Apollo didn't answer. The sound had been unlike any sound I'd ever heard before, but it was clear it was some kind of animal. From the guttural rage behind it, it was big - and it was dangerous.
"Oh dear." Apollo said softly, his amazing hearing probably picking up something I couldn't sense. "It's a Chinese wood troll. It was probably attracted to the stirring we made by travelling here magically."
"Chinese wood troll?" I asked uneasily.
Apollo tugged on arm. "Quick, get on my back. We need to get to water if we're ever going to shake it."
I didn't reply, but I was quick to comply. I didn't want to wait around for it any more than Apollo did.
I expected him to take off running extremely fast - back home, we did this all the time - but he took off at a slower run, pausing to listen every so often.
"Why don't we go faster?" I whispered in his ear. His strong back muscles flexed beneath me as he ran again.
"It'll hear us." Apollo explained patiently, his head tilted again. His hair was still fresh and cool, even though the sticky humidity still pressed on us. "Wood trolls are good hunters, Lilah."
There was another roar, and this time it was closer. The vegetation seemed to tremble in fear at the noise, and the if the animals I'd heard earlier were alarmed at Gantris' raised voice, they were terrified at the monstrous growl. The air was rent with shrieks and high pitched calls as birds and small mammals ran for cover. I silently wished it was as easy for us to hide too.
Apollo saw it before me. He jerked his running to a stop, and I looked around wildly before I saw it.
The troll was gigantic. And when I say gigantic, I mean monstrous. It stared at me and Apollo ravenously with small, beady yellow eyes set into a round head covered with pustules and boils. If it had a neck, I couldn't see it; it's round head sat firmly upon an even rounder body - the troll's gut was swollen and rotund, and covered with multitudes of angry red scars. Two short, stubby legs with giant hairy feet supported the troll's bulk, but it was the arms that were the most alarming. They were extremely long, longer than its own body, and they ended in huge clawed hands. The razor sharp nails were black with decay and looked terrifyingly deadly. As if sensing me staring in horror at them, the troll lifted them up and roared again, revealing tiny pointed teeth set in rotting black gums.
Apollo didn't wait for it to approach us. Now that it had spotted us, there was no need to be stealthy; Apollo took off inhumanly fast, his grip tightening on my legs as he did so. Moist wind and trailing fronds whipped at my hair, and the wind filled my ears with a high pitched roar, but I could still hear the alarmingly fast and heavy footfalls of the troll as it chased after us. I risked a glance back and instantly regretted it - despite its vast size, the troll had no trouble at all keeping up with Apollo; it was knocking trees out of its way and leaving deep foot prints in the damp soil, and its eyes never left us.
"Apollo!" I shrieked in fear.
He didn't answer me, but his pace increased.
The troll let out a earth shaking growl of impatience, and when I looked back I was horrified to realize that it was even closer. My eyes locked with its bloodshot yellow ones, and as if sensing my fear its hideous mouth widened into a lopsided, terrible smile. It reached up a long, clawed arm and increased its pace; any second now, and it would be close enough to pluck me off Apollo's back -
I let out a bloodcurdling scream as the firm ground beneath me and Apollo suddenly dropped away. We were tumbling through the humid air and dry sun , and a rocky cliff wall sped past us on our descent. I caught flashes of the blue sky and sparkling green water and then suddenly we had plunged into deep green waves.
It was strikingly like my dream, except this wasn't the waterfall basin close by the house in the woods. My whole body ached from the impact, but when I opened my eyes I couldn't help but marvel at the coral far below me, and the pale, shimmering sand. A school of bright blue fish took off away from me, and my skin sparkled with the reflected light from the sunlight filtering through the water.
Sunlight!
I turned in alarm, remembering Apollo. Bubbles trailed from my nose as I twisted in the water, unable to find him. I was beginning to panic. Where was he? Had the sunlight already killed him? That last thought filled me with blinding terror.
Suddenly, a shadow drifted over me. I looked up to find Apollo's figure thrashing toward the surface, his cloak weighing him down. I felt relief rush over me, only to be replaced with worry as I noticed how desperate his movements were. I swam up after him hurriedly.
As I got closer, I realized what the problem was - the water was weighing his cloak down to the point that he couldn't keep the hood on over his head, and the heavy material was slowing him down as he made for the surface. To my horror, tiny lines were forming on his skin. The sunlight was sparkling on his glowing white skin, but it was nothing like my dream. His normally docile green eyes were open wide in panic as the cracks spread over his marble face.
Barely thinking about it, I powered ahead of him. Back before my life with Apollo, I'd been on the swim team in my high school - and I was a damn good swimmer. I belonged in the water! My head broke the surface, and I took a quick gasp of sticky air before turning so I was floating on my stomach. I spread out my limbs as wide s they could go, my hand urging Apollo to shift into the large shadow my body made on the ocean floor.
He quickly understood, and instantly moved over. Almost immediately, the lines on his face faded away. The relief on his beautiful face filled me with joy.
He came up directly underneath me and dragged up his hood. As he broke the surface of the water beside me, the sopping material stuck to his head, but kept him in its shade.
He treaded beside me, his green eyes looking deep into my blue ones. We stayed like that for a moment, treading the warm water and breathing hard, staring at each other. He broke the moment by leaning in and placing a gentle, soft kiss on my lips.
"You saved my life." He told me softly, his eyes staring at me in wonder.
"You saved mine." I whispered back as a terrible roar echoed across the waves. I looked back up toward the cliff face to find the troll standing on the edge, glaring down at us. His beady eyes must have picked up my pale face looking up at him because he roared again. The sound drifted out across the sea, and before the echoes had faded the troll had turned and disappeared into the trees.
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That's Gantris to the right! Just imagine him with blue eyes, then you're set (: