

### Reggie & Ryssa and the Summer Camp of Faery

By Bo Savino

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2006 by Bo Savino

License Notes.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchase for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This book is also available in print at most online retailers. If you enjoyed this book, please return to **Smashwords.com** to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support!

Dedication

Special, heartfelt thoughts go to those members of my family who have shared all my fears, angst and frustrating days of writing both by encouragement and knowing when to stay out of the way.

Thanks to all of you for being there, being you, and allowing me to be me. May you never stop believing in the Magic of Faeries!

## Table of Contents

Prologue: Something About Mary

Chapter 1: School's Out

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 3: Birthday Blues

Chapter 4: On the Road

Chapter 5: New Faery

Chapter 6: A Faery Tale

Chapter 7: The Heart of New Faery City

Chapter 8: Matchmaker

Chapter 9: Teammates

Chapter 10: Out of the Frying Pan

Chapter 11: Into the Fire

Chapter 12: Magic Theory

Chapter 13: Calling All Sprites

Chapter 14: The Black Knight

Chapter 15: Misery Loves Company

Chapter 16: Flight School

Chapter 17: Great Balls of Fire

Chapter 18: Dark Stormy Knight

Chapter 19: Twist and Shout

Chapter 20: The Hall of Futures

Chapter 21: Aurelius Cries Uncle

Chapter 22: A Whole New Game

Chapter 23: For the Birds

Chapter 24: Wilted Future

Chapter 25: The Promise of Magic

Chapter 26: Farewell to Faery

About the Author

## Prologue: Something About Mary

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Mary Rutridge was a daft old woman. At least that's what most of her co-workers thought. The employees at Silverwood Adoption Agency were all very conservative and professional, with the exception of Mary. And Mary was quite the exception.

Mary had been an employee of Silverwood Adoption Agency for as long as anyone could remember. No one was quite sure how old she was, but some actually joked that Mary had been there on the first day the Agency opened its doors. It was impossible, of course, since the Agency had been around for over one hundred and fifty years. No one had the nerve to speak to her. Other than to make occasional jokes when she wasn't around, they rarely gave much thought to her at all.

The exception to this was when a really strange adoption case was brought to the Agency. It didn't happen often, but in over one hundred and fifty years of handling the adoption details for thousands of children, it was bound to happen on occasion. When it did, Mary was the first person called to handle it. This was not only because she seemed to have an uncanny knack for resolving every oddity of any strange request that came through the Agency's doors. It was mostly because when the employees of Silverwood's Adoption Agency thought of strange, the first thing that came to mind was Mary.

So on the evening of October thirty-first, All Hallows' Eve, when all manner of strangeness abounded through the land, it came as no surprise to Mary when she received a call to Mr. Smythe's office.

"Umm...Mary?" Mr. Smythe's voice came hesitantly over the speakerphone.

"Umm...yes, Mr. Smythe?" Mary was already sliding her feet into the square-toed orange shoes with the big floppy plastic pink flowers that were under the desk where she always left them once she entered her office. She knew there was only one reason that anyone in the Agency ever summoned her.

"Do you have a moment to come into my office?"

Mary smiled. Mr. Smythe was always so polite. Asking her a question like that. He was well aware that she had no outstanding or pending cases at the moment. _Well, maybe the Murdock adoption_. She frowned, but then brightened up. _No, that should be resolved soon_. The Silverwood Adoption Agency was the focus of Mary's life. She spent long, careful hours working for the benefit of the odd cases she was handed, to insure the perfect placement for each and every one of the children assigned to her care. Mr. Smythe also worked long and late hours. She liked to think it was for all of the same reasons.

She cheerfully pushed the button to send her reply. "I'll be right there, Mr. Smythe."

Mary rolled the chair back from her desk and stood to her full height of five foot one inch, straightening the wrinkles from the baggy dress around her rather round figure. Thick, dark-framed, plastic glasses were perched on a nose that looked much like a cherry in size and shape, set in a plump, happy face. Examining her appearance in the old fashioned, stand-up dressing mirror that leaned precariously in the corner, Mary gave a little pinch to her cheeks to add color.

"Pretty as a peach," she said to the reflection in the mirror, her blue eyes twinkling with satisfaction.

A mewling response from the top of her desk drew her attention, and she smiled down at a long haired, ginger-colored cat that was almost as round as she was.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Snickers." She curtsied to the animal. Mary reached for Mr. Snickers with her short, plump fingers and pulled him to her chest, ruffling the fur on top of his head. "Come along now, Mr. Smythe is waiting. I suspect we have company."

Company was just what Mary found after she navigated her way out from behind the piles of old books, knick knacks, and other oddities of her overly stuffed and cluttered office and walked through the many hallways that made up the offices of the Silverwood Adoption Agency. She stopped short for only one conspicuous moment when she entered the reception room of Mr. Smythe's suite of offices. The breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened upon meeting the deep green eyes of the stranger sitting in the high backed chair across the desk from Mr. Smythe. From beneath the shadowed darkness of his hooded cloak, the eyes were all she could see.

For one single, brief instant, she saw the endlessness of time stretched out before her. Then the eyes retreated further into the darkness of the hood, away from Mary's view. She shook the thought away and shuffled across the office to sit in a chair as far away from the stranger as possible, barely glancing at the large, blanketed basket on the floor next to his chair.

"Mary," Mr. Smythe breathed a sigh of relief.

Mary looked at the middle-aged, well-dressed man behind the desk and smiled, but she kept a watch on the stranger out of the corner of her eye. Mr. Snickers sat with bored, feline patience on her lap while she hugged him to her chest. Even Mary wasn't sure whether she was using him as a shield or trying to protect him. She held tight, regardless, until he made a noise sounding something like a strangled growl. Mary let loose of Mr. Snickers, and the portly, ginger cat jumped from her lap.

"Um...Mary?" Mr. Smythe's hesitance was back. He looked unsure of himself at the moment, and she wasn't used to Mr. Smythe being unsure of anything. The stranger was making him nervous. She knew from experience that he really didn't have much of an imagination, being boxed into a daily world of suits and papers and rules and regulations. This case didn't fit any of the rules he was used to applying to everyday situations. Perhaps he was imagining some hideous face hiding deep in the shadows of the dark hooded cloak that Death himself might have worn, if you believed in fairy tales. And this _was_ All Hallows' Eve. Mr. Smythe shook his head. She knew that he normally wouldn't get this rattled. Then again, this was definitely not a normal situation.

Mary watched Mr. Smythe expectantly, but still hadn't spoken. She wondered if that was making Mr. Smythe nervous. She was never nervous, or at least where it showed. She was always brisk and to the point with a winsome, motherly smile. Mr. Smythe appeared hesitant in how to proceed. Mary was confident that he would do what he felt was best.

"Mary, this is Mr.—" Mr. Smythe looked to the stranger with confusion. "I'm sorry. I seem to have forgotten your name—?"

"I didn't give it," the stranger's voice came softly from within the folds of the dark hood.

Mr. Smythe stared at the man, seemingly surprised. Then he shook his head again while he stood.

"Yes, well, um...Mary? This gentleman has two children, infants— _twins_ —that need Agency placement. There are a few conditions he would like to set on the adoption—"

"Fosterage," the stranger corrected.

Mary's eyes strayed to the basket near the stranger's feet. A slight movement caught her off guard, before she turned her attention back to the flustered man behind the desk.

"Er, well, yes, fosterage." Mr. Smythe did not look at either of them. Instead, he gathered a few papers from his desk and crammed them into an already-full briefcase. He snapped the clasps on the case, leaving a few white mangled corners to stick out the sides.

"Well, Mary." He cleared his throat. "I trust that you'll attend to the details of the matter." Mr. Smythe walked around to the front of his desk, avoiding the stranger, and headed to the door. "I have, um...someplace to be and I am already, er, late. Please lock up when you are finished?" He left the question to hang in the air, cutting it off with a final snap of the door as he closed it behind him.

Mary blinked in disbelief, her eyes quite owlish in the shock that washed over her from Mr. Smythe's odd behavior. There had been previous incidents with other foster situations—that other set of twins, for instance, which had really turned Mr. Smythe's world upside down for a while, but in her opinion it shouldn't have—She snapped out of it, his words sinking in. Mr. Smythe trusted _her_ to attend to the details. She would never begin to think about letting him down in that trust. Mary straightened and stood, absently brushing down the wrinkles of her dress while moving to sit in the position behind the desk vacated by Mr. Smythe. She pulled together some papers and picked up a pen, holding it ready.

"Very well, Mr.—" Mary gave him her best pointed, questioning look, becoming quite brisk and business-like. The stranger remained silent. Mary sighed with resignation and put down her pen. She made a big show of rearranging the papers on her desk, and then pushed back the chair to stand. "Very well, then. If you choose not to answer my questions, then please take the children and leave. I'm sorry the Silverwood Adoption Agency could not be of further assistance."

"What—?"

"I thought I made myself perfectly clear. If you choose not to respond to my questions, our business together has reached a conclusion. I have a lot to attend to, so if you would be so kind as to show yourself out—"

"But—"

"Look." Mary placed the palms of her hands face down on the desk and leaned as far forward as her round frame could go. "I don't think you appreciate the way things are done around _here_. _Here_ we have rules and laws that must be followed. What I do _here_ is for the safety, protection, and well-being of the children and the families with whom they are placed. If that happens to extend to you, it is only an added bonus for your benefit, but it isn't my primary concern.

"Now, _if_ you had chosen to drop the children off on our doorstep, or any other doorstep for that matter, you might have been able to protect your anonymity." Mary took a deep breath and continued. "However, you at least show some semblance of _humanity_ ," her lips twisted on the word, "or perhaps a better phrase would be _decency_ , by choosing to make sure the children are properly taken care of."

The stranger's shoulders slumped in resignation.

"Aurelius." He pulled back the hood of the cloak. "Lord Aurelius Trenton Icewand Starborn."

The face beneath was ageless, yet elderly. A long mane of white hair surrounding aristocratic features fell into the folds of the hood where it came to rest on his shoulders. His nose was perhaps a bit sharp, and when his brows came together in consternation as they did now, it gave him a fierce appearance. Mary might even have been put off by that fierceness if the gentle tiredness of his forest green eyes didn't shine with wisdom and kindness. It was obvious, at least to her, that those qualities were a big part of who he was.

Mary was taken back for a moment but collected herself quickly. She hadn't expected that he would answer. With a nod, she pulled the chair closer to the desk and sat back down. The papers were placed again in front of her and she started to write.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Mary worked through the task of putting his name to paper. "It's not as though I were asking your True Name for the records."

"What—? Then you know—you've had dealings with Faery before."

"Mmm," Mary gave a noncommittal answer while she finished writing his name. She looked up at him. "Suffice it to say that I've had enough experience with your kind to know how to deal with you. Now, the children—?"

"Yes, of course. They are Faery as well."

Mary's smile was tight.

"I'm certain of it," iciness crept into her voice. "After all, you don't really care what happens to your Changelings, do you?"

" _Changelings?_ " Aurelius angrily sputtered. He drew stiffly to his full height in the chair. "How dare you—" He stopped, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to gain control. "Madam, that is a practice of the _Unseelie_ Court, I assure you. Furthermore—"

"Yes, yes." Her impatient tone brushed his words away. "I'm sure. But I wasn't inquiring as to the nature of the children, I was asking for their names."

"Oh—of course. My apologies."

"Accepted, but unnecessary." Mary turned her attention back to the papers. "Now—their names?"

"Reginald Aurelius Starborn and Maryssa Delzia Starborn."

The rest of the information exchange passed smoothly and without incident. When she had finished entering the last of the Agency's required information into the allotted spaces on the stack of papers in front of her, Mary put aside her pen and stood again.

"May I see the children now?"

Aurelius nodded and she came around the desk to where the tightly woven basket of stripped vines she noticed earlier lay hidden in the shadows next to his chair. Mary gave a nod of personal confirmation when she noticed Mr. Snickers lying happily at the foot of the basket, his purrs of contentment a low rumble. With surprising ease, considering her bulky form, she crouched to take a look at the two infants lying in peaceful slumber, wrapped in a soft blanket of multi-colored brilliance.

"They're beautiful." Mary took in their delicate features with a feeling of grandmotherly contentment. Mary's care for the children she worked to place was genuine. It was, in part, what made her so good at her job. She noticed marks on the twins, almost like moles, star-shaped and dark. The boy had a little star-mole just to the side of his right eye, while the girl had a matching star-mole just to the left of her tiny mouth. "They truly _are_ star born, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are." A trace of emotion made his voice slightly husky. When Mary went to reach for the basket, Aurelius gently grabbed her wrist. "There is still the matter of the conditions for their placement."

Mary met his eyes with understanding, bringing the brisk business expression back to her face. She rose and went back behind Mr. Smythe's desk. It was Aurelius who produced papers this time, a scroll that he unrolled in front of her. He snapped his fingers and a quill and inkwell appeared next to the paper, the pen poised and ready to write. Mary eyed the man from Faery with arched eyebrows, showing she wasn't impressed with his little magic display.

"Very well, then." He shrugged his shoulders. "Here are the conditions that need to be taken into consideration for placement."

"I will have some conditions as well—for the protection of the placement."

"I expected as much from you, madam." Aurelius nodded stiffly.

As he detailed his conditions and Mary countered with hers, the pen started writing of its own accord, borne by the magic guiding it to record their agreements. It paused in mid-air each time the two argued the fine points of what would be required. They continued long into the morning hours of All Hallows' Eve while the children slept, peacefully unaware of the decisions being made regarding their future.

## Chapter 1: School's Out

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The bell rang, signaling the release of hundreds of children from their forced nine months of drudgery into the empty halls of Weight Middle School. The children always joked that they couldn't _wait_ to get out of _Weight_ —and the day had finally come. For some, it was a permanent state. Eighth graders would move on to the new challenges of high school, which was just next door. For the sixth and seventh graders it was only a summer's respite and then back to Weight as they climbed up to the next rung of the educational ladder.

Middle school was the age of discovering who you were by testing, poking, and prodding everyone around you to make sure that who you _thought_ you wanted to be had the desired effect. For two particular children struggling with the concept of who they were and how they fit into the grand scheme of life, it was no different—including the feeling that they just didn't fit in.

Ryssa S. Chambly shuffled her feet out of the classroom with the other children. She was as happy as the rest to have the summer free. She was especially happy to have managed to scrape together a high enough passing grade that she wouldn't have to attend summer school, which had been a very serious threat looming over the next three months of her life. Someone fell into step beside her and she looked up, with a brief flash of resentment that turned to a smile.

Her twin brother, Reggie S. Chambly, looked at her with concern, his eyebrows raised in question. Ryssa's smile grew a little bigger and she nodded.

"You passed, then?" Reggie let loose the breath of relief he hadn't been aware he was holding.

"Barely." Ryssa gave him a crooked smile. "But I actually did it."

"Cool."

Reggie was relieved that his sister had managed to squeak her way through to another grade. He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye. Her naturally thick brown hair gleamed with reddish highlights when they stepped into the sun. She had it pulled back from her face, which is how she wore it most of the time. He tended to let his own hair, finer in texture, hang loose around his face and shoulders. It was as long as his sister's hair, but his was a shade darker and didn't have those cool red highlights.

Most people said it was obvious they were brother and sister and were seldom surprised to find out they were twins. Their faces looked much the same—heart-shaped with high cheekbones and a spray of freckles to mark an otherwise smooth complexion. The noses and mouths were the same, and the eyes—deep-set and wide-eyed, framed by thick dark lashes. Someone had once said they were the kind of eyes you could get lost in. Reggie still wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, but he had shrugged it off then, as he did now, as he always did.

Reggie was the kind of kid who let everything roll off him—or at least that was the face he tried to show the world. Easy going and good-natured—that's what he allowed people to see. Not like Ryssa. She was quick to let all of her emotions jump to the surface. There was never any doubt about what she was feeling. Sometimes Reggie envied his sister for that.

Ryssa looked up at her brother, brown eyes meeting blue. He smiled at her and she noticed with a trace of envy, not for the first time, that his little star-shaped mole disappeared into the crinkles of his smiling eyes. Hers never did. It was down by her mouth and always on display. She hated it. Just like she hated that her brother had those bright blue eyes while hers were the color of mud. And she hated the fact that he was so much smarter than she was. Everything always came easy to him.

"I don't suppose I have to ask whether or not _you_ passed?" She looked hopeful. "Or maybe got a bad grade? Just one?"

Reggie gave her a grimace of understanding.

"Yours were that bad, huh?" he asked.

"The worst yet. Mom's gonna kill me—or worse, she'll probably ground me for the whole summer."

"She wouldn't do it for the _whole_ summer—"

"No, but it might as well be. I'll be grounded just long enough for everyone to forget I exist. It'll be the end of my social life."

"It's not _that_ bad—" Reggie's attention drifted away.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't care about anything." She looked at him and growled. "Just like now. You're not even paying attention to me. You don't even care that I'm doomed to a lonely summer with no one— _Hey, watch where you're going!_ " she snapped as Reggie reached out to grab a boy from stumbling into her.

"Well, well," a mocking voice drawled, pulling Ryssa's attention away from Reggie and the boy who'd almost run into her. "What a combo—Hammie and the Chamblys. It almost sounds like some lame rock band or something."

Hammie looked up at Ryssa and froze, staring at the star mole on her face, but she wasn't paying attention.

"What do you want, Cally?" Ryssa asked. Cally and the trio of girls who followed her around like lap dogs really grated on her nerves. The popular group—she hated them. Mostly she hated them because she couldn't be one of them. Coming from a single-parent home, there wasn't a lot of extra money to buy the things it took to be popular. If they'd only let her—well, she'd show them.

"What do I want?" Cally tapped a finger to her chin, pretending to think it over. "Everything, of course. Oh, wait—I already have that. I'd settle for this _lump_ ," she pointed a finger at Hammie, who still stared at Ryssa, "cleaning my shoes where he spilled his drink. They're ruined."

Ryssa looked down at Cally's shoe, where a single dark drop of cola was already sliding off as though it had never been there at all. She looked at Hammie, finally noticing that he couldn't stop staring at her ugly little mole. He seemed frightened, and she found herself irritated.

"Are your eyeballs stuck or something?" she asked.

Hammie's eyes immediately dropped away, and he refused to look up again. Cally reached for Hammie, but Reggie stepped in front of him. The girl drew up short and laughed.

"What are _you_ going to do about it, Chambly? Hit me?"

Reggie didn't respond, but he didn't move, either.

"Fine." Cally tilted her head and added with a sugary sweet smile, "You know the party I throw every year at the end of school? Consider yourself _uninvited_."

"We were never invited in the first place," Ryssa said, letting her irritation show.

"That's right, and little trolls like you never _will_ be." With a nod of her head, Cally turned and walked away. Her girls followed silently in the wake of her clicking heels.

Reggie snorted and rolled his eyes. He looked at Ryssa, the dejection evident on her face, her forehead furrowed in disappointment.

"Come on, Ryss, you can't really want to hang with _that_ bunch. You're so much better than they are."

"Yeah, right, whatever."

Reggie looked behind them for the boy, Hammie, but he was gone, swallowed by the multitudes of children passing out through the doors of the school.

"Come on, let's head home. Mom'll be waiting."

Ryssa pulled her books close to her chest like a shield and quietly followed her brother away from the school. She caught up to him, and their silence continued for a time while they walked side by side.

"So how do you think she'll be today?" Ryssa said.

"I don't know," Reggie sighed. "She seems to have been pretty good these last few weeks."

"Which means she's due for a bad spell. I hate it, Regg. I hate seeing her like that. She seems so helpless, so—not like Mom." Her expression hardened. "Sometimes it comes on so sudden it makes me feel like she's faking it, like there's nothing really wrong with her and she's just doing it to get attention."

"That's something _you_ would do, Ryss, not Mom."

"I know." Ryssa blushed and looked away.

"The doctors say her body is attacking itself, sort of."

" _They_ can't figure out what's wrong with her. What do they know?"

"I don't know."

The rest of the walk home was silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Reggie stopped and retrieved the mail while Ryssa waited, and then together trudged up the long driveway that ended at a house set back from the rest of the street, surrounded by trees. Ryssa was the first to the door and opened it to let loose a rolling, hazy fog of smoke. The twins looked at each other. Reggie groaned while Ryssa rolled her eyes.

"Battle stations," Reggie muttered as they resolutely moved into the house.

School bags were dropped with the mail, just inside the door. Reggie went straight for the kitchen while Ryssa opened all of the windows and turned on a freestanding fan to blow the smoke from the living room. A high-pitched screeching noise blared in the kitchen, and Ryssa rushed into the room to help her brother.

Smoke billowed from the oven and Reggie waved his arms to move it away until he could see well enough to grab the burning object inside. Ryssa hurried to the windows and opened them before blindly reaching above the stove to turn on the hood vent. The smoke rose straight up into the vent and out of the kitchen. Ryssa grabbed a towel while Reggie was finally able to get a grasp on the tray in the oven with potholders. While Ryssa fanned the smoke away from the detector that still screeched its loud warning, Reggie headed toward the back door with the flaming sheet of unidentifiable charcoal lumps. Just as he arrived, the door swung open from the outside.

"Out of the way Terry—coming through," Reggie yelled.

His foster brother, a taller boy with dark eyes and even darker hair, leapt back as the flaming tray passed under his nose and down the back steps. The smoke hit Terry's eyes and he blinked, jumping into action. By the time Reggie set the tray on the ground, Terry was already unwinding the hose attached to the house. Reggie ran back and turned on the water. He came to stand at Terry's side as the last wisps of smoke dissipated under the assault of the water hose.

"Where _were_ you?"

Terry glared at him and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and turned back to the faucet, gathering the hose as he went.

"Hey!" Reggie yelped, jumping back to avoid a spray of water. "You _knew_ Ryssa and I would be home soon," Reggie exploded. "Couldn't you wait a few minutes longer before running off to your workshop to play with your toys? You _know_ she can't be left alone. She's starting to become dangerous, Terry. Why don't you think of something other than yourself for a change? You have to pay attention—or do you really _want_ someone to find out how wonky Mom's getting so they'll come take me and Ryssa away?"

Reggie grabbed the older boy's arm and turned him around. Face to face, Terry scowled at Reggie, his anger building. Reggie took a step back, intimidated by the look on his foster brother's face.

"You have _no idea_ what you're talking about. Don't you think I know—?" He stopped, anger turning to dismay as he stared with widening eyes over Reggie's shoulder. Reggie's heart sank, and he slowly turned to see Ryssa standing behind their mother, wildly waving her arms to catch the attention of the two arguing boys.

Debra Chambly stood in the doorway, her face falling as she looked at the tray of burned blobs. Her eyes filled with shining tears.

"Mom, I didn't mean—" Reggie took a step toward her.

"Yes, you did." A single tear slid down her cheek. She hugged her arms tightly to her waist, pulling the fuzzy green bathrobe that she always wore closer around her body. "I'm sorry. This is my fault, not your brother's. I was just trying to—" Her voice broke as her eyes slid to the charcoal lumps again. She looked at the two mortified faces staring back at her and sobbed. Debra turned and ran back into the house, brushing Ryssa aside in her haste.

"She was trying to make cookies to celebrate our last day of school." She looked at the black chunks on the scorched tray and shook her head sadly. "I hope you two are happy. You made Mom cry."

"She cries all the time now," Reggie mumbled petulantly. He stopped, realizing he had spoken out loud. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean—"

Ryssa shot him a scathing look, turned, and went back into the house. Terry's expression was identical. He shut off the hose, and followed Ryssa inside. Reggie stood outside for a while, horrified that the day had turned out as badly as it had. Even the charcoal lumps seemed to stare at him with dark accusation.

He stormed over and grabbed the tray. Taking it to the garbage can, he lifted the lid and dumped the whole thing inside, tray and all. He slammed the lid and stood for a moment, grinding his teeth and staring at the container. He didn't feel any better. With shoulders slumped, he followed his siblings into the house.

## Chapter 2: An Unexpected Visitor

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It was several hours before Terry was able to coax Debra from her room. Reggie and Ryssa fidgeted as they stood behind their chairs at the dinner table. A simple array of food was spread out on the table before them. Hamburger casserole, corn, bread and butter were all beautifully arranged in the best dishes and displayed like a fancy feast. They'd even lit candles and dimmed the lights to add to the ambiance of elegance. Debra liked to do this from time to time, where they all put on their best manners and pretended to be royalty sitting down to dinner.

When Debra entered the dining room, a smile came to her face. Ryssa noticed it didn't quite erase the tiredness from her mother's eyes, so her answering smile was a little timid.

"We wanted to have a special dinner," Reggie said. "You know, the last day of school and all." He, too, noticed the lack of full enthusiasm but tried not to let it dampen his spirits. He hoped that as they went along, Debra would warm up to the game they sometimes played and would be a bit better by the end of the meal.

"It's _perfect_." Debra gave each of the children a grateful look. She stepped to her chair and stopped, looking long and hard at the oldest. "Terry, will you please bring another place setting out? And Reggie, be a dear and get another chair. We'll be having company for dinner tonight."

Terry's eyes widened, as did his siblings'. They never had company. But they did as she asked. Ryssa caught the look of comprehension that flashed through Terry's eyes before he went to retrieve another place setting for the table. So Terry knew who it was. They really _were_ going to have company. Ryssa's stomach turned, an uneasy feeling settling in place. A knock sounded at the front door and Ryssa jumped, startled, as her brothers came back to the table. They all stopped and looked at Debra.

"Ryssa, sweetie." Debra let out a deep breath. "Would you get that? Escort our guest into the dining room."

For the first time, Ryssa noticed her mother was wearing something other than the fuzzy green bathrobe she always wrapped around her these days. Debra Chambly was simply dressed, in jeans and a button-up shirt. A long sweater vest was worn over the outfit, and her favorite locket, silver and heart-shaped, was draped around her neck to hang mid-chest. Ryssa knew the locket held pictures of her and Reggie on one side and Terry on the other. Another knock sounded at the door and Ryssa jumped again.

"Ryssa?"

Ryssa went to the door with a guilty nod. She heard her brothers resetting the table and shifting everything around to accommodate the mysterious guest. The horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach wouldn't go away. In fact, it was getting worse. She reached for the doorknob and flinched as the knocking came yet again. With an anxious smile, Ryssa opened the door. She blinked, not quite sure just what she was seeing.

A short, plump woman stood on the front porch, bathed in a mixture of shadows and light. She wore a bright purple, baggy dress that stretched snugly in places around her round frame. Ryssa had always hated being short, but this woman barely topped five feet. Bright blue eyes stared back at her from behind thick, dark-framed glasses. The woman had a small, round nose and a warm smile. Perched on top of her head was a bright orange hat with floppy pink flowers, a perfect match for the shoes she wore, neither of which came close to matching her dress.

"Oh my," the woman said, her smile widening. "You just _can't_ be Maryssa—you're all grown up!" She leaned into the doorway, tilted her glasses, and peered intently at the girl as though examining her through a magnifying glass. "But, yes! There's that little mole. Child, you have grown into quite the beauty."

Ryssa self-consciously brought a hand up to cover the offending object, while the woman toddled in the door. Ryssa was taken off guard and it took her a moment to realize that the strange old woman was in the house. She closed the door and trailed after her, the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach getting worse.

"Debra...Terry," the woman greeted the two with big hugs. Reggie looked questioningly at his sister who was just coming into the dining room. She shrugged, having no answer to give. "And Reginald, you have grown into a fine young man!" She came around the table and clasped his hands enthusiastically with plump fingers while Reggie scowled. He hated his full first name.

"Mom?" Ryssa stepped up to Debra and put a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention. Debra started.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. Reggie, Ryssa, this is Mary Rutridge of the Silverwood Adoption Agency. She is the one responsible for placing you with me."

Ryssa felt her heart stop and drop down to her toes. Her feeling of foreboding had been right. The woman was here to take her and Reggie away. She looked at her brother to see the same dismay mirrored on his face. It was Reggie who spoke first.

"Miss Rutridge?"

"Call me Mary, dear." She gently patted his hand. "And don't worry. I'm not here to take you away from your home." She frowned. "At least not permanently."

"What do you—?" Ryssa started.

"Will you look at this wonderful dinner?" Mary clapped her hands in delight. She brushed at her wrinkled clothing. "I'm glad I wore my best dress. Everything looks so fancy—candles, even! Bless you for making an old woman feel welcome."

"The children did it," Debra's voice was strained. "Why don't we all sit down and eat before it gets cold?"

"Yes, of course." Mary looked to Reggie. He was puzzled. Suddenly remembering his manners, he jumped to move a chair out from the table, helping her to sit. "Thank you, dear." She turned to Debra who was moving into her seat at the head of the table. "You have raised them to be fine, proper children, Debra."

"I'm quite proud of them." The look of love in Debra's eyes softened the tension.

"Mom, what does she mean—?" Ryssa asked.

"Be a good girl and have a seat," Mary said with a matronly smile. "We'll talk about the reason for my visit after dinner."

Ryssa glared at Mary over being treated like a child. With arms crossed, she sat down at the table, scowling at her plate without really seeing it.

"So how have the children been doing in their studies at school?" Mary helped herself to a plateful of hamburger casserole. She passed the spoon to Reggie and started in on the corn.

"Well enough," Debra replied.

Ryssa gave her mother a grateful glance. She really didn't want to have this woman hear about her grades. It would have made her humiliation complete.

"And their other studies?" Mary reached for the bread. When there was no reply, Mary turned to Debra, raising an eyebrow. "You _have_ been pursuing their other studies? You told me before that you had—as per the instructions?"

"What other studies, Mom?" Reggie looked between the two women.

"Oh, dear. Debra, I was _explicit_ in detailing what manner of things you were to be teaching the children. It could be considered a breach of the fosterage agreement. You know I can only protect their position here if—"

"I am _well aware_ of the details of the agreement," Debra snapped. Then the tension drained out of her and Reggie and Ryssa both were dismayed at how tired she looked. "I couldn't—I haven't been able to find a teacher in those particular studies. It's a rather odd sort of study, and I didn't know where to start looking without—"

Pursing her lips, Mary looked serious for a moment. "Well, there's nothing to be done about it now. When they return after the summer, I'll see to it that a tutor is arranged. It will put them at a slight disadvantage, but it's too late to worry about that now."

"Return from _where_?" Ryssa asked, narrowing her eyes with suspicion. Both women turned and blinked, almost as though just realizing was there. " _Where_ are we supposed to be going for the summer?" Ryssa repeated.

"Debra, didn't you tell them?"

"Tell us _what_?" Ryssa felt warm with her rising anger. This didn't sound good at all.

"I was going to tell them after school. But then the snacks and the smoke and—"

"Mom!"

"Don't be rude dear," Mary chastised. "Well. This isn't turning out to be as pleasant as I had hoped." She drew in a steadying breath. "So be it. Children, part of your fosterage arrangement was that once you turn thirteen years old—which will be tomorrow—you are to attend summer camp every year until you turn eighteen—umm, a _specific_ summer camp already chosen for you."

" _What_?" Ryssa jumped to her feet, knocking her chair over.

"Cool!" Reggie's eyes lit with excitement. "Is this for real?"

"This can't be for real! Mom, _tell_ her. I can't go to summer camp every year! It'll be the death of me! I'll have absolutely no social life whatsoever. What about my friends? What about my plans for the summer? This can't be happening. Mom, _tell_ her!"

"That will be enough, young lady."

"You are not my mother. I wasn't speaking to you."

"No," Mary slapped the palm of her hand on the table loud enough to make Ryssa jump, "but if you don't attend this camp as stipulated, Debra Chambly won't be your mother, either."

Ryssa gaped at Mary.

"You don't mean that."

"I _do_ mean that," Mary held up her hand to stop further argument, "but it's not up to me. These conditions were placed on your fosterage by the people who gave you into my care. It took us over a year to find someone who was willing to abide by all of the requested conditions. If Debra Chambly hadn't come along, you quite possibly might have ended up in the orphanage to this day, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. But she _did_ come along, and has taken quite good care of you—well, except for neglecting a few important points.

"But this isn't going to go away, and it can't be ignored. Originally, they wanted custody back once you turned thirteen. For your sake, and for Debra's emotional protection, I was able to argue it down to summer camp, where you'll be spending some time with the people who gave you to be put into Debra's care. So you _will_ go to summer camp, or full custody will return to people whom you haven't seen since you were a baby and whom I doubt very much that you remember."

"So let me get this straight." Reggie's mood shifted and his anger became apparent. "The people who didn't care enough about us to keep us in the first place—the people who gave us over to strangers to raise, with the possibility that we might have ended up as unwanted kids neglected in some orphanage—have the right to see us now and get to dictate to our _mother_ on how we'll be raised? They have a say on what happens in our lives, when they put us aside like an abandoned toy on a forgotten shelf and have decided that _now_ it's okay to take us down and play with us? What a crock!"

"Reggie!" Debra scolded. "You don't know what made them place you into fosterage. There could be extenuating circumstances that you know nothing about."

"Like _what_? Don't get me wrong, Mom, I like the idea of going to camp. I just don't like them playing with our lives this way."

"Me either," Ryssa mumbled. She bent down and picked up her chair, and then sat with her arms crossed against her stomach.

"I know—but I also know that I agreed to this. How could I not? The other option was not to have you guys in my life. How could I have done that?"

The twins looked at their mother with gratitude and love.

"Well, I'm not going to make it easy on them," Ryssa said. "I have a few years of attitude stored up that they may only _think_ they missed out on."

"Yeah." Reggie smiled at his sister. "Maybe you can hang onto to it throughout the year and save us from dealing with it here at home."

Everyone at the table laughed, even Ryssa.

"Don't be too hard on them," Debra said at last. "Who knows, maybe you'll even like them."

"Yeah, right." Ryssa rolled her eyes.

Reggie muttered something about loyalty that no one quite caught.

"Well," Mary said, "then it's settled. I guess we'll leave in the morning."

"No." Terry finally spoke.

Mary blinked. "Excuse me?"

"It's their birthday tomorrow. At least have the decency to leave after lunch, so we can have cake and presents and stuff."

"Of course." Mary smiled. "That sounds like fun. We'll still have plenty of time to make it to the rendezvous point. I actually have a couple of gifts for them myself."

Terry nodded, satisfied. Reggie gave him a grateful glance. The rest of dinner was quiet, with only a little idle chatter breaking an otherwise uneasy silence. When everyone was finished, Debra left to talk with Mary on the front porch, their voices low. The children cleaned up and put away the odds and ends.

"Not much leftovers." Terry elbowed his brother. "I think the old lady actually ate more than you did. Never thought I'd see anyone top that."

Reggie smiled, but his heart wasn't in it. His movements were mechanical, his emotions numb. He was getting an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't used to it and definitely didn't like it.

## Chapter 3: Birthday Blues

[back to top]

Reggie rolled over on the top bunk in the room he shared with Terry. It was dark. Then again, it was always dark. Terry had tacked a blanket over the bedroom window to block out the sun. He said it was to keep the glare off the television screen where he and Reggie used to play video games for hours at a time. Reggie suspected the darkened room was a reflection of Terry's matching mood.

Since Mom's health began to decline, Terry had taken on more and more responsibilities in the house. So had he and Ryssa, but they still managed to have a little fun once in a while. Terry never seemed to have time for fun at all. It was as though the fun was being sucked out of him. Reggie missed that side of his brother.

Reggie popped his head up to see the clock on the other side of the room. The small red numbers glared brightly into the dark. _11:08_. He sat up quickly. There were only a couple of hours left before—but he didn't want to think about it. He hopped down from the top bunk, landing quietly on the floor. A quick glance told him that Terry had already gotten out of bed. _Strange_ , usually he was the one up early and Terry up late. Until now, he had suspected that Terry had forgotten the meaning of the word morning. His sister and foster brother were alike in that sense.

A yawn escaped and he stretched it out, briefly running a hand through his hair when he was done. He hadn't slept well. He threw on a pair of multi-pocketed baggy jeans found hanging over the rail of the bed. Rifling through several t-shirts on the floor, he found one that satisfied him. Taking a tentative sniff to make sure it didn't smell bad, he nodded in satisfaction and put it on to drape wrinkled and loose past his hips.

Reggie left the bedroom and moved down the short hall to the open family area. Debra and Mary were again talking in low tones, their backs toward him. On the dining room table, he noticed balloons and a cake, nicely arranged amid a few presents. He frowned. No Ryssa or Terry. With a quick glance at the two women in the kitchen, he headed toward the front door.

Outside, he stopped to let his eyes adjust to the light. It was a bright, sunny day. Storm clouds on the horizon gave him a touch of satisfaction. It was more in tune with his present frame of mind. This time of the year in Florida brought daily storms. While it normally didn't matter to him one way or another, it seemed fitting today.

He walked across the front porch that ran the full length of the house to an open deck on the side. At the edge of the far corner, Ryssa sat on a raised wooden bench next to a ladder, her feet dangling in the pool. She didn't look up when he sat to join her on the other side of the ladder. Reggie kept his feet on the deck, not wanting to take the time to roll his pant legs up to keep them dry. He turned partially toward his sister, staring down into the pool where her feet idly moved the water around.

"Stop staring at my toes," she mumbled.

Reggie smiled and rolled his eyes. His sister, for some reason understandable only to her, had decided her feet were ugly and felt self-conscious if anyone looked in that direction. He thought it funny that half the time she actually drew attention to her feet without realizing it. Even in the Florida heat, she always kept them covered and refused to consider wearing sandals.

"I wasn't looking at your feet." Reggie peered over the edge of the pool into the water. "I was looking at those white squirmy things that got in—oh, wait, sorry." He laughed.

"Oh!" Ryssa pulled her feet from the pool in annoyance. Bringing her knees to her chest, she covered the toes with her hands, resting her chin on her knees. "I hate you sometimes."

"As my sister, you're supposed to—didn't you read the handbook?"

"Yeah, but I flunked Sibling 101. Just like everything else."

"I don't know. You've managed to ace _Advanced Brat_."

Ryssa stuck out her tongue. They fell into silence, staring at the sunlight reflecting off the crystal clear water of the pool.

"I don't want to go, Regg. I'm worried about Mom."

Reggie felt his heart go out to his twin. She could be a pain at times, but when it came to their mother, she was extremely protective. Debra had that effect on people. He'd never met anyone she couldn't get along with or win over with her quiet patience. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was Terry who answered, coming up the back stairs of the deck.

"You're only going for the summer," he said. Dropping into a chair next to the pool, he flipped a package over and over in his hands. The look he gave his foster siblings was earnest. "I'll take care of Mom, I promise."

"Sure, if you can keep yourself away from the video games and your creepy old shed." Ryssa didn't bother to hide her sarcasm. Terry's eyes darkened.

"Whatcha got there, Terry?" Reggie tried to break the tension between the two. They were always sniping at each other. There had never been an actual full-blown screaming match, but Reggie didn't want the first one to be today.

Terry stopped to stare at the package in his hands. Reggie thought it looked like a book wrapped in old newspapers. He handed it to Reggie.

"Don't open it now."

"What is it?" Ryssa watched with curiosity.

"It feels like some sort of book." Reggie gingerly tested the weight in his hands.

"It is, sort of." Terry grimaced. "Look, Mom hasn't been herself much lately. I knew about the conditions of your fosterage, because if anything happened to her she wanted me to know what was coming. When she couldn't find you guys a teacher for some of the stuff Mary was hinting about last night, I started looking in some of the more obscure places, like the Internet, to find what I could.

"It's a little disjointed and fragmented because I had to handwrite all of it. It may get tough to read in places. I wanted both of you to be able to use it, so I left out a bunch of stuff that looked too long-winded and boring. It's sort of a condensed version of what you were supposed to be learning up until now."

"You gave us the _Cliff Notes_ version!" Reggie laughed. " _This_ is the mysterious project you've been working on?"

"I didn't want them to have any reason to take you guys away." Terry defiantly stuck up his chin. Reggie knew his brother was embarrassed. "For what it's worth, we're a family. And it would've killed Mom."

"I don't know what to say." Reggie thought back to the mean words he had said to his brother yesterday and was ashamed. He had accused Terry of not paying attention so they'd be taken away. Now he knew the truth.

"I do." Ryssa looked at Terry with a light shimmer of tears coating her eyes. "Despite the fact that you're a big pain, you're the best brother we could've found anywhere. Thank you."

"Forget it."

"Thanks, Terr," Reggie said.

"Just forget it, will you?" Terry looked uncomfortable. He had never been one for big displays of emotion. "And keep that thing hidden. It's got some pretty weird stuff in it. Plus, we don't want those other people to think you haven't learned anything. So we'll just keep this our secret, okay?"

"Children!" Debra's voice carried across the porch from the front door. "It's time for lunch!"

The three looked at each other for a long moment, the bond deepening between them.

"What's our secret?" Reggie shrugged.

"I don't know anything." Ryssa shook her head, swinging her feet around to get up from the pool.

They crossed the porch, following each other into the house.

* * *

The children were subdued at lunch. Mary kept up a steady stream of chatter, but only Debra seemed to listen. Ryssa didn't think her mother was even paying attention. Debra just nodded once in a while, mumbling some unheard response whenever Mary seemed to pause for breath. Ryssa felt her mother's eyes on both her and Reggie. She looked so lost, so tired, so— _worried_ , that Ryssa wanted to throw herself into her mother's arms and beg Debra not to make her go, to let her stay.

"Okay." Mary seemed to finally notice that no one was hearing a word of what she was saying. "Let's get this over with, Debra."

"Over with?" Debra jumped, tearing her gaze away from the twins and looking at Mary.

"Yes, over with." Mary put a tender hand to Debra's shoulder and patted her lightly. "I think it would be easier if we just finished up and left. To remain here—waiting, dragging things along—it will only keep making things worse. You're tearing the children's hearts out, Debra. It's making this much too hard."

Debra's worried glance focused fully on her children. It was Ryssa who spoke first.

"She's right, Mom." Speaking past the lump in her throat, she tried hard not to cry. "The longer this drags out, the worse it's getting. I don't want to go."

"But we have no choice," Reggie added, before his sister declared she wasn't going and stubbornly dug in her heels. Once she did that, there'd be a big scene, and it would make things harder than they already were.

"I know," Debra said softly. The twins noticed her eyes filling with tears before she lowered them to hide her pain. "I'm just so afraid that I'll never see you again. I'm being silly."

"You _are_ being silly. There are clauses." Mary drew herself up to full height in her chair. Her grip tightened on Debra's shoulder, forcing the woman to meet her eyes. "I _swear_ to you—the woman who has taken care of these children for almost thirteen years—that Reggie and Ryssa will come back to you before you see the end of this summer cycle, to resume their rightful place at your side. I will invoke full blood rights to ensure it, for this summer of your reckoning and for the summers to come, until they are of the legal age to make that decision themselves."

A noticeable whisper passed through the air and swirled around them, weighing them down while its heaviness passed over and through them. Reggie and Ryssa stared wide-eyed at the sensation. _Blood rights_?

"Oh, Mary— _what have you done_?" Debra whispered.

"Only what is necessary," Mary said kindly.

The heaviness slowly dissipated from the room. Reggie and Ryssa looked at each other with growing apprehension. Something remained. They could both feel it, but neither could put a finger on what it was. There was definitely something strange going on here. _What had just happened_?

"But—"

"What's done is done." Mary stared deeply into Debra's eyes.

Reggie and Ryssa watched their mother's eyes glaze over with a strange look. Then it vanished.

"Okay." Debra blinked, forcing cheer into her voice. "How about cake?"

She reached over and pulled the cake closer, taking a book of matches from the table to light the candles. Only the shaking of her hands showed her inner state of mind. After several failed attempts to light a match, Terry gently took them away and lit one for her. Each candle was set to flame in turn, and they sang with strained voices to wish the twins a happy birthday.

Reggie and Ryssa still reeled from the strangeness of the situation, but neither spoke. They both had the same feeling. It wouldn't do them any good to ask questions. Yet. The time would come, but that time was not now. It was as though they each knew what the other was thinking. Their eyes met over the cake that was pushed between them and they nodded, a silent agreement for a wish made before blowing out the candles. The flames died and the same, strange thickness from before settled over them a second time, a faint whisper heard on the edge of the surrounding reality. A single candle in the middle, the thirteenth candle, relit and flared briefly in the center of the cake only to die out again, its wisp of smoke trailing upward.

The twins looked at each other in surprise. Debra and Terry both stared.

"So be it," Mary's voice cut through the silence of the room to break the heaviness and send it away. Her eyes twinkled with the cheerfulness of her smile. While Debra dished out a helping of cake to everyone, Mary gleefully clapped her hands. "So who's for presents?"

Amidst bites of birthday cake, the twins opened the gifts on the table, finding a few items of clothing, jewelry, and a couple of video games. Ryssa was tying her hair back from her face with a beautiful green silk scarf when Terry pulled out two small packs from under the table.

"I know you don't get to take much with you, because everything you need will be provided—but I've been kind of putting together a few things that they might not have where you're going."

Reggie and Ryssa eyed him with cautious suspicion, opening the bags to see what was inside.

"Chocolate!" Ryssa cried with delight.

"Snack Cakes!" Reggie smiled.

"Don't forget—you need to make those last for the whole summer," Terry warned while they rummaged through the various sweets he had packed for them. His eyes mirrored the pleasure they felt.

"Thanks, Terr," Ryssa said sincerely. "You're the best."

"I know." He grinned and looked away, his pleasure showing.

"I have a little something for you both as well." Mary handed them each a gift.

Reggie and Ryssa took the black velvet jewelry boxes. They opened them at the same time. Inside each was a single star-shaped crystal pendant hung on a solid silver chain. The crystals were exquisitely crafted and sent out rainbows into the room where the light from the sun was caught and reflected outward.

"Mary," Ryssa exclaimed. "They're beautiful!"

Reggie went to touch the crystal and Mary stopped him.

"These were given to me at the same time you were brought to the adoption agency." There was a subtle warning in her eyes to match the tone in her voice. "I was told the crystals will resonate to each of you, and that under no circumstances are you to put them on or even touch them until you arrive at the place where we are going."

Reggie pulled his fingers back as though burned, snapping the box shut. Ryssa continued to stare at hers, puzzled.

"What do you mean, _resonate_?" she asked.

"It's a bunch of new age baloney." Reggie rolled his eyes. "I think the translation is that we've just been given our dog tags for boot camp. I don't like the sound of this."

"Well, sort of." Mary looked uncomfortable. "But you'll learn more about it later."

Ryssa snapped her box shut and stuck it into the bag Terry had given her. She watched Reggie do the same, the bad feeling returning to the pit of her stomach.

"It's my turn." Debra's smile was sad. "But these you can put on now."

She held out two more jewelry cases, smaller than the ones given to them by Mary, covered in crimson velvet instead of black. The twins took the boxes and opened them. Inside each lay a beautiful ring, one more delicate and feminine, the other heavier and more masculine, but both similar in design. Three silver circles intertwined what appeared to be a diamond set in the center where the circles met.

"Mom!" Ryssa looked in wonder. "They're too much."

"Mom," Reggie choked, "how can we afford this?"

"Let me worry about that. The circles represent the two of you and me, and the stone is the heart that holds us all together. No matter what happens, we are all connected, the circles unbroken and forever."

The twins jumped up and ran around the table to throw their arms around her. All three were crying, and for a moment resembled the rings—three circles intertwined with tears shining in the center.

"Yes, well," Mary cleared her throat. When Reggie and Ryssa looked up, they could see emotion in her eyes as well. "It's time we got going. How about I help clean up this mess we've made while the two of you gather your things so we can hit the road?"

Reggie and Ryssa looked at the only mother they had ever known, and then turned to Terry, who was watching with discomfort. Ryssa held her arm out to him, asking without words for him to join them. Terry stepped into the circle and the four held each other in silence before breaking apart. No words were needed. They had said it all with their hearts.

## Chapter 4: On The Road

[back to top]

Reggie sat in the back seat of Mary's car with Ryssa at his side. They had both been silent for some time now. Mary seemed content to let them get over the emotional shock and turmoil of leaving their home behind. Ryssa stared at the ring given to her by their mother, twisting it in absent-minded circles around her finger. Reggie had done the same for a while. He decided it was time to take a look at the book Terry had worked on so hard for them. Maybe it would give him a clue as to what they were getting into for the summer.

As quietly as he could, he removed the book from the bag at his feet and unwrapped it from the newspaper. The book itself was old. Reggie smiled. He remembered when Terry had picked it up from an estate sale. Terry loved old things—he thought they were pretty cool. This had been one of his favorites.

It was a blank journal with yellowing pages that appeared to have never been used. Reggie had never understood the attraction Terry had had for it until now. There had been a purpose for it all along. He ran a hand across the blue cloth surface, his smile turning wistful. He loved his foster brother, he just never realized until now how much he had underestimated that love being returned.

When he opened the journal, he found the first page blank. Curious, he turned the page. The page on the right was blank, but the one on the left had writing on it. He flipped through the book. All of the pages were the same—writing on the left, blank on the right. Ryssa watched over his arm, noticing the same thing. Reggie shrugged, having no answer.

He opened the book back to the first page with writing on it and started to read, sliding the book toward Ryssa to share. It contained a brief note from Terry:

_Okay, so I know this is a little strange. In fact, from my understanding of it, if any of what I've found is true, then everything is going to be really strange for you from this point forward. If it's not true and this is one of those cases where the story gets bigger every time it's told, then I'll bet that the reality of it will_ still _be strange._

First, the reason that I wrote in this book the way that I did. According to what little Mom and I have been told, the people you will be dealing with have particular ways of doing things and most of them are very set in those ways. They have a tendency, if something isn't done in the 'normal' way that they think it should be done and they can't make sense of it, they ignore it like it's not there. I don't know if this is true or not, but I thought I'd try it with the book, just in case.

"Oh, great," Reggie said with a groan.

"What?" Ryssa whispered.

"Our relatives are a bunch of moronic idiots incapable of original thought," Reggie replied.

"That's not exactly true," Mary said from the front seat. When Reggie and Ryssa looked startled by her interjection, she added, "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Mary blew out her breath like a troubled sigh. "Okay. Maybe I _did_ mean to eavesdrop, but I was waiting for the right time to get started."

"Get started with what?" Ryssa gave her a suspicious glance.

"Why, telling you a little bit about where you're going. I thought you'd want to know."

"It would help." Reggie went to close the book on his lap, but when he shifted in his seat, the book flipped open to the second page with writing on it. He glimpsed at the heading.

Important Rules and Etiquette

#1: TRUST NO ONE

Reggie frowned, torn between wanting to read more and listening to what Mary had to say. He finally decided that the book could wait, while they only had a short time to pump Mary for information. He closed the book and put it away.

"So what's the scoop, Mary?" Ryssa was polite, but her voice held a tentative eagerness.

Mary arched an eyebrow and glanced into the rearview mirror.

"Here's the _scoop_. Your full names, before Debra had your surnames temporarily changed to Chambly, are Maryssa Delzia Starborn and Reginald Aurelius Starborn."

"Starborn," Reggie let the name roll off his tongue. "That must be what the _S_ stands for. Mom never told us. Cool."

"I kinda like it." Ryssa smiled.

"Reggie, your middle name is taken from your uncle Aurelius Trenton Starborn, who was your father's brother. He is the one who brought you to me for placement with your foster mother. And Ryssa, your middle name comes from your mother, Her Majesty, Queen Delzia Alycone Starborn."

" _Queen?_ " Reggie and Ryssa croaked from the back seat.

"Yes. Your mother and father were the King and Queen of New Faery." She paused. "Actually, that's not quite accurate. Your father was the King of the Seelie Court and your mother was Ard Ri, or the High Queen of New Faery. Of course _that_ was unprecedented, and I'll bet it caused quite the stir—"

"Fairy?" Ryssa interrupted with a laugh. "Are you trying to say that I'm a fairy princess?"

Mary blinked.

"Well, um, yes. I guess that's what I'm saying. But it's not quite that simple—"

"Fairy?" Reggie's eyes widened in disbelief, "as in little, tiny, glittering Tinkerbells with wings?"

"No, no, no." Mary shook her head with a look of dismay. "Not fairy—Faery." The only difference was that the first sounded like fair-ree and the second like fay-ree. She bit her lower lip at seeing the lack of understanding on the children's faces reflected in the mirror. "Oh, dear. There's not enough time to explain all of this. We have to be at the rendezvous point in—oh, dear." She fretted and fussed, mumbling under her breath while she tried to figure out the best way to explain. "Where do I start? The Courts—yes, they need to know that. History? But there's so much! The magic? Oh, dear—"

"Magic? There's no such thing as magic."

At Reggie's proclamation, Mary's eyes grew big and held a look of pure horror. Without a word, she pulled the car out of traffic in the midst of honking and yelling from the other drivers weaving around her suddenly erratic line of driving. She came to a stop on the side of the road and slammed the lever into the park position.

"Don't you _ever_ say that again." She turned her short, bulky frame around toward the back of the car to face the children, but her glare was for Reggie.

"You're kidding, right?" Reggie gave Mary one of those deadpan looks that said _this-woman-is-nuts_.

"Child, I have never been more serious in my entire life—and if you can't find some way to open up that narrow little mind of yours to fully believe in what I'm saying, you could be the downfall of Faery."

Mary stared at him so hard that Reggie could almost feel a hole being bored through his head.

"Okay, look." Reggie held up his hands. "How about this? I promise to listen—"

"With an open mind."

"With an open mind." Reggie nodded the concession. "And as long as you're around I won't say those words, since it seems to stress you out."

Mary narrowed her eyes. Reggie could tell she wasn't entirely satisfied, but was willing to accept his compromise.

"He already double-speaks like the Faery Court," Mary grumbled under her breath. "But to have a child of the Ard Ri not believe—" She shuddered, turning back around. Putting the car into drive, she waited for an opening to ease back into traffic.

Ryssa gave her brother a haughty glance. " _I_ believe in magic."

"Let's hope your belief is enough for the both of you." Mary pulled the car back onto the road.

"Suck up," Reggie mumbled to his sister. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm still not sure where to begin," Mary said once they were back safely on the road. "There's so much to tell."

"How about at the beginning?" Reggie suggested. When he saw the look of panic rising in Mary's eyes, he patted the book in his lap, out of her sight. "Just the _Cliff Notes_ version—you know—an overview."

Mary thought about it, seeming to mull the idea over in her mind. She nodded, satisfied, but shot Reggie a wary look. "You'll keep an open mind?"

"I'll listen to everything you have to say."

"Oh, he'll do well in the Courts," Mary mumbled under her breath. "If I can _get_ him there—

"Okay," she blurted, cutting short her ramblings. "We don't have much time, so I'm going to cover this as best I can and hope that it'll be enough."

"Enough for what?" Ryssa asked.

"Enough for—" Mary sighed. "Sweetheart, if you keep interrupting, we'll never get through this."

Ryssa held up her hands in response, tightened her lips and mimed zipping and locking them shut.

"Thousands of years ago when the Earth was young, all of the human race, such as it was, were magical, and, in a sense, immortal. Even some of the old history and religious texts speak of how men lived for hundreds of years and even more."

Reggie was skeptical, but nodded as though conceding to the overall statement.

"People knew how to use magic back then. This was because of their connection to the land. The land holds magic. It _is_ magic. I mean, think about it," she said, a trace of wistful excitement in her voice. "Think of the magic of the cycle of life. Something is born, it lives, and it dies. Its physical remains rot away to fertilize the soil, leaving it rich for new life to begin again. Think of the wonder of a rainbow, a ribbon of color across a gray sky, giving a promise—"

"Mary— _Cliff Notes_ , remember?" Reggie prompted.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Okay, _Cliff Notes_. Where was I—? Oh, yes. So, in the beginning, humankind, at its very essence, were all Faery, so to speak.

"As their numbers increased, struggles cropped up that had never existed before—such as greed, the need for control, and so on. It was chaotic. In order to create some structure, a system of laws, Courts, and naturally, leaders to enforce those laws, were installed. Then came a new concept—war—as one group would want to take something another group had by force.

"Now, since the Earth needed to maintain balance to survive, magic wars tended to end in stalemate, with neither side holding an advantage over the other. Humankind turned to technology to combat the magic. It was successful to a degree unforeseen by most. With the coming of technology came the beginning of the end to belief in magic, because it appeared that technology was stronger than magic."

"Now you're starting to make some sense."

"They were _wrong_ ," Mary scolded him. "First of all, what do you think happened when humans pulled back from the magic of the Earth?"

"They gained a sense of reality?" Reggie suggested.

"They lost their connection to the Earth?" Ryssa frowned in thought.

"They lost their connection to the _magic_. The _reality_ that they found," Mary looked pointedly at Reggie, "was that they lost their longevity of life—just for starters—along with quality of life, because they were no longer connected to the one thing which gave them life to begin with."

"They became mortal." Ryssa lit up with understanding.

"They became the human race. And they threw away the beauty of the natural magic of the Earth for the false sense of power that technology gave to them."

"Why do you say _false_ sense?" Reggie was confused. "If technology won out over the magic, wouldn't it mean that technology was the more powerful of the two?"

"Humankind has always given in to the habit of over-thinking and over-simplifying matters," Mary sighed. "And with that habit, they decided that magic was too unpredictable—primarily because of the Earth's inherent need to maintain a balance. So humankind chose to believe that the magic controlled them and they had no control over their lives. They felt that technology, because it was of their own making, simplified their lives and gave them control, because they controlled the technology."

"That makes sense to me."

"All right. Let's take the two different sides of the coin and see which gives you more control over your life.

"The first side, we'll call _heads_ for the sake of argument. On the heads side, you have a natural world where you don't grow old and there's no real sickness that's not magically created. When you want something to eat, there it is, with no more effort than a thought. Anything you want, you can have, within the natural order of things. You don't need airplanes to fly or cars to get from point A to point B. Basically, anything you need is at your fingertips and only a thought is necessary to bring it to you. The rest of your time is your own.

"On the second side, _tails_ , you have a world where there are wonderful machines, widgets and gadgets to get you through everyday life—to help you farm and raise food, to cook, to build houses and furniture, to get you from point A to point B. But unlike magic, these machines need to be built, and then more people need to maintain and operate them. Now you have to physically grow your food or come up with a way to trade services to purchase food from someone who does—"

"I see where you're going with this," Reggie said thoughtfully. "What you're saying is that on the heads side, other than not being in total control of the source of magic, because balance for survival is the Earth's job, _you_ are in control. While on the tails side, you get so caught up in maintaining the technology, that _it_ actually controls _you_."

"Precisely."

"But we live in a world of technology." Ryssa frowned. "So where do magic and the fairies fit in?"

" _Faery_ , dear, not _fairy_."

"Whatever. Same difference."

"Faery is all around us." Mary smiled. "But since most people have forgotten to believe in magic, they can't see what is right in front of their eyes."

Reggie thought about the opening note in the journal and nodded. When people couldn't make sense of things, they tried so hard to pretend it didn't exist, that for them it really didn't.

"Not all of humankind went the way of technology," Mary continued. "There were those who saw that the Earth's survival was directly linked to the magic—that the Earth _is_ magic."

"So if people got totally caught up in the technology craze," Ryssa puzzled out loud, "and they stopped believing in magic entirely, then the Earth would sort of stop existing because they couldn't see it anymore?"

"That about covers it. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that—these things always are—but that's the short of it." She bit her lip in distress. "Oh, dear."

"What?" Reggie and Ryssa asked at the same time, sitting up and looking around.

"You'll have to learn more while you're in New Faery, children. I'm afraid I haven't even begun to tell you enough, but we are out of time. We've reached the rendezvous point."

Mary pulled the car into a large parking lot that looked out onto one of the Gulf of Mexico beaches. A fog began to roll in from the water. Reggie frowned. That wasn't a common sight for the area. The air was almost the same temperature as the water, which didn't tend to allow for fog. A concrete ramp jutted out toward the water from the beach, not quite reaching it. It was unfinished, leaving a drop off as it reached the water's edge.

"Is there anything important we should know—like at the top of the list—that you can pass along quickly?" Reggie leaned forward with urgency.

Mary parked the car and opened the door. She swung around to face the children. "There are strange things happening in New Faery—actually in all of Faery. Your father and mother were killed in what many think was an accident. A ball of fire caught in some of the unpredictable, wild fields generated by the Earth's need for balance destroyed half the Seelie Court—including your parents. It certainly destroyed all of the _potentials_ , um, heirs for succession.

"But there are those who believe it was no accident. Once a new set of successors was chosen for all of the now empty positions of the Court, they began to turn up dead or just disappear. That was why your uncle brought you to the Silverwood's Adoption Agency for fosterage—to protect you until the Court trials that will begin to strengthen those meant to be the future leaders of New Faery."

Mary looked around as though checking to make sure that no one was close enough to hear.

"There are strange happenings in New Faery," she repeated, lowering her voice to an urgent, conspiratorial whisper. "The best advice I can give you is this: Rarely is anything in the world of Faery as it seems, and above all else— _trust no one_."

Reggie could feel the chill rush through his body as she uttered the same warning Terry had seen fit to give them.

"Now, come along, children." Mary lumbered out of the vehicle. "We can't be late."

Reggie and Ryssa grabbed their bags, climbing out of the car to scramble after Mary across the sand. She headed for the unfinished concrete pier and started up the short incline that would put them slightly above the level of the beach. About halfway up, she stopped and turned back toward them.

"Your crystals—take them out and put them on." Mary looked at the fog bank that had almost reached the water's edge. "Hurry now, we don't have much time."

Reggie and Ryssa glanced at each other. Neither had a clue as to what she was up to, but they dropped their bags and dug around to find the boxes that held their crystal pendants. When they had them out, Mary gave them further instructions.

"Okay, now close your eyes and place the pendants around your necks."

They did as directed, lifting the chains of their pendants over their heads to let them drape around their necks and fall to their chests.

"Now open your eyes."

"Wow! _Way cool_!" Ryssa clapped her hands in delight. Stretched out ahead of her, the concrete ramp now ended in a crystalline bridge that vanished into the fog closing in on them.

Reggie stared at the fog bank in front of him while a bridge that seemed to be made of crystal wavered in and out of his vision. He rubbed his eyes, figuring it to be a trick of light. He picked up the crystal star, holding it up in front of him to peer through the prismatic facets. The bridge appeared solid, no longer wavering.

A faint, roaring wind sound started from somewhere overhead and they all looked up. Through the hazy mist of the fog, a bright spot appeared, reflecting off the rolling gray. Reggie turned his crystal star in that direction, peering through it like a magnifying lens. Dim, but growing brighter as it drew closer through the fog bank, appeared to be a ball of fire. For one brief moment, Reggie could have sworn he saw a miniature face in the obscured flames, but Mary grabbed his arm and he lost hold of the crystal.

"Run!" Mary shouted, pushing both of the children toward the upper edge of the concrete ramp. Ryssa needed no second warning. She took off running toward the fog that concealed the drop-off at the end of the ramp.

Reggie balked. "There's nothing there!"

Mary whipped him around, grabbing hold of both shoulders to face him with determination.

"Look—in your mind you may need more proof to believe in magic, but believe me, it exists. It's not your mind you need to open, it's your heart—and child, you'd best do it fast, because you've just run out of time."

Mary pushed Reggie toward the concrete edge, still hidden from sight. Reggie scooped up his bags along with Ryssa's. He turned his eyes skyward. The ball of fire was descending from the clouds. With certainty now, he knew he saw a face in the flames.

He hit the edge of the fogbank and felt compelled, for some unknown reason, to draw a deep breath and hold it before he entered the wall of clouds.

He ran, eyes closed, waiting for the drop at the edge of the ramp. His feet found the solid purchase of the bridge as he launched himself into the fog.

## Chapter 5: New Faery

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The fog felt thicker than Reggie had expected. Wet and solid, it clung like a soggy blanket to his clothes and face. As though the mist were alive, he felt hands plucking at him with little pinches, and heard whispers calling to him.

" _He's back. He's back_ ," the words echoed in murmurs from all around him. He closed his eyes and willed the sounds to go away, all the while moving forward.

He bumped into something and opened his eyes to see Ryssa standing there, staring wide-eyed into the fog. Reggie grabbed her arm, breaking the enchantment that seemed to hold her in place. She turned to him, an expression of serious distress etched into her features.

"Make them stop, Regg. Tell them it isn't true—" Suddenly he heard the roar of wind, like before. He didn't have to turn to know that the ball of fire had followed them into the mists.

"Run!" his voice held the same urgency Mary's had when she gave the same command. He headed away from the oncoming flames, dragging Ryssa with him. He tugged at his sister's arm, pulling her along, stopping her from falling when she stumbled.

A flash of light up ahead caught his eye. He hesitated, worried that another ball of fire was coming toward them from the opposite direction. The fingers in the fog plucked at him again, urging him toward the light.

" _This way, this way_ ," the voices propelled him forward. " _The way out, the way out_."

Reggie moved on faith and a lack of alternatives. He ran toward the light. It solidified in front of him, just out of reach, a bright white light obscured by a layer of mist. He could hear the roar of the fireball all around them now, and didn't need to feel the heat to know it was almost on top of them.

When they reached the light at the edge of the fog, Reggie both smelled and felt the hair at the back of his head singeing from the heat. Without warning, he threw himself at the light, pulling Ryssa to the ground with him. He covered her with his body and waited for the fire to strike. When it didn't, he risked a look over his shoulder. The huge flames hovered above them. He rolled off of Ryssa and onto his back. The ball of flames was encased in a larger sphere of water and there appeared to be a struggle going on for dominance.

Dazed and confused, he tore his eyes from the sight and saw others standing around them. The one who drew his attention was a tall, slender man in a dark cloak. With his feet spread shoulder-width and planted firmly on the ground, the man stood with a wand in his hand, the tip of it glowing a bright blue. Sweat beaded the forehead of his older, yet ageless face. A mane of white hair fell to his waist.

From his look of concentration, Reggie guessed that he was in control of the water sphere, or at least trying to control it. Reggie looked above him again to the fireball. The water sphere shrank in size, closing in to tame the fire. The fire sphere condensed, forced into a ball of smaller proportions as it tried to avoid the water. Small wisps of steam hissed and floated away as it fought, trying to surge toward the twins without success. In a sudden rush, the water collapsed onto the flames. Reggie heard a cry of outrage as the entire sphere imploded, then dropped in a mass of water upon them.

A solid object hit his chest and he looked down to see a small, almost humanoid creature eyeing him with a mutinous glare. Fingers reached over his head and plucked the creature from his chest. He glanced at Ryssa, as wet as he was. They turned over and scrambled to their feet as the man in the cloak held the fire creature in a firm grasp, staring at it with a frown.

" _Darkwind_. Finally, we catch up with you. I suppose it will do no good to ask you why, or by whose direction this has been done?"

The little creature looked at him and hissed. It ceased its struggles and crossed its arms, tipping its head up and away in a blatant refusal to speak.

"I thought not. Very well, you know the price." He took out a crystal prism from a pocket beneath his cloak and placed it directly behind the little being in his hand.

It struggled again, furiously trying to get away, but the man held tight. He touched the crystal to the creature's head and it stopped, the look on its face glazing over. The man opened his fingers, releasing his hold on the being. With a gentle breath, he blew on the small body, melting it into the crystal.

Reggie thought he could see its face, stretched and warped like a face in a funhouse mirror, inside the prism. It was the same face he had seen peering at him from the ball of flame. The man tucked the crystal prism into the folds of his cloak and straightened his clothing.

"Reginald and Maryssa?" The man turned toward them at last. They nodded, but neither spoke. He looked at their drenched state and shook his head. "I'm sorry for the reception you received. It's not quite the way we had planned to welcome you back home."

"What just happened?" Reggie was the first to get over his shock.

"And what _was_ that creature?" Ryssa asked right behind him.

"Yes, well." The man looked uncomfortable. He glanced at the other three individuals in the clearing, drawing the twins' attention in that direction.

"Hammie?" Ryssa said with astonishment. It was the boy from school, the one who stared at her as much as he did now. Hammie dropped his gaze to the ground.

Reggie looked at the two others standing to the right of the older man. Tall and slender, the boy and girl looked even more like each other than Reggie and Ryssa did. Their long hair hung past their waists in rows upon rows of tiny braids, cascading down their backs. The dark caramel color of their skin was a perfect match for the ebony night shade of their hair and the darkness of their matching clothes.

The girl smiled, a perfect set of white teeth set in the delicate beauty of her face. "I'm Moira—this is my brother, Jet."

"Twins?" Ryssa asked.

"You bet." Jet smiled as well. His deep, chocolate-colored eyes held a twinkle.

Reggie guessed them to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, around Terry's age. He looked back to the older man, who watched them intently, seeking signs of— _what_? Reggie wondered. The man glanced away, as though embarrassed to have been caught staring.

"I'm guessing you must be Aurelius." Reggie drew the man's gaze back to him. Staring into his forest green eyes, Reggie finally understood what people meant when they said they got "lost" in the endlessness of his own blue ones.

"The uncle-guy?" Ryssa examined the man carefully.

"Yes." Aurelius turned his attention toward her. "I am your uncle. Welcome home, children."

"Some welcome." Reggie cocked his head. "You still haven't explained what happened."

"All in good time—"

"This seems like a good time to me." Reggie set his chin stubbornly.

Ryssa heard the anger in her twin's voice, crossed her arms and moved closer to him, her chin tipping upward to mirror his.

"And me."

Aurelius looked surprised for a brief moment, then his brow furrowed in annoyance.

"There's no time for this. We are due back at New Faery City—"

"Then you'd better give us the _Cliff Notes_ ," Reggie interrupted. At the look of confusion on his uncle's face, he explained, "The short version. We've spent the last thirteen years, perfectly happy without any interference, because an uncle who didn't want us around in the first place—"

"That's not true!"

"—turns us over to strangers. We get lucky and actually find a home where we were loved, and happy, and _safe_.

"From out of nowhere, with no warning, we're told that now we have to spend our free time every summer with relatives who didn't see fit to raise us in the first place. We're taken from our home, brought to some bizarre place where little creatures puff up into big balls of fire that chase us down and try to kill us." He paused to take an angry breath. "Right after, I'd like to point out, we're told it was some ball of fire that killed our parents—"

"It was the same one."

"The same what?"

"The same creature. We were never able to capture her after the destruction of the throne room. Darkwind is the same Sprite who killed your parents and countless others."

"Oh." Reggie's anger deflated in the light of that piece of information only to be replaced with confusion. "But why us? What was it trying to do?"

"Most likely, Darkwind was trying to finish what she started." Aurelius shrugged. "My guess is that she was trying to kill off the last survivors of the first explosion."

"So she knew we were coming and hid out, waiting for us?" Ryssa asked.

"No. No one in all of New Faery even knows you're alive." He looked at them thoughtfully. His gaze fell on their crystals and his eyes lit with understanding. "Ah, your heartstones. When you put them on, they were reactivated. They must have sent some sort of latent signal to the creature."

"Then maybe someone else knows they're alive," Moira said softly, "and doesn't want them to be."

Aurelius looked as though he had been struck.

"Yes, of course." He shook the paralysis from his body, and looked to the children around him. "We must get going. You're obviously not safe here."

"How far do we have to go?" Ryssa glanced around. There was no sign of transportation and hated the idea of a long walk.

"It's a ways." Jet nodded toward Aurelius, who had his wand out and was waving it in slow circles through the air. "But Aurelius is calling a cab." His smile turned mysterious.

A faint, almost musical humming filled the air, growing louder. Soon, from over the tops of the trees surrounding them, the heads of four dragonflies appeared—large—no, make that _gigantic_ —dragonflies. Reggie watched them with apprehension, wondering if another attack was coming. His tension eased a little when no one else seemed concerned.

The dragonflies flew over the clearing, interweaving the patterns of their flight in an aerobatic dance. Aurelius smiled, as his eyes followed their play. The four insects landed in the clearing, the iridescence of their wings reflecting rainbows of light. Aurelius nodded and climbed onto one of the dragonflies, straddling it as though he were mounting a horse. He turned toward the children.

"Come now. We've no time to lose." He further shifted to settle himself on top of the dragonfly.

Reggie watched in awe as the creature grew to accommodate the man's size. Hammie went up to another dragonfly. He smiled and scrambled onto the creature's back. Ryssa clapped delightedly, excitement in her eyes as she bounded up to another of the creatures and repeated what the two before her had done.

"Come on, Regg!"

Reggie looked skeptical, but shrugged it off and copied the others. From his elevated seat, he looked down at Moira and Jet.

"Does one of you want to share with me?"

"Naw, watch this." Jet stepped toward the dragonfly. The dragonfly didn't even hesitate before it began shaking its head back and forth vigorously in a negative response. Jet laughed and stepped away.

"They'd never consent to carry our kind." Moira smiled.

Not understanding, his confusion turned to surprise when the dragonfly beneath him launched unexpectedly into the air. He grabbed tight to the short fur at the back of its neck, not knowing where else to hold. The hair was soft under his fingers. He turned his head to look back at Moira and Jet, who were waving them off. He went to give a tentative wave in return, letting free one of his hands, but stopped.

Down below, he watched the twins face each other and start to shimmer. The blackness of their clothing and hair melted and then expanded into two larger forms. Reggie blinked in disbelief. Standing below him where the twins had been, were two beautiful black horses with long, shaggy fur covering their legs. He shook his head in amazement as they started to run from the clearing on all four of their well-muscled, equine legs.

The dragonfly moved past the edge of the circle of trees surrounding the clearing where he and Ryssa had first entered this strange new world. Reggie felt as though his world had been turned upside down. _How much stranger could it get?_ He was afraid that they were about to find out.

## Chapter 6: A Faery Tale

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Reggie kept a tight grip on the dragonfly. After a while, his inquisitive nature bolstered his courage, and he loosened his hold a little. He watched while Hammie and his dragonfly danced aerobatic circles around Ryssa and she laughed with pure enjoyment.

Aurelius urged his mount closer to Ryssa. There were no reins to steer the creatures, so Reggie tried to puzzle out how to direct his dragonfly to where he wanted it to go. First, he scrunched up his face and tried "thinking" toward it, willing the creature to turn right. He opened an eye to see the results. Nothing. He watched Aurelius point to Ryssa's knee, and then to his own, as though explaining something to her. Reggie thought he understood. The plains Indians used to guide their horses, bareback, with the pressure of their knees.

Reggie decided to give it a try. He pressed his left knee firmly into the soft shell of his dragonfly's body. His grip grew knuckle white as the creature took a sharp right turn and started flying in a tight circle. It went so fast Reggie thought he would be sick until he remembered to let loose the pressure of his knee. The dragonfly stopped its circular path and flew straight again, but it was now moving away from the others, back the way they had come.

When his stomach settled, which he found difficult with the constant motion of the ground rushing by below, he tried again. More gently this time, he pressed his left knee into the creature. The dragonfly turned away from the pressure, its flight path making a long wide bank to the right. Reggie smiled. He was getting the hang of it. He worked his way back to the others, making clumsy adjustments to compensate for applying pressure too hard or too light.

Aurelius nodded to Reggie when he pulled up to the side opposite of Ryssa.

"Nice of you to join us, Reginald."

"It's Reggie." His face flushed with annoyance. Ryssa smirked and he scowled at her.

"Why—?" Aurelius shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Reggie it is." He looked at the girl next to him, the question left to hang in the air. "And Maryssa?"

"Ryssa."

"Reggie and Ryssa. Not very regal sounding." Aurelius looked pained. "Well, perhaps you'll grow into your proper names."

"Not likely," Reggie mumbled.

"Maybe, maybe not," Ryssa snapped. She hated to be reminded that she was still a child.

Reggie watched the world pass by below them, trying to quell the uneasiness of his stomach from the constant rush of motion. The ground rose and fell beneath him like a roller coaster. Roller coasters had always made him sick. He tried to focus on the lush foliage of tropical trees spread out across the foothills of the distant mountains looming in the west. The beauty of the greenery was marred in places by random spots of brown decay. Aurelius followed the boy's curious look and nodded knowingly.

"That's the Wilt."

Ryssa peered downward, trying to see what they were talking about. Her face screwed up in an expression of distaste.

"It looks like the trees are dying."

"They are. But it's not just the trees—it's all of New Faery and beyond."

"How?"

"Why?" Reggie asked at the same time as his twin.

Aurelius released a sigh and was silent for a time, watching the trees below with a sad expression. When Reggie was about to ask his question again, his uncle spoke.

"How much have you been told about Faery?"

Reggie and Ryssa highlighted what Mary had already told them.

"Not as much as I had hoped." Aurelius nodded absently. "And I want to be careful about what I do say—but it is obvious that you need more information than what you currently possess."

"Why careful?" Reggie's suspicious nature was taking over. _Trust no one_.

Aurelius seemed to be waging an inner war of words. It was a while again before he spoke, which heightened Reggie's level of mistrust.

"Your safety wasn't the only reason to send you away from Faery these past years. And it wasn't only you and your sister who were sent away. It was also other members of the Starborn family—Moira and Jet, for example."

"And Hammie?" Ryssa looked over where the boy was dive-bombing some songbirds with his dragonfly.

"And Hammie."

"You said the Starborn family." Reggie said. "So Moira, Jet, Hammie—they're what? Cousins?"

"In a sense." Aurelius had a considering look on his face. "In Faery, being of the same family—the same House—does not necessarily mean that you are of the same blood. It has more to do with the inherent magic surrounding an individual at birth."

"Okay," Reggie said slowly, not sure he understood.

"So what was the other reason for sending us away?" Ryssa asked.

"Before I tell you," Aurelius looked uncomfortable, "I want to give you a little more background information so my answer will make more sense."

"Fair enough," said Reggie. "So where do you want to start?"

"Well, let's start where that woman—Mary—left off.

"The place where those who chose to remain Earth-linked, as we originally called ourselves, was an island off the main coast of human civilization, such as it was, called Eire. Today, that island is split by mortal kingdoms, and the place where Faery kept their primary residence is called Ireland. There was another island just off the coast of Eire, holding strong concentrations of magic that made it almost invisible to the human eye, which the Earth-linked inhabited as well. That island was called Tir Nan Og or The Tir, which meant _Isle of the Young_. It was appropriate, because those of us who remain Earth-linked never seem to age—or at least it appears that way to mortals.

"When mortal man began expanding their control of technology and increasing their numbers, they also moved toward conquering more and more lands. Some of those who were no longer Earth-linked, but were still good at heart and intent for communing with the earth, came to live side by side with the Earth-linked on Eire.

"Interaction with these mortals was sporadic at first." Aurelius had a faraway look. "The Earth-linked primarily kept watch from a distance to make sure respect was maintained for the land. Those who saw us called us _fairies_ , which in their language meant _little people_. Because they only saw glimpses of us and often at a distance, they thought us to be, well, little."

Aurelius seemed slightly disgruntled. Reggie and Ryssa both smiled, finding amusement in the thought of this tall, slender man being considered a _little_ person.

"Later—" Aurelius shot a dark look at the twins to stifle their chuckles. "When they did have contact with us, they considered us a bit, well, I guess to them we seemed odd, since we shunned technology and did things they couldn't understand. So they actually changed the name slightly to _Faery_ , which meant _People of the Fey_. They considered us to be crazy, or out of touch with reality."

"Now there's a big surprise," Reggie commented, but without real malice.

"There was a big argument going on at Tir Nan Og regarding the decision of whether we should interact with these humans or not. It split Faery into two factions that later became known as the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

"Those of the Seelie Court held to strict beliefs in honor, duty, and tradition. They really wanted no interaction with the mortal race of man. Although they did feel it was appropriate to keep tabs on them and alter the courses they chose with a tweak here and there to better suit the needs of Faery.

"The ones who eventually became the Unseelie Court believed that change was good and that traditions were meant to be kept up with the times, although time really had no meaning for us. They also believe that honor is a lie, a shield to hide behind that sometimes prevents you from doing what is needed, passion is more important than duty, and that it is important to look out for self before others."

"You know, they sound sort of the same, but the Unseelie are more open and realistic about it," Ryssa mused out loud.

Aurelius looked startled. "Do you really think so?"

"I don't know enough about it. I was just making an observation."

"It's funny." Aurelius had a wistful smile. "That's what your mother used to say."

"Really?" Ryssa asked shyly, a pleased look on her face.

"As the Ard Ri, she treated the factions of Faery as though they were two sets of foreign children who didn't understand they were speaking the same language." He turned his smile to Ryssa. "She was the interpreter to help them understand.

"Anyway—where was I? Oh, yes. The split among Faery led to some great conflicts—even wars. Each faction sent a group from Tir Nan Og to Eire to deal with the mortals in the way they saw fit. The unfortunate mortals were often caught in the middle of these struggles, giving reason to mistrust any dealing with those of Faery at all.

"To stop the continual destruction amongst the Faery—which some thought might lead us back down the path of technology like before—it was decided that a single ruler, or Ard Ri, was needed to have ultimate authority over both sides, but to be answerable to both as well.

"One of the greatest magical treasures created by Faery was the _Lia Fial_ , or the _Stone of Destiny_. Its connection with the Earth, being created into solid form directly from the essence of the Earth's magic, is so powerful that it holds the answers to the future in every fiber of its existence. Both sides agreed to use the Lia Fial to choose the Ard Ri.

"A woman of great beauty and power, Dana, was chosen. Because of the wisdom she used to rule the Faery, some actually began calling us the _Tuatha de Danan_ , or the _Children of Dana_. She is the one, quite literally, who made Faery what it is today.

"Faery prospered under Dana's rule, but the magical division within the Courts created a problem. When the Faery Courts were at war with each other and magic cast all around, some residual essences of the magic were left lingering about. These essences took on two distinct forms, depending upon the magic being cast. One of these are the Sprites, like Darkwind, which, when captured and harnessed by the Faery, can be used to enhance our innate abilities. The other form we call Shadows.

"We have not been able to harness the Shadows," Aurelius said, his expression serious. "In fact, the Shadows try to capture those of the Fey. When a Shadow does manage to catch one, it sucks the magical essence from the individual, severing their Earth-link and leaving them drained. We have places for them where they are taken care of because they can no longer care for themselves. Unfortunately, although they are drained and their Earth-link is severed, they still do not lose their immortality. For one of the Faery, being disconnected from magic is a fate worse than death. It causes severe depression and hopelessness. Some go into a catatonic state, while others it drives insane."

"How horrible!" Ryssa was appalled.

"I don't get it." Reggie shook his head, clearly confused. "I thought the immortality of the Faery was a direct result of their link to the Earth and its magic."

"Yes, that is true."

"Then how can these people remain immortal if their link to the magic is severed?"

"If you could find the answer to that question," Aurelius sighed, "you will have solved one of the greatest mysteries of Faery."

Reggie nodded thoughtfully to himself.

"After a time, the Milesians, also called the sons of Mil, came to conquer Eire." Aurelius brought them back to the events he had been outlining. "The Milesians were Celts, under a single chief, Mil. He had at his side a human sorcerer who had managed to find a connection to the land and use its magic.

"A battle was fought between Faery and the Milesians, and Faery lost. The sorcerer had called on the darkest destructive forces of the Earth and temporarily blocked their connection to the magic. Without the Earth-link, Faery could not stand up to the warrior might of the Celts. As they regained strength, they were able to engage in a little magical terrorism, ruining crops, altering the weather and some other minor things, which were not so minor to the mortals.

"The Ard Ri, Dana, saw that because of the sorcerer's curse against the people of Faery, the link to the magic had weakened and would never be the same again. The use of dark magic was seen to be the cause, so the use of dark magic was forbidden from that day forward. At that point, Dana did two things.

"The first was to strike an agreement with the Milesians that allowed her people to depart from Eire without any further harm, either to return to Tir Nan Og or to find another land to sustain them. In return, she demanded that the sorcerer be delivered to the Faery so his magic could never again cause such destruction. The sorcerer agreed, since he wanted to learn more about magic.

"The second was that in a last attempt to return strength to the Fey, she offered herself and her entire essence to the Earth to help restore that which had been lost. The Earth accepted," he said the last quietly. "Though still not as strong as before, Faery had its full Earth-link back."

"What happened to the sorcerer?"

"He went first to Tir Nan Og, and then eventually left with one of the groups that went in search of new lands." He swept his arm out in front of him, pointing to indicate the island below. "Our group came here, established New Faery, and we have been here ever since."

"Wow," Ryssa said. "So you're like really old then? What? A couple hundred years?"

"Several hundred." Aurelius frowned, thinking about it. "Or maybe more—I'm really not quite sure."

"What about the Wilt?" Reggie asked.

"Ah, the Wilt," Aurelius sighed. "It's not that complicated, actually. When Dana gave herself to the Earth, she did gain back the Earth-link for Faery. But her sacrifice could only be that powerful because as Ard Ri, she was completely and totally tied to the land in the first place.

"You see, in order to become Ard Ri and wield any kind of power over the factions of Faery at all, she had to bind herself to the magic. When she gave herself to the Earth, she brought something back to Faery, but also took something away from it. It is only through the Ard Ri that the Earth can fully connect to the people of Faery, because it was intentionally set up that way.

"After Dana's sacrifice, since time has no meaning to the Fey, there was no urgency in finding a New Ard Ri. We didn't stop to consider what repercussions it might have. The Wilt came, creating spots I can only explain as being dead magic. The land began dying away because with the creation of the first Ard Ri, a flow was created from the magic to Faery. When she was lost to us, that flow was interrupted. It was some time before the Wilt was discovered, and it was even more time before we got around to figuring out the cause. All in all, it was almost two hundred years before we chose a new Ard Ri to restore the proper flow of the magic."

"Wow." Ryssa was amazed. "And my foster mom thinks _I_ procrastinate."

"Yes, well." Aurelius cleared his throat. "Your birth mother, Delzia, was the first Ard Ri chosen since Dana. The Wilt hadn't even been completely pushed back before we lost her, too. Now the Wilt is returning in full force. It is not only affecting New Faery, but we have heard reports that it is starting to show up in Tir Nan Og as well."

"So that's what the competition thing Mary mentioned is all about?" Reggie asked. "The choosing of a new Ard Ri?"

"Among other things, yes."

"And what was the other thing?" Ryssa frowned, trying to remember. "You said there was a second reason why you sent us away other than the obvious, trying to keep us from getting killed part."

"We'll get into that a little later." Aurelius looked down below to where Hammie was already leading his dragonfly to descend. He pointed, drawing the twins' attention. "We've arrived at New Faery City."

## Chapter 7: The Heart of New Faery

[back to top]

Reggie took a quick look at his twin and saw her mouth open with surprise. He realized that he was doing the same thing and closed it before looking back at the scene below.

Plants, trees, flowers—all manner of botanical oddities such as he had never seen before were spread out across a vast area. His foster mother loved beautiful plants and would often take him and Ryssa to the botanical gardens to wander the paths to enjoy their peace and beauty. She knew all there was to know about every plant in those gardens. He wondered if she had ever seen anything like this. He'd bet she hadn't.

Ryssa's thoughts followed the same lines as Reggie. This was a garden unlike anything she had ever seen, and she wished Debra Chambly could be here to share it with them. Then she blinked. A woman walked into a square of the garden and disappeared. A man stepped out of a tree.

"Aurelius." She blinked again. "That's not a garden below, is it?"

"That's New Faery City." Aurelius smiled.

"What do you mean?" Reggie peered closely.

"The garden, Regg—the garden _is_ the city." Ryssa was pleased to figure out something before her twin for a change.

Reggie was sure his mouth had to be open again. His sister was right. The plants were the houses and shops, interspersed with natural-looking stonework here and there. What he had mistaken for garden paths were actually streets where people walked from one place to the next. Well, not all of them were walking. Some were flying, just above the ground, with a variety of wings in all shapes and sizes. A few flew above the plant-city, taking a more direct route to whatever destination they had in mind. They all moved in a single direction.

Above the street level of the city, lights of every imaginable hue flitted about. It looked like a rainbow of fireflies. There were hundreds of them, maybe more. The concentration of lights became denser the further they moved into the city. Like everyone else, including themselves, Reggie noted, they seemed to be heading toward a central location. The whole scene was so vivid it almost hurt Reggie's eyes to look at it, and yet he couldn't tear his gaze away. But it was the next sight that made his breath catch in his throat. He now knew where everyone was heading.

At what appeared to be the center of the city was an enormous tree that stood above all the rest. If he were to judge by the size of the people from this distance, he would guess the trunk to be over four hundred feet in diameter—at least. It grew out of a large mound. Some of the roots were exposed to form stairs and archways. He couldn't even begin to imagine how deep into the earth they would have to go to support the bulk of a tree that size.

The upper branches formed the dome of a leafy green canopy that spread outward in a full circle to span another two hundred feet from the trunk. From the mound to the canopy on the lower portion of the trunk were places where, years ago, the branches had been trimmed to give height to the canopy above. At the places where the branches had been cut away were crystal windows, opalescent in color. Most of the windows had faces peering out of them.

The lights that he took to be fireflies danced in and out of the branches of the massive tree. Upon closer inspection, he saw people sitting among the branches, some waving to others below, others chatting with those sitting next to them. The scene held all of the cheerfulness and excitement of a big event.

He was startled when a troop of creatures whizzed past him through the air. They were small, with butterfly wings and insect-like bodies that had a humanoid form. The faces morphed back and forth between round and beautiful to pinched and hideous with fangs extending down over their lower lips. Reggie looked to Aurelius.

"Not all of Faery is beautiful," Aurelius answered his unspoken question, "although beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some of Faery is quite ugly and very, _very_ dangerous. In Faery, many of the old tales live, and the stories that can bring either dream or nightmare are often more real than you know."

Aurelius urged his mount downward, leaving the twins to follow. Reggie found that he didn't have to direct his mount. It just followed Aurelius' lead, as did Ryssa's. The closer they drew to the ground, the better Reggie understood what Aurelius meant about the stuff of dreams and nightmares. It was all gathered in one place—the place where their uncle seemed to be taking them.

The dragonflies landed on a clear patch of green grass just outside the dome of the tree. Hammie arrived first and was already scrambling off his mount by the time the other three set down on firm ground.

" _Look out!_ " The warning came from the crowd gathered at the edges of the landing field.

Without warning, the dragonflies twisted, tossing the three riders off their backs to roll on the ground before taking off again into the air. Aurelius rolled to his feet with a graceful somersault, as compared to the tangled pile the twins landed in. Unknown hands grabbed Reggie and Ryssa out of the way just in time for another troop of dragonflies to land, their riders smirking with malicious amusement.

Reggie was helped to his feet by a strange boy with a sullen look and black hair that hung raggedly in his eyes. Before he had a chance to thank him, the boy vanished into the crowd. Ryssa was helped to her feet by Hammie. Aurelius stood with a lack of concern, looking as though he had intended his near-graceful dismount. Reggie thought he saw a flash of anger cross his uncle's green eyes before it was replaced by a cool glance at the group now occupying the landing field.

"Still playing at being the bully, eh, Pyro?" Aurelius looked bored. "It grows more tiresome every day."

"Who are these jokers?" Reggie whispered to Hammie, who was trying to help brush grass and dirt from Ryssa's clothes while she swatted his hands to get him to stop.

"Flamebringer family," Hammie whispered back. He gave Reggie a knowing stare as though that explained it all. When it didn't seem to register, he added, "The worst prigs of the Seelie Court."

Reggie still didn't understand, but nodded as though he did.

He felt someone at his back and took a quick look to see Jet standing behind him, with Moira moving up behind Ryssa. They didn't appear to have broken a sweat, and he was amazed they had made such good time. He'd have to ask them about that later. Reggie glanced first at Aurelius and then took a closer look at the others.

The man his uncle called Pyro had flame-colored hair that fell in stylish waves down his back. His clothing consisted of bright, flamboyant tones of oranges, yellows and reds. All in all, Reggie thought he looked like a living, breathing flame. Pyro Flamebringer was a fitting name. Except for the eyes—they were a cold, ice blue without a trace of warmth.

_Trust no one_. Reggie shuddered at the thought. It definitely seemed to apply here.

He looked to the other Flamebringers. Each was unique, but there didn't appear to be a family resemblance. He would have to remind Aurelius to explain this whole concept of family in Faery. Movement behind Pyro caught his eye, and Reggie looked closer to see an almost duplicate version of the arrogant man staring back, but from a much younger face.

_Now_ that _definitely has to be a blood relation_ , Reggie thought. But the ice hadn't frozen the boy's eyes like the older man's, or at least not yet. The eyes watched him curiously, but turned cold when he was caught staring. Reggie saw the boy tug on the arm of the older man. Pyro looked down in annoyance and then over to Reggie and Ryssa.

"What do we have here?" Pyro took a step closer to get a better look. Aurelius moved to block his view. Pyro was taken aback by the other man's move, but recovered quickly. "Is this all that's left of your motley little assortment of potentials?" Pyro smiled smugly at the superior numbers of his group. "I guess the odds are in our favor." His cold eyes turned to Moira and Jet. "Especially considering the alternatives."

"It is character that is needed on the throne of Faery," Aurelius said with an air of quiet dignity, "not arrogance."

"What you call _arrogance_ , Starborn, I call strength of confidence. And it is _strength_ that is needed on the throne of Faery."

Musical chimes filled the air, the sound coming from the tree. Tiny fragments of crystal, each with a unique tone, were attached to its leaves. Although he didn't feel any wind, the leaves were rustling. A man dressed in white and red placed a hand on Pyro's shoulder. Pyro glared one last time at Aurelius before nodding in deference to the other man. A lady, dressed in matching reds and whites, put a hand on the man's arm. Pyro followed behind them, with the rest of the Flamebringer group tagging along as they headed toward the tree.

Aurelius waited until they had left. Frowning a moment, he looked around the area, as though expecting someone. The crowd was moving toward the tree, a solid wave of people entering a large archway at the base that led down into the mound. Several heads cut across the path of that wave, coming toward the landing field. When they broke through the throng, Reggie saw five people headed their way, two children and three adults.

One of the women stepped forward. For the most part, she reminded Reggie of a younger version of Mary, but she was much taller, not quite as round, with longer hair, and clothes that actually matched.

"Are these the children, Aurelius?" Her eyes lit with excitement. She hugged Moira and Jet and ruffled Hammie's hair with genuine affection. "It's good to see you three back again." She looked to Reggie. "You are the spitting image of Markus! You must be Reginald."

"Reggie," he mumbled.

"Reggie it is, dear," the woman said without batting an eyelash. "I'm Mellie Starborn. And you must be Maryssa!" Her hands clapped. "Oh, you'll be turning some heads in a few years." She looked to see Hammie staring at Ryssa. "Or maybe you already are."

The boy blushed and looked away.

"Come along, Mellie." Aurelius gestured toward the thinning crowd. "Almost everyone is inside. We'll get reacquainted later."

"Yes, of course." Mellie waited until Aurelius turned away, and then rolled her eyes at the children and lowered her voice. "Bit of a stuffed shirt, that one."

"I heard that," Aurelius said without turning.

"You were meant to, you big oaf." She shrugged with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Reggie and Ryssa couldn't help but warm to her. "Come along children. We must take our places in the Court."

Reggie and Ryssa were unable to keep from staring at everything around them. Reggie saw the awe he knew had to be showing in his face mirrored in that of his twin. He didn't want to look out of place, so he tried to put on a mask of indifference. When they entered the archway of roots into the mound beneath the tree, he was back to awestruck.

The inside was much bigger than the outside could have possibly allowed. They stepped down into a crystal room that in size, with the rows of seats encircling a raised platform in the center, reminded Reggie of a concert arena. The walls and ceiling formed a single, sweeping dome of milky-colored crystal with prismatic colors dancing in muted tones across the surface. The polished wood seats and stairs descended toward the center floor. Reggie looked closer, but saw no seams, no nails. In fact, it appeared the wood was actually part of the tree roots. This meant the entire room had been grown into that shape. He wanted to take a closer look the first chance he had.

When they had almost reached the level of the floor, Aurelius led them into a section of seats where others were already waiting. The spectators gaped at Reggie and Ryssa, giving rise to a flurry of whispers.

"Not rude at all, are they?" Ryssa whispered to Reggie.

"About as rude as you're being right now," he snapped, wincing at the hurt in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm a little on edge."

"I'm scared too." She grabbed his hand. He gave it a squeeze, and they moved to sit where Aurelius indicated.

Reggie looked around the room and saw that the seats were sectioned off in an odd manner. There were two distinct sections of seating, upper and lower. The upper section looked almost like bleachers. The ones who sat in those seats were the ones who were less than human looking, although they each sat with others of their own kind. There seemed to be some sort of division between the seating, half on one side and half on the other. Without knowing more about how the Courts worked, his best guess was that it had something to do with the Seelie and Unseelie separations among the Faery.

The lower seats were almost level with the raised platform in the center. A moat surrounded the platform, and within it creatures could be seen swimming.

"Regg, is that a mermaid?"

Reggie looked in the direction she was pointing, his eyes widening. He thought back to the line that Terry had written:

If any of what I've found is true, then everything is going to be really strange for you from this point forward.

That was the understatement of the year. He was starting to believe the information Terry had sent along with them was going to be very valuable.

The lower seats were divided into fourteen separate and distinct sections. From each of the sections, a wooden walkway went directly across to the center platform, forming a series of bridges over the water. He could see the Flamebringer family on the other side of the hall from the Starborn seating, a banner of white and red hanging below their section. It was the same white and red as the clothing he had noticed worn by the man and woman who had been outside with Pyro.

Next to that section was another group where several members wore black and red. He noticed a color theme around the room. White with red, blue, purple, green, brown or orange—and then next to each were people and banners bearing black with the same color. He looked at some of those in his own section. Aurelius had taken off his cloak and the clothing that he wore beneath was white with silver. Several others in the section wore the same pattern of color.

"I wonder who _that_ guy is?" Ryssa nudged Reggie. He looked where she was pointing and saw a man sitting alone in an otherwise empty section of seats. The colors he wore were black and silver.

"Aurelius." Reggie leaned forward. "What do the colors mean?"

"They represent the color of each of the different magics aligned with each of the families, or Houses." His uncle indicated the seats across the way. "Over there, the House of Flamebringer. The red identifies the strength of the Fire element in their magic, while the white marks them as members of the Seelie Court. Next to them, the red and black. The House of Emberlight. Again, red for the Fire elemental magic, while the black marks them as Unseelie."

"So the silver is for what?" Ryssa asked.

"Celestial magic."

"And the Starborn House is Seelie Court?" Reggie asked.

Aurelius closed his eyes and blew out a sigh of waning patience.

"Your father was _King_ of the Seelie Court."

Reggie felt stupid. He had known that. To draw attention away from the heat of embarrassment flushing his face, he nodded his head toward the solitary man in black and silver.

"And what House is he?"

Aurelius' eyes clouded over. He opened his mouth to say something but then hesitated. The harmonious chimes of the tree rang out again.

"Later," Aurelius said. "Pay attention now." He turned to face the center of the room, putting an end to further questions.

Rising from out of the floor of the raised platform came thirteen robed, hooded beings holding hands to surround a tall, slender woman of incredible beauty. Dressed entirely in black, her stylish clothes draped around a trim figure. Thick, shining ebony hair swept down her back all the way to her ankles. The way it sparkled under the opalescent lighting of the dome, it seemed as though tiny stars had been pulled from the sky to twinkle in her hair. Her skin was the palest ivory and flawless in its perfection. High cheekbones and a narrow, refined nose were set above lips of crimson.

Ryssa was both envious and entranced at the same time. Not even movie stars had that kind of beauty in the mortal world. It was a definite reminder, if she had really needed one, that she was in a very different world than what she was used to.

With a wave of the woman's hand, the brown-robed figures broke away and stepped back to form a wider circle at the edges of the platform. Now Ryssa could see that the woman stood on top of a dark, flat crystal, about six feet in diameter. Sitting on the crystal next to her was a black cauldron with decorative inlay.

"Who is _she_?" Ryssa breathed, not realizing the dome had fallen silent. The woman turned her gaze to Ryssa, who could feel the weight of her stare. Ryssa tried to shrink into her seat. Every eye in the auditorium was focused upon her. Consciously aware of her still damp and bedraggled state, her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Aurelius put a hand of comfort on her arm, but it did little to make her feel better.

"Of course, it would be a member of your group who would speak with such impudence, Lord Aurelius," the woman said with amusement that did not match the intensity in her eyes. "Are you deliberately trying to offer insult to the Unseelie Court?"

"If I were to offer insult, Queen Medwyn," Aurelius said in an emotionless tone, "it would be done more blatantly, and not with a child as the vehicle of deliverance."

The Queen of the Unseelie Court laughed. The sound of her voice was rich and melodic.

"Of course—your honor would dictate nothing else." She tapped her finger thoughtfully to the side of her smiling lips. "Still, it makes me wonder what child of Faery would be unaware of who I am."

"If I might be so bold as to offer the heartstones of our potentials for the competition, you will have your answer, Your Grace."

"Nicely done, Lord Aurelius." The Queen tipped her head in a slight nod of agreement. "Very well, I will allow your presentation to be the first. Your secrecy tells me this will provide an interesting turn of events. Bring your heartstones forward."

Aurelius turned toward the children in the Starborn seats and held out his hand to collect their heartstones. Reggie and Ryssa hesitated until they saw the others give theirs over. Aurelius stood and walked from his seat to the nearest bridge, crossing to the center platform. Queen Medwyn stepped aside, giving him a mocking, gracious sweep of her arm and nod of her head to permit him to pass to the cauldron on top of the crystal. Aurelius held the heartstones together in one hand and separated a single heartstone from the group with his other hand.

"Lester Starborn," he said the name of the heartstone's owner with formality, holding it out over the cauldron. The crystal beneath the cauldron flared to life, illuminating the platform with blinding colors. Aurelius dropped the heartstone into the cauldron. The light from the crystal beneath it dimmed, but retained a small amount of light.

Aurelius held out another heartstone. "Jala Starborn." The crystal flared again, and again Aurelius dropped the heartstone into the cauldron. He continued with each of the stones in his possession, with the same results. "Arden Starborn. Hammie Starborn. Moira and Jet Starborn." He held both at the same time and then into the cauldron they went. Two remained.

"Reginald and Maryssa Starborn," he intoned. The stone flared to life, but before he could drop them into the pot, Queen Medwyn grabbed his wrist, her eyes blazing with anger. Whispers buzzed throughout the room.

"What game do you seek to play, old man?" she hissed. The room fell silent. "Reginald and Maryssa are dead."

"The Lia Fial shines true, Medwyn," he said gently, without using her title.

The Queen stared at the crystal in shock, and then at the twins. Her gaze softened as her eyes filled with shining tears that did not fall.

"They are alive," she whispered.

"Yes, Medwyn, and I meant no ill to you in this. I only meant to keep them safe."

She turned her heated gaze on him. "A curse on you, old man. I mourned them to this very day. I cried—" She bit off the last word and swallowed it, as if suddenly remembering they had a sizeable audience.

She let go of Aurelius' wrist and stepped back. He dropped the heartstones into the cauldron and turned to walk away from the platform.

"We will have further words on this, Lord Aurelius," her voice was cool and without emotion.

"I expected as much, Queen Medwyn." He left the platform without looking back.

## Chapter 8: Matchmaker

[back to top]

Reggie watched the proceedings as though in a trance. They were supposed to be _dead_? The hows, whys and what-fors of the information reeled through his mind. Aurelius _had_ mentioned that Darkwind had come to complete an unfinished task. In his brief questioning of the Sprite, Aurelius had alluded to it being at someone else's direction. _But_ _whose_?

Reggie moved that question to the top of the list he was compiling. It occurred to him that the Queen was a member of the Unseelie Court—wouldn't she be a prime suspect for getting rid of half the Seelie Court? Yet she appeared to be sincerely distressed she had not been told that they were alive.

_Was it all a show?_ Reggie didn't think so. It almost seemed as though she _cared_ about them. Aurelius treated her as though she did. Why? _Trust no one_. The thought reverberated through his already aching brain.

Reggie tried to detach himself from the distressing thought, hoping to see it from a different perspective, but found he couldn't. How do you succeed in _not_ being emotional about the thought of someone wanting to kill you? It was beyond him.

Ryssa stared straight ahead, her mind so stunned she couldn't think clearly. One moment she wanted to throw a temper tantrum, the next she felt like bursting into tears and running back to Debra. She felt sick to her stomach. It all seemed so unreal. She thought to pinch herself, to see if she was dreaming, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Still, if it was a dream, she could wake up. Her hand reached of its own accord toward the opposite arm. She closed her eyes and pinched.

_Ouch!_ She quickly drew her hand back. Her eyes snapped open, only stare into those of the man in black and silver. He watched her intently, his face holding an expression of sadness.

_Why sad?_ She wondered. Did he actually feel sorry for her or was he having remorse over trying to kill her? _Great_ —now she was going to become one of those paranoid schizoids who thought everyone was out to get them. In this case, someone was, but it didn't make her feel any better. _Trust no one_.

Something touched her and she jumped. Reggie had grabbed her hand in a reassuring squeeze. She relaxed, squeezing back and attempting a smile, but was sure it was more of a grimace. There wasn't much smile in her right now.

One by one the other Houses brought the heartstones of their potentials to the stage. Ryssa watched with detachment as the Lia Fial flared with each stone dropped into the cauldron, with each name called out. The scene played like a slow, pulsing strobe light in Ryssa's mind, each announcement punctuated by a flash of random thought, frozen in a moment of time.

"Bit Flamebringer."

_:Flash: Voices in the fog, whispering, calling out to them_.

"Flicker Flamebringer."

_:Flash: Trust no one_.

"Tallow Emberlight."

_:Flash: Our father was King of the Seelie Court_.

"Taz Waverider."

_:Flash: Half the Seelie Court and all of the potentials were killed by the same wild elemental magic that killed our parents_.

"Ruby Stoneheart."

_:Flash: Not everything is as it appears in Faery_.

"Fields Landstrider."

_:Flash: The two of them wrapped in the loving embrace of Debra and Terry Chambly_.

"Storm Cloudwalker."

_:Flash: Darkwind staring from the flames of a fireball_.

"Whisper Windcall."

_:Flash: The first glimpse of New Faery City_.

"Celeste Beastmaster."

_:Flash:_ Ryssa closed her eyes against the flare of light and oncoming memories. It didn't help. The light flared through the darkness of her eyelids, dimmer, but still there.

"Boyd Feathernest."

_:Flash: Queen Medwyn staring at them with a look of hope, her eyes shining with unshed tears_.

"Teardrop and Smiley Bonemender."

_:Flash: The man in black and silver, watching from his solitary seat_.

"Gerome Lighthand."

_:Flash:_ Ryssa was breathing hard now. Sweat beaded on her forehead and ran down her face. The memories flashed once more through her mind, before fading into a dim sense of awareness. She opened her eyes, realizing the tightness of Reggie's hand around hers. She yanked it from his grip.

Reggie stared at his twin, the shock evident in her eyes. They had _shared_ those memories. What was going on? How was that possible?

Curious, Reggie reached out his hand to touch his twin again, but Ryssa recoiled in horror. She was having none of it. He drew back and both hands up to show he would keep them to himself. _At least for now_. He really wanted to see if it would happen again.

A buzz of voices rose around them as the final heartstones were dropped into the cauldron. Reggie noticed that the last woman who had put in heartstones was dressed in a pattern of black and orange. Unseelie Court. _What was that last series of names? Lighthand_. He tried to think on the one before that. _Had the guy worn white and orange? Bonemender. They must have some kind of body magic, maybe Healing magic_ , he decided.

He wished he had paid more attention. He might have puzzled some of this out on his own. His thoughts turned to Ryssa. What had just happened between them? It felt kind of creepy, and yet it held a sense of warmth he had never experienced before. Ryssa shivered next to him. He could tell without asking that the same thoughts were going through her head, and she was sticking with creepy.

The tree chimes sounded throughout the Arena Court. Queen Medwyn waited for silence before she spoke.

"It is with both a joyous heart and a heavy heart that we come together today."

The colors of the dome brightened as her words resonated around the arena. The Queen had no need to raise her voice in order to be heard by everyone in the room. _The dome must act as some kind of amplifier_ , Ryssa decided and then blushed in embarrassment. That was how her words had carried to the Queen—and everyone else in the room. She would have to be more careful in the future, or at least until she learned some of the ins and outs of Faery and its magical ways.

"A joyous heart because we come together, united in a common goal—both Courts and all that they encompass—" Medwyn smiled with mild humor. "Now that's not a common thing, so enjoy the standing truce while it lasts, children."

Her smile faded.

"But also with a heavy heart, because without the loss of so many of our high ranking numbers, we would not be gathered for what is to come."

Queen Medwyn paused, allowing reflection of that thought to linger in the minds of everyone present.

"Before we continue into the event that led us here today, I wish to make one thing perfectly clear. The Unseelie Court takes no pleasure from the great magnitude of losses of the Seelie Court. Without knowing the perpetrator of the heinous crime against _all_ of Faery, I can only say that for the grace of a coin toss, it could well have been the Unseelie Court who suffered losses that day. Not only were so many of the Seelie Court lost, but along with them, the potentials, the sons and daughters of Faery as well. Children are our most precious and sacred gift and so rare among us, that this loss will affect us all in ways we have not yet begun to feel.

"My own sister, the Ard Ri, and her husband, the King of the Seelie Court, were among those losses—"

_Sister?_ Reggie and Ryssa eyed each other with confusion. The Queen of the Unseelie Court was their _aunt_? Another piece of information to toss into the simmering pot with the others.

"—We had thought their line dead with the loss of their children, until today. The return of those children may well be a symbol of hope. Their survival should remind us of the determination of the Fey to survive, no matter what the winds of chance may blow our way."

_How_ had _they survived when all others were lost?_ Reggie wondered.

The Queen's tone grew dark and determined. "In the light of the continuing disappearances and deaths of the chosen children of Faery, before all of you gathered, I make this pledge: With every continued breath I take and with every ounce of blood I possess, I _will_ find the perpetrator of these crimes and bring him or her to justice—a _Queen's_ justice. There will be no mercy—as you show none for our people, or for our survival."

The air grew heavy around the Arena Court, making it hard to breathe. Ryssa watched the cold fury etched on the Queen's face and was frightened. The sensation suddenly lightened and passed. _What had just happened?_ Ryssa realized it was the same strange feeling she had experienced at their birthday party. Had it really only been this morning that they had left home to come here? It already seemed like forever ago.

The Queen of the Unseelie Court smiled, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Now that the more serious business has been taken care of, let us get on with the matchmaking, shall we?"

Reggie choked. _Had the Queen just made a powerful threat of retribution only to turn to all smiles and cheeriness?_ He shook his head. The woman changed moods faster than Ryssa did. It wasn't a stretch to see _those_ two were related. It made him wonder what his mother and father were like.

"It was our original intent to have thirteen teams of thirteen potentials each," Medwyn continued. "Sadly, since the advent of the original choosing, we have lost over half of those numbers."

Reggie did a quick calculation in his head. He tapped a couple of fingers on his leg to keep track of his adding. His brows came together. Ryssa nudged him with her elbow and gave him a questioning look. Reggie held up fingers on both hands to indicate the number he had calculated: _Over eighty_.

Ryssa looked as stunned as he felt. How could that many people turn up dead or missing without a clue as to what was happening—or _who_ was doing it?

"Earlier this morning, the Counselors for each of the six teams were chosen. They were given very strict instructions on what would be required for preparing the potentials for the competition. Would the Counselors stand now and take your places at the banner for your team?"

Aurelius was one of the six adults from the various Houses to stand and walk to the center platform. Pyro was another. Reggie blinked. Aurelius stopped at a banner he was sure hadn't been there before now. The banner was split down the middle, white on one side, black on the other, with a flaming bird depicted in the center. All six banners were designed in a similar manner, white and black, half and half, each with a different creature.

Pyro stood in front of a banner bearing a dragon. The other banners had creatures that, as far as Reggie could tell, included a ferocious-looking snake, a lizard, an insect that he felt confident was a firefly because its body seemed to blink under the lights, and a round, pudgy creature that looked to be a fat squirrel with a pointed nose, no tail, and porcupine fur.

Reggie tilted his head, trying to figure it out. _Oh wait—a hedgehog_. He vaguely remembered seeing a picture of one.

Two men stood in front of the lizard and the hedgehog banners, while two women took their places before those with the snake and firefly.

The Queen nodded her head and stepped back. The robed figures came forward. Each reached their hands into the cauldron and brought out a heartstone. One by one, they lined up by the banner where Aurelius stood.

"When you hear your name called," the Queen prompted, "come down and retrieve your heartstone and wait with your team until the matchmaking is finished."

Reggie's heart thumped. As much as he wasn't sure yet about his uncle, he was definitely certain of one thing—he did _not_ want to be on Pyro's dragon team.

"Team Phoenix," the lead figure called out. "Aurelius Starborn—Counselor. First potential: Reginald Starborn."

Reggie stood nervously. It would be easier if he weren't the first one called. He could have at least watched someone else to see what he was supposed to do. He walked down and stood before the robed figure. The being put the heartstone in place around his neck. Reggie looked up into the hood to see a beautiful pair of amethyst-colored eyes stared down at him.

The woman smiled, and he could have sworn that she winked before turning away. Reggie took a hesitant step back and fell into line behind his uncle, waiting for the next name to be called.

"Maryssa Starborn," the second robed Faery called out.

Reggie thought he could hear his sister's sigh of relief as she scrambled out of her seat and came to join him. He couldn't begrudge her enthusiasm. He would have been very unhappy if she had been put on a separate team.

"Moira Starborn."

"Jet Starborn."

As their names were called, Reggie felt elated that the other twins had been placed on the same team as he and Ryssa.

"Hammie Starborn."

"Jade Stoneheart."

The first name outside the Starborn House was called to the ranks of Team Phoenix.

"Pyro Flamebringer, Jr."

Pyro, Sr.'s cry of anger echoed through the hall as murmurs made the rounds.

Pyro, Jr. walked slowly to retrieve his heartstone, his face pale and nervous.

"Loo Seacalm."

_Blue and black_.

"Whisper Windcall."

_Purple and black_.

Reggie tried to watch where the potentials came from so he could identify House names with colors.

"Gervais Beastmaster."

_Brown and white_.

"Glinda Feathernest."

_Brown and black_.

"Meek Lighthand."

_Orange and black_.

The last boy called for Team Phoenix had messy black hair and a sullen, wary expression. Reggie recognized him as the boy who had pulled him out of the way at the dragonfly landing field. He smiled at him, but the boy scowled and looked down at the floor.

The brown-robed Faery went back to the cauldron and took out a second set of heartstones, returning to line up by the dragon banner. Pyro, Sr.'s eyes blaze with heat instead of coldness for a change. He obviously wasn't happy that his son was on a Team other than his.

"Team Dragon," the first robe intoned. "Pyro Flamebringer, Sr.—Counselor. Blaze Flamebringer. The list continued as Team Dragon was given a compliment of thirteen members.

When the robed figures returned to the cauldron, Reggie noticed that one refrained from taking a heartstone. _Ah—the remaining Teams would each have only twelve members_. He wondered whether or not it would make a difference. Obviously not, or the divisions would have been set up differently.

The first robe stayed by the cauldron while the others lined up by the woman who represented the snake banner.

"Team Serpent," the robed figure at the cauldron called out. "Ocea Waverider—Counselor."

"Bart Waverider," the first robe at the head of the line called out.

_Blue and white. Water? Seelie Court_. Reggie thought he was getting the hang of it.

The next round started with the man at the lizard banner.

"Team Lizard—Tree Stoneheart—Counselor."

"Flint Stoneheart."

_Green and white. Plants? More likely the element of Earth_ , Reggie corrected himself mentally. _Seelie Court_.

Then it was on to the woman at the head of the firefly banner.

"Team Firefly—Skye Windcall—Counselor."

"Gale Cloudwalker."

_Purple and white. Weather? Air?_ Reggie wondered. _Purple air?_ He shrugged. At least he knew for sure it was Seelie Court.

"Team Hedgehog—Sammiel Lighthand—Counselor."

_Hah!_ Reggie thought. _I knew it was a hedgehog_.

"Gerome Lighthand."

_Orange and black again. What does orange stand for?_ He would have to ask that kid—what was his name—? _Meek. Maybe it would be a way to get to know him better_.

When the last of the names were called, the robed Faery stepped to their places around the outer edge of the platform. Queen Medwyn returned to the center.

"The competition will take place four weeks hence, the location to be announced. Counselors, take your charges to their designated sleeping areas. Potentials—get a good night's sleep. Your training begins tomorrow. I wish you all the best of luck, for the sake of Faery."

Each of the Counselors took up the banner of their Team and led their charges off the bridges and up the stairs to exit the Arena Court amidst the cheers of the crowd. Before Team Phoenix hit the top of the stairs, Aurelius took a left turn into the uppermost level, just past the seating. He took a right turn up a shorter set of stairs and headed toward a small archway—one that didn't lead outside. He set the Team banner into a bracket at the entrance to the archway and continued into a narrow, brightly lit tunnel that spiraled downward.

The bottom of the ramp opened into a large, domed room with three doors set into the walls. In the center of the room was a pillar that appeared to be carved from a single piece of wood raised from the floor. It was a perfect likeness of the tree above them, the dome of its branches forming the actual ceiling of the room.

Aurelius stopped and pointed. "Girls, your room is to the right. Boys, yours is to the left. The center door is my quarters for the duration of our stay. I have some work to do to prepare for tomorrow, so I will leave you to your own devices. Take some time to get to know each other, because regardless of your House background," he raised an arched eyebrow at Pyro, Jr. who stared blandly back at him, "this is your new family for the next four weeks and maybe beyond. And believe me, if you are going to take this as seriously as you should to have any chance of staying in the competition, you will need to work together at the top performance of your abilities. Have a good night, children."

The members of Team Phoenix watched as Aurelius headed to his quarters. Reggie expected him to turn back, to call to him and Ryssa and give them further encouragement—comfort— _anything_. But he didn't. The door to his quarters closed, and Reggie felt a part of his heart close with it.

_Trust no one_.

## Chapter 9: Teammates

[back to top]

Ryssa threw herself onto a small, plush couch in the common area. Her mood was so black that thunderclouds could almost be seen gathering over her head. Equally disgusted, Reggie marched to the boys' room at the left. He opened the door to see a spacious sleeping area that held eight beds. On one of the beds were the bags he had brought with him to Faery. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten all about them when they had hopped on the dragonflies. Jet appeared behind him, and Reggie turned with a questioning expression.

"Nope." Jet flashed a charming smile. "I can't take credit. That would be one of the Brownies, I suspect, deciding to take a hand in watching over you."

"Brownies?" Reggie took a cursory look through the bags. Everything seemed to be there.

"You know, _Brownies_." Jet appeared confused. "Little brown folk, no Court affiliation, come and go as they please, _figure you-can't-live-without-_ them kind of people?"

Reggie shook his head. Jet blew out a long breath of air.

"So how are you at pulling late nighters?"

"Late nighters?"

"Yup, 'cuz kid, I'm thinking we need to have a serious information exchange going on here."

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Reggie grinned. "A little Q and A with emphasis on the A."

Jet laughed. "Aurelius has his reasons for holding back, you know."

"Which would be—?"

"The same reasons he had with Moira and me—and with Hammie. Moira and I were in pretty much the same boat when we started coming here about four summers back. But because of our, well, _unique_ abilities, I think we were encouraged to learn more by our foster parents in the Zombie Zone than you and Ryssa probably were—or even Hammie for that matter."

"Zombie Zone?"

"The mortal world." Jet smirked. "It's a term Moira and I came up with to describe people who wander through life on auto-pilot. They count on technology for everything and don't even realize they're disconnected from the magic. Heck, they don't even realize magic exists. By denying it, they are denying what makes them truly alive. Zombies—that's what they remind us of."

"Are there real zombies in Faery?" Reggie thought about some of the nightmarish creatures he had seen and couldn't even begin to describe.

"Not as such, no." Jet laughed. "But Moira and I are big fans of horror movies out in Zombie Zone. It's kinda where we got the idea for the name."

"I like it. Though I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty dead-headed myself right now. My brain's on overload."

"Maybe we should wait on the Q and A then. I know how overwhelming it can be at first."

"No way! Overload me! Actually, I think the reason for the overload is too many disconnected pieces. I need pieces that might make it fit into some sort of weird sense."

"Gotcha."

"And I'll let you know _before_ the gray matter starts seeping out my ears, deal?"

"Deal." Jet flashed another grin. "Let's go back and join the others. Some of them have been here all of their lives—they might be able to explain things better. Besides, this will be the _getting-to-know-you_ time Aurelius wants us to have."

"Yeah, back to that. What were you saying about the reasons he has for holding back?"

"Yeah, that," Jet grunted. "Other than the main reason to send us away, for protection, Aurelius thought it would give us an edge in the upcoming competitions."

"How so?"

"When you grow up around something all your life, you lose a certain perspective. Experiences, prejudices and the people around you—they all warp and shape how you view things. Coming back to Faery with fresh thoughts, fresh ideas—a fresh look at something very old and ancient—Aurelius hopes it will help us come at things from a different approach. He tries not to give us his opinions on Faery, so we don't fall into the trap of attempting to continue with the tried and true that seems to have become more and more tried but less and less true."

"Makes sense in a bizarre sort of way," Reggie said. "He's looking for change. How _Unseelie_ of him."

Jet blinked before letting loose his laughter. "Don't let him hear you say that!" he gasped between small fits of chuckles.

Reggie couldn't help but get caught up in Jet's amusement. The two of them laughed their way back into the common area.

When Reggie and Jet had gone off to the boys' room, Moira sat down on the couch next to Ryssa. They sat in silence for a moment until Moira finally spoke.

"Why the long face?"

Ryssa looked over and started in surprise. Moira's face was halfway morphed into a longer version of her original features. Ryssa thought it looked like the girl's face had been stretched over the top of a horse head. Moira batted her eyelashes. "You seemed lonely. Just thought I'd join you."

A smile tugged at the corners of Ryssa's mouth. She attempted to hold onto her mood, but found she couldn't. Against her will, the giggles started. Moira joined in, a horsey nicker escaping distorted lips. Her eyes widened in surprise and she covered her hand over her mouth with embarrassment. While Ryssa watched, Moira's face shrank back into itself. She gave an awkward grin.

"That was cool!" Ryssa leaned in to examine Moira's face. There was no trace of horsiness left, only the girl's natural beauty. "Can I touch it?"

"What? My face?"

Ryssa nodded.

"I guess." She shrugged. "Nobody's asked me that before."

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to be rude."

"No, I can tell. Go ahead. Knock yourself out."

Ryssa reached up and touched the girl's cheeks and forehead, pressing lightly. She brought her fingers to her own face and probed it the same way.

"It doesn't feel any different." Her eyes lit up with a thought. "Will I be able to do that, too—I mean, after I learn magic?"

A snort came from the other side of the room. Ryssa glanced over to see Pyro, Jr. eyeing her with scorn.

"You don't know anything, do you? She's a Phooka."

" _Half_ Phooka," Moira ducked her head, embarrassed, "on my father's side."

Pyro, Jr. shrugged. "In for a pinch, in for a punch." He turned his attention back to Ryssa. "Phookas are of the old _dark_ magic lines, you moron. If it weren't for her mother being from the House of Stoneheart, they would have been banned from Court. As it is, their mother was exiled. Interaction with any kind of dark magic isn't allowed. Phookas are the embodiment of dark magic—they are malicious and mean and full of pure spite."

A tear slid down Moira's cheek and Ryssa felt her anger growing. "If Phookas are mean and spiteful, I'd like to know how much Phooka runs through _your_ family lines. You might as well get used to working with Moira and Jet—it's the only way we're going to win this competition."

" _Win?_ " Pyro, Jr. glared at her. "You don't honestly expect to _win_ with this bunch of losers? Half-breeds, morons, dimwits and infants—the whole lot of you. I might not be in the competition by the end of the summer, but I'll be quit of this group soon enough and back with the _real_ Faery."

Pyro, Jr. headed toward the boys' room, brushing past Reggie and Jet without apology. He slammed the door behind him. Everyone just sat there, not moving.

"Don't suppose we'll get the chance to vote him off the island, eh?" Jet waggled his eyebrows. The team members who had spent time in the mortal world fell into a fit of laughter at the reference. The others joined in with the contagion that lightened the mood of the room.

"Oh, well," Jet gave a theatrical sigh, "it was a thought."

Ryssa reached over and gave Moira's wrist a reassuring squeeze. Moira acknowledged it with gratitude. "Thanks." She hurriedly brushed away the tear before anyone else could notice.

A familiar feeling of pressure filled the room and then lessened.

"Okay," Reggie blurted, "here's one for the Q and A—what is that _thing_ that keeps happening? The pressure thing—what _is_ it?"

Jet's eyes locked with Moira's for a brief moment.

"First," Jet addressed the others in the room, "let's give everyone a head's up on the sitch and let them decide whether they want to throw in their two cents worth, or throw in the towel."

The team's full focus was now on Jet.

"Okay, 'mates. _I_ , for one, really want to give this competition the best we've got. I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way, for whatever reason."

He acknowledged the tentative nods of the group before continuing.

"You're all aware that Reggie and Ryssa here, have just come onto the Faery scene. But here's the worst part. They're joining our Team with pretty much zero info—zip, nil, nada. We need to bring them up to speed so we have a chance to win.

"Now, I'm thinking that as the kidlets of the late Ard Ri and King of the Seelie, it's possible we might have a couple of ringers here—some real hard hitters. But if they don't understand the tools they're using to hit, it isn't going to do us much good. So I was thinking a little Q and A—Question and Answer session—might strike a starting point for them. What do you think?"

"No pressure, right?" Reggie said dryly.

"No pressure at all, royal boy," Jet replied with amusement.

"I'm in," one girl piped up.

"And me." Hammie appeared anxious. "But I'm still learning, too."

"Let's do it," another boy added.

Everyone gathered in various seats and chairs around Ryssa and Moira. Jet and Reggie sat on the arms of the sofa next to their siblings. Reggie noticed that even Meek moved closer to lean against the tree sculpture in the center of the room.

"Okay." Jet glanced around. "I'm not sure how we want to go about this, but I know these two have been given chunks of info here and there that aren't fitting together to form a complete picture for them yet. So how about we let them do the asking and whoever has an answer can just jump in?"

When mumbles of agreement came, Jet continued, "I'm going to start with the first question our boy Reggie here just asked, because I think he can get himself into real trouble by not knowing the answer."

There were some very vigorous nods of agreement.

He turned to Reggie and Ryssa. "In Faery, because of the impulsive and quirky moods of the creatures and people who deal with magic on a daily basis, there are strict laws that bind us. They keep us in check—stop us from running amok with the power of magic and messing up the natural order of things. The Earth won't let us upset the balance too much without spanking us like the children we are to her.

"Because of this, each member of Faery, once they figure out the way their hearts work, align themselves with either the Seelie or Unseelie Courts and take vows on the use of their magic. Vows and promises are the backbone of Faery. When a promise or vow is made, the Earth shows its acceptance and holds the maker to that promise or vow. That's the pressure you feel—it's the Earth accepting the promise and letting the person know they will be held to it. Most are honest enough to follow through. Those who try to wriggle out of it are punished."

Members of the group shuddered or closed their eyes at the thought, leaving the impression that the punishments were quite horrible.

"So to sum it all up," Jet looked seriously at the two, "never, _ever_ make a promise or vow you don't intend to keep."

Reggie thought about the vows made by both Mary and Queen Medwyn and now understood the weight of the pressure. They had made some pretty heavy vows. Then he thought of Moira and what had just happened.

"What about now? All I heard Moira say was _thanks_. That's not a vow or promise."

"Not in the _mortal_ world, maybe," one girl piped up.

Reggie examined her beautiful light green eyes and rich brown hair, trying to remember her name.

"J-Jade's right," Hammie stammered. "People in the mortal world take gratitude for granted. It's expected. In Faery, when people say _thank you_ , they actually mean it."

Jet gave him a kind smile. "What Hammie's trying to say is that to thank someone in Faery is kind of like saying you owe them one—and trust me, be it a week, or a hundred years, it will be remembered and called upon."

Ryssa looked at Moira, who smiled warmly. Unable to help herself, she leaned over and gave her a hug.

"And just a quick note." Jet raised a finger in warning. "Don't even _think_ about thanking your Brownie for doing things like cleaning your room, fetching stuff or whatever. They don't want the responsibility of your gratitude. It insults them and kinda makes them testy. They'll leave, and once they do, another one won't come anywhere near you."

"Brownie?" Ryssa was confused.

"Sort of like private, invisible maid service," Moira clarified. "They'll even come into the mortal world. _Voila_. No more having to clean your room or a whole bunch of other chores."

"I could get used to that."

"Hey—I just remembered," Reggie snapped his fingers, "at our birthday party, when we made a wish and blew out the candles—we felt the pressure then. Is that the same as the vows and promise thing?"

The others in the room fell silent. Jet was the first to speak, but not until a long pause had passed.

"You made a wish and the Earth accepted?" His eyes were big. Then he laughed and did a little jig. " _Woohoo!_ I knew you two were going to be heavy hitters! That's an ability that hasn't been seen since the time of Dana."

"So the wish is going to come true?"

"As long as you never speak of it until after it comes to pass," Moira warned. "If you speak of what you wish for, it's too much like bragging that the Earth and its magic are at your beck and call, and the magic could be taken away from the wish."

"What's the next question on your list?" Jade asked.

"Well—" Reggie started.

"The Houses and the magic," Ryssa cut in. "We should probably have a clue about how that works."

"Okay, the Houses," Jet mused out loud. "Well, there are thirteen Houses that are directly tied to the magic. So let's start with the magic first. Anybody care to give it a try?"

A boy with aqua-colored hair and matching eyes spoke. Reggie thought about it a minute— _Seacalm_? He thought harder. _Loo Seacalm_. The boy's features held the dreamy quality of one who sat and watched the waves for hours on end.

"There are seven different kinds of magic in Faery," Loo frowned, "or at least major magics."

"They are the only _real_ magics," another boy scowled.

_Gervais_ , Reggie struggled for the name, _wasn't it? Yeah—Gervais Beastmaster_.

"No, the other magics are real, too," argued a long-necked girl with a slightly pointed nose.

Reggie thought she sort of resembled a bird. That was it. _Feathernest_. _Glinda Feathernest_.

"It's only the Seelie Court who thinks they are of no consequence," Glinda added with a sniff.

"Because they aren't," Gervais shot back.

"Okay, kidlets," Jet held up his hands to stop the argument before it got too far, "let's try this without the politics, eh? 'Else we'll never get anywhere—sort of like the Courts. Let's play this like the Court of the Ard Ri, shall we? No Seelie or Unseelie, just the facts and issues at hand. Loo—you want to continue?"

Reggie found he liked Jet a lot. He was a natural leader-type. _I wonder if he would be amused or insulted by that thought?_

"Okay," Loo said with a shy, dreamy smile. "The seven magics each have a passive and aggressive side. It's not necessarily the nature of the magic itself, but rather _how_ the individual uses it. Those of the Seelie Court use the aggressive side of the magic more, while the Unseelie Court uses the passive side more."

"I would've thought it to be the other way around," Ryssa said.

"Nope," interjected another boy. He had gray eyes beneath white eyebrows and a full mane of white hair that hung to the middle of his back.

_Storm_ , Reggie remembered, noting the storm color of his eyes. _Storm Cloudwalker_.

"Look at it this way," the boy explained. "The symbol of the Seelie Court is the sun. It gives warmth, but it's all-powerful and aggressive when it wants to heat things up a little. The symbol of the Unseelie Court is the moon. We can see the moon in the sky, but sometimes it hides from us in ways the sun never does and has a subtler, but no less powerful, effect on things—like the tides and other stuff we don't think about."

"That's a good way to explain it," Glinda said thoughtfully.

Loo nodded in agreement. "Of the seven major magics, four are tied to the elements—Water, Fire, Earth and Air."

"And the colors the Houses use to depict them are blue for Water, red for Fire, green for Earth, and purple for Air," Glinda added.

"The other three magics," Loo continued, "are Animal magic—where the four-legged variety is considered aggressive side and flying creature magic is considered the passive side. Then there's Healing magic and, of course, Celestial magic."

"The Animal color is brown, the Healing color orange, and the Celestial color is silver," the last girl added with a blush.

Reggie tried to find her name in the jumble of his mind, but it escaped him. She was pretty, with long dark hair and eyes that turned up slightly at the corners to give her an oriental appearance. Her voice was soft— _Whisper_. _Whisper Windcall_. That was it.

"So let's identify the Houses for them, then." Jet surveyed the group. "We've actually got a pretty good selection here. Pyro walked out, but his House is Flamebringer of the Seelie Court and the Unseelie House is Emberlight for the Fire magic.

"Jade is from the Stoneheart House—Seelie, while the Unseelie is Landstrider for both sides of the Earth magic. Loo is from the House of Seacalm, Unseelie, while Waverider is the Seelie House of Water magic. We have one from each of the Air Houses—Storm Cloudwalker, Seelie Court, and Whisper Windcall, Unseelie Court. Hey, there's one from each of the Animal Houses as well—Gervais Beastmaster, Seelie Court and Glinda Feathernest, Unseelie. The Healing Houses are the Bonemender House, Seelie, and we have Meek Lighthand from the Unseelie Court."

Reggie looked at Meek and realized he was the only one of the group who had yet to speak.

"What about the fourteenth House?" Ryssa thought back to the Arena Court. "The other side of the Celestial magic?"

"There is no fourteenth House," Gervais scowled. "It doesn't exist."

"But I saw a guy sitting in the section next to ours," Ryssa insisted, "and he was wearing black and silver."

"He wasn't supposed to be there," Storm argued. "He's just stubborn about pretending he still has the right."

Jet's expression was pained. "There _was_ a fourteenth House, but it was dedicated to the darker side of magic. Celestial magic is separated into light and dark, rather than passive and aggressive. The House of Starborn uses light magic, while the House of Nightfall used dark magic."

"When the Ard Ri, Dana, banned the use of dark magic in Faery," Moira added, "the House of Nightfall was disbanded, and its members placed elsewhere, under other Houses. Any child who shows dark magic potential is fostered into Houses where their secondary skill is cultivated."

"Like me," Loo's voice was low. "I was fostered into the House of Seacalm after my magical potentials test showed Water as my secondary magic. My strongest magical potential is dark Celestial magic. It's something I'll never be able to use."

"Meek was another," Moira said with compassion. "His secondary potential magical talent was Healing. He is also the only other survivor of the fireball devastation besides you two."

Quiet fell over the room. Eyes turned to Meek, who stared at the floor. His hair fell over his face to hide it from their view and his shoulders sagged as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"That's another question I'd like to have answered." Reggie said suddenly. "Meek—how did we three survive? Do you know?"

Meek's head jerked up. Terror filled his eyes, and then he blinked, his expression turning to anger. He spun and left the common area, disappearing into the boys' room.

"Meek hasn't spoken since that day." Moira shook her head sadly. "He was only four years old when it happened."

"There were rumors—" Jade began.

"I think rumors should be banned along with dark magic," Jet said defiantly. "They cause as much destruction and ugliness."

"Maybe its time we headed off to bed," Loo suggested. "We do have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yeah." Jet smiled, but his heart wasn't in it. "Yeah, you're right."

The team members split up, the girls heading in one direction, the boys in the other. Once inside the room, Ryssa moved the packs off her bed, and climbed in.

"I wish we had more time before we had to start tomorrow," she grumbled tiredly into her pillow. She fell asleep, barely registering the strange heaviness that filled the room before it dissipated into the night.

## Chapter 10: Out of the Frying Pan

[back to top]

Ryssa woke up to the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. She frowned. _Mom can't bake cinnamon rolls—she burns everything_. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, disoriented until she realized where she was. _So much for any hope that it was all a dream—as if the pinch hadn't been enough_. Glancing over at the four other girls of Team Phoenix, she saw they were still sleeping, wrapped securely in their blankets.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Ryssa felt her stomach rumble. With a frown, she realized that she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. She sniffed the air—the smell of cinnamon rolls was still there. Snatching her housecoat from the foot of the bed, she threw it on as she headed out into the common area. At one end of the room a buffet table was set up, and she headed in that direction.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Meek sitting on a bench outside the boys' room. He was in silent communion with a woman who couldn't have been more than three feet tall. The woman's skin was leathery brown and wrinkled, much like the bark of a tree. She had short, dark, pixie-styled hair and beautiful clear green eyes. Those eyes widened when they spotted Ryssa, and the woman vanished into thin air.

Meek looked at Ryssa, his expression wary.

"Good morning." Ryssa glanced at the empty space next to him. "Was that a Brownie?"

Meek nodded slowly, not taking his eyes from her.

"Are you an early riser?" She took a couple of steps toward him.

He shrugged and gave a half nod.

"I'm not. In fact I'm usually pretty lazy, staying in bed until I can't stand it anymore—and I can stand quite a bit."

Was that a ghost of a smile she saw from him?

"It was the rolls," she continued. "They smell so awesome, I just had to come and get one. They _are_ for us, right?"

Meek nodded vigorously.

"Want to grab some breakfast with me so I don't feel like such a pig?" Ryssa gave him a smile of genuine warmth. He smiled back, just a little, but enough for Ryssa to recognize it for what it was. Meek got up from the bench, and went to the table.

Ryssa grabbed a plate and handed one to Meek, eyeing the spread of food. There were bowls of cut up fruit, bread and butter, various pastries and doughnuts, and the prize Ryssa was looking for—huge, fat cinnamon rolls, dripping with white icing. They were perfect, reminding her of the ones that could only be found in the shopping malls at home. She set her plate on the edge of the table and leaned forward, plucking one from the tray for herself, and another for Meek.

An alarm began to chime. Ryssa glared at Meek, who shook his head in innocent confusion. Ryssa dropped the rolls back onto the tray, feeling guilty. Other members of the team poured into the room, each in varied states of waking. She felt horrible when Aurelius entered, lines of strain on his face.

"I'm sorry, Uncle. I thought we could help ourselves. I didn't know—"

"Hmm?" Aurelius looked at her, and then to the sticky fingers she couldn't hide. "What? No, child," he shook his head, "the alarm had nothing to do with you. The elders are being called to Court."

He pointed to the tree in the center of the room. The ceiling of carved leaves fluttered as though a wind rustled through them. Their movement was a perfect imitation of the live tree above, the chimes sounding identical.

Ryssa watched her twin move to stand on tiptoes to get a better look at how they worked.

Aurelius smoothed his hair from its disarrayed state. "Eat up, children. I'll be back shortly—and don't leave this suite until I come back and tell you otherwise. Something is terribly wrong."

The stunned members of Team Phoenix watched their Counselor head out the door and up the ramp, before turning to stare at each other. Ryssa shrugged and leaned over to grab the same two rolls off the tray, depositing one back onto Meek's plate and the other onto her own. The chimes stopped and silence filled the room. As she sucked the icing from her fingers she noticed that everyone was watching her.

"What? He _said_ we should eat."

Defiantly, she turned her back on them and helped herself to several scoops of fruit, and then marched over to the couch. Meek stood by the table, staring for a moment at the lone cinnamon roll on his plate. Without a word, he picked it up and returned to the bench where he had been before.

The rest of the group seemed to take this as some sort of signal to grab their own plates and help themselves to the buffet. Their activity was interspersed with speculative whispers.

"So what do you think—?"

"I'll bet there's something big going on."

"Well, duh, how'd you figure that out?"

"Do you think it's a trick, trying to throw us off guard for the competition?"

"I'll bet someone else has turned up missing," Hammie said. The room went silent.

Voices erupted again.

"No way!"

"Not after Queen Medwyn's threat!"

"I wouldn't want to be the one she thought—"

"Do you really think someone else is missing?"

"Maybe not missing," Pyro, Jr. offered. "Maybe someone was found dead."

That brought a lingering silence to the room. The children picked at their food, having suddenly lost their appetites. No one spoke again until Aurelius returned. All eyes turned to him when he entered, his face grim.

"It appears you have the morning to yourselves, children. A member of Team Dragon has disappeared in the course of the night without a trace. Barry Feathernest."

Glinda's cry of dismay permeated the air. She ran from the common area and into the girls' room, the sound of her sobs trailing after her.

"Moira," Aurelius said gently. "See to her, will you?"

Moira nodded, rising to follow Glinda.

"Well it seems you have a little extra time this morning before you get started."

Aurelius frowned when Ryssa began choking. He watched until she gained control.

"Sorry—I think I swallowed down the wrong tube." She waved her hand. Inwardly, Ryssa was mortified. She vaguely remembered the words she had mumbled into her pillow the previous night. _That didn't count as a_ wish _—did it? This couldn't be my fault?_

"Yes, well, be more careful," Aurelius said.

_Did he mean about making wishes?_ Ryssa wondered guiltily. _Or was he just talking about the choking? He couldn't know, could he?_

"I am needed with the other Court members to investigate this as thoroughly as we can. Your first instructional will be rescheduled for this afternoon. I don't expect you to stay in, although I'd rather you did. But it's not fair to keep you shut away." He fished around in the pockets of his robes. After a moment, he pulled out a small pouch and set it on the buffet table.

"There should be enough in here for each of you to have a gold mark. Why don't you go over to Madam Quinn's shop and have her design some matching uniforms for Team Phoenix? We'll start working together with a little style. There should be enough left over for each of you to get some treats. Meet me back here just after the noon hour and we'll attend to the instructional from here." He turned to leave and then stopped, adding a warning. "From this point forward, no one is to go _anywhere_ by themselves. _Do I make myself clear?_ "

His tone carried a firm enough admonishment that all of the children nodded, with the exception of Pyro, who frowned.

"Very well, then," Aurelius left the room, calling back over his shoulder, "the noon hour—don't be late."

The girls headed into their room. Ryssa was amazed. In the short time they had been in the common area, their beds had been made and the room was as tidy as when they had first come in the night before. Glinda lay on her bed, curled into a ball, clutching her pillow for comfort.

Ryssa felt horrible. She was sure it was somehow her fault, and just as certain that she couldn't say anything to anyone about it. She sat on the bed next to Glinda's feet and put a comforting hand on her ankle, but was at a loss for what to say. Moira's arms were wrapped around the sobbing girl. Whisper and Jade sat on either side of the bed.

"When is this all going to stop?" Glinda managed between hiccupping sobs. "And why did it have to be my brother?"

Ryssa's stomach tightened. _What have I done?_

"Listen, Glinda," Moira gently stroked the girl's hair, "none of us have any idea what you're feeling right now. This sort of thing affects us all, but not as much as when you're close to someone. There are a lot of the potentials who have turned up missing or dead."

Glinda groaned. Moira was hasty in her reassurance, "But at least he's only missing. There's always hope the elders will find out what's happening and that those who are missing will be returned."

"Do you really think so?" Glinda begged with her eyes. "You don't think they're dead?"

"I'm almost positive. Those who are dead are the only ones who've turned up, right? I think that somewhere the missing potentials are all being locked away, hidden somehow. Don't worry, they _will_ find them."

Glinda wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up. "You know, Barry and I didn't have the twin-bond—but we were close enough that it almost seemed like we did. I could always feel when he was sad or upset. And he felt the same with me. You're right. I think if he were dead, I would somehow _know_ it."

"See?" Moira sat up and gave the girl some room to pull herself together. "It's like I said. He'll turn up when the elders figure this whole mess out. Mark my words—Queen Medwyn has to be spitting fireballs right about now. Whoever is behind this has their days numbered. Barry will be back with you in no time."

The girl nodded in tentative agreement, still working to stifle the last of the sobbing hiccups.

"What's a twin-bond?" Ryssa asked.

"Most twins in Faery have what is called a twin-bond." Jade cocked her head. "Don't you have it with your twin?"

"Sometimes we feel each other—like what Glinda just said about her and Barry. Oh—and yesterday there was this really weird thing." Ryssa explained to them about the connected memories she and Reggie had shared. "But that was the first time anything like _that_ has happened."

"Jet and I were sharing memories since before either of us could even speak. As we grew older, we began to work with the bond, build on it. Now we can send thoughts back and forth to each other, if we make eye contact. I hear some twins can do it across distances, although that's pretty rare."

"That could come in handy," Ryssa smiled. "But I think it would be weird not having any private thoughts."

"Oh, you learn to put up shields around what you don't want the other to hear. Believe me. You learn quickly. It could be that your arrival in Faery and connecting to the magic here has started to strengthen your twin-bond. Work with it. The more you do, the better it gets."

Ryssa nodded, but shuddered inwardly at the thought. The idea was still creepy to her, but at least now she had a clue as to what had happened. She wasn't sure she wanted to say anything to Reggie about it yet. The way he liked to poke and prod and try to figure out how things worked—no, she wasn't ready for endless rounds of _what-am-I-thinking_?

"Hey—let's get dressed and head into New Faery City." Moira turned her attention back to Glinda. Aurelius gave us some coinage to buy Team Phoenix uniforms, and we get to spend the rest on whatever we want."

"What are the uniforms going to look like?" Glinda looked up, interested.

Jade shrugged. "We don't know yet. But Aurelius said we get to design them."

"Okay." Glinda gave one last sniffling hiccup.

The girls scrambled around the room getting dressed. Together they entered the Team common area and found the boys already dressed and further working their way through the breakfast buffet.

"We're all here for you, Glinda." Loo blushed. "I mean, if you need us for anything—"

She smiled warmly at the boys, who appeared to be having a hard time figuring out how to deal with the emotional side of the whole thing.

"Yeah, we'll get through this together," Gervais growled. "Seelie or Unseelie."

"That's about the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Gervais." Glinda was sincere.

"So, what's the plan?" Jet eyed his twin.

"Well, we can't spend money on anything else until we're done at Madam Quinn's and know how much we have left." Moira bit her lip in contemplation. "So I guess the first thing would be to figure out what we want for Team uniforms and then go there and let her take our measurements."

"That's a thought," Jet said. "Anybody have suggestions as to what we want for uniforms?"

Nobody answered, each looking around the room at everyone else.

"Black and white?" Hammie finally suggested.

Reggie shook his head. "That won't show anything about what team we are. The banner is black and white with a phoenix. That would be a good start."

"Yeah," Jade frowned. "But uniforms that look just like the banner—that seems pretty boring and unoriginal."

"And they'd look like pajamas." Ryssa made a face. "Or worse—like one of those cheesy Halloween costumes that kids wear in the mortal world. Yuck."

"Something flamboyant, then." Pyro, Jr. scowled at the faces suddenly turned in his direction. "Hey—if I have to wear a Team uniform, I want it to be something I can live with, not something stupid."

Eyes scanned his flame-colored clothing. It was flamboyant, but tastefully stylish.

"Nothing girlie," Gervais growled. "I won't wear anything with lace."

"And _I_ don't want to look like a boy." Whisper wrinkled her nose. No one pointed out that there was little chance that anything she wore would make her look less than all girl.

"Okay," Jet held up a hand to forestall further debate, "I've got an idea. We all want to get out of here and have some time around town. So how about we each list one thing we would like to have on the uniforms and one thing we absolutely refuse to deal with. Then we'll hand over all the info to Madam Quinn and let her design something special. She's never done wrong before."

"Oh, yeah?" Moira sounded skeptical. "What about the gown she designed for Celeste Beastmaster? She looked like a tree frog."

"Yeah, well," Gervais gave an embarrassed cough, "Celeste actually designed that one herself. Madam Quinn tried to talk her out of it, but she was in one of her _commune-with-the-animals_ phases. Could've been worse. The month before she was into porcupines."

"Oh." Moira gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I didn't know."

"Forget it. Celeste's always been a little wonky. She drives Leon, the Patriarch of the Beastmaster House, crazy. He keeps threatening to foster her out to one of the Air Houses." Gervais grimaced at Whisper and Storm. "No offense."

Whisper raised a skeptical eyebrow while Storm responded with a curled lip.

"All right, it's settled then?" Jet walked over to a desk sitting next to several shelves of books just outside of Aurelius' chambers. He gathered up enough paper and pens for everyone and passed them out.

Each member of the team spent some time giving serious thought as to what they would and would not accept in a uniform. When they were finished, the papers were stacked together.

Jet plucked the bag of gold marks from the table, waggling an eyebrow with a grin. "Can't be forgetting this now, can we?"

Everyone headed up the ramp from the common area and out into the streets of New Faery City. Reggie and Ryssa suddenly stopped.

"What?" Jet looked at them.

"I thought the ramp led up to the Arena Court," Reggie said.

"It does—or did." Jet replied. "Each of the Courts, including this one, the Court of the Ard Ri, reside in Sithins—Faery mounds. Never think the same paths will lead the same way twice. Many times they will, but my guess is that all of the Court is in that arena, and they don't want us to hear what is happening. The Sithin sort of, um, _rearranges_ itself to suit the current need or mood of either the Court or of the Sithin itself. 'Can get to be a bit confusing. I got up one night, needing to find the restroom. There was a swimming pool in its place. Middle of the night, already needing to go, and all that water—bad combo. The Sithin was in a playful mood that night. I almost wet myself before it finally gave me the right room, and then only because I threatened to use a corner in the next room I opened."

Team Phoenix wandered down a couple of short streets before arriving at a garden patch entirely covered in webbing, like a big cocoon. Reggie watched as Jet entered through a door that he hadn't initially noticed. They entered to find a spacious shop filled with all manner of cloth and clothing, furs, feathers, buttons, and threads. A loom, unaided by visible hands, was weaving a pattern of shiny, turquoise material in the corner. Tiny winged creatures whipped in and out the front of a jacket that hung on a headless dummy. They were sewing buttons on the jacket and had just finished when a pair of scissors, carried by another of the little creatures, came to snip the end of the thread.

"G'day, g'day," a little man with thick glasses and a round nose greeted them. His grin was a bit crooked on his full lips, and his white hair was tussled from where he had been sorting through a pile of fabric under a large table.

"G'day to you, Sir Quinn," Jet smiled. "We're looking for your lady. Might she be about?"

"Right here, dear." A woman emerged from a back room, struggling under the weight of several bolts of black and white material. She shoved the stack of cloth into her husband's arms. He took them to another table while she eyed the children appraisingly. "So what'll be, then?"

Ryssa smiled at the lyrical Irish accent of the woman. Every once in a while, she heard the same lilt from Moira and Jet, although it came more often from Jet than his sister.

"Uniforms, Madam Quinn," Jet replied. "And with a bit of your personal touch."

"Personal touch, eh?" She eyed him skeptically. "More as like the lot of you couldna decide between you. An' now I'm the one yer expectin' to have pick up the slack."

"You're a wise woman, Madam Quinn." He gave her his most charming smile.

"Oh, posh, young man," she wagged her finger at him, "you'd best be savin' that for the gels your own age. Won't do you no good with an old curmudgeon like me."

But Ryssa could see she was pleased that Jet had even thought to try.

"So what do you have for me, then? And let's be quick about it. I've got a lot of orders to fill, I do."

Jet plopped the papers, along with the bag of coins, on top of her counter. The group watched as she rifled through their lists.

"No, huh? Okay, let's _that_ idea out. What's this?" She turned one paper upside down and then back again. "Hmm, now there's an interesting—" She stacked them all together.

"Okay, it can be done." Madam Quinn motioned to her little flying assistants. "Stand still now," she instructed the team.

The winged creatures whipped around the individual members in a blur of activity, measuring each child quickly and buzzing out answers in a language Ryssa didn't understand. Obviously Madam Quinn did, because she made marks on separate pieces of paper for each of them.

"That should do it, then." She stopped to count out a stack of coins from the bag. "You'll have your uniforms first thing in the mornin'."

The little creatures squeaked and hovered around Madam Quinn, some waggling fingers, others wringing their hands.

"All right, _all right_." Madam Quinn held up her hands with resolution, and her assistants flew back to work. "I'm told we can't possibly have them to you until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, bit of a demand right now, there is."

"That's fine, Madam Quinn." Jet placated her with a pat to the back of her hand. "Tomorrow afternoon is plenty soon enough. Take more time if you need it."

"Okay, then." She beamed. "Off with the lot of you, now. This old woman has work to see to and no time to stand around chit chattin'."

With that, they were rushed out the door so quickly that the children stood dumfounded for a moment.

"So is it stayin' together, we are?" Jet asked in a perfect imitation of the seamstress's accent. "Or is it goin' our separate ways, now?"

The group grinned.

"We're not supposed to go off on our own," Reggie pointed out.

"I was thinking _Sing a Song of Sweets_ ," Moira said wistfully.

"Ooh, one vote for a sugar rush before our first lesson." Jet smiled.

"Sugar?" Ryssa perked up. "Count me in."

The rest of the team agreed, with one exception.

"Pyro?" Jet raised his eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, okay," Pyro grumbled. "I can't go back by myself anyway, so I might as well."

Hammie bounced with excitement. "Off to candy land!"

It didn't take long for their hurried steps to find their way to the candy shop. Once there, the children took their time surveying the seemingly endless variety and colors of sugary confections on display. There were treats in every imaginable shape, size, and color, carefully packaged and displayed to tantalize the taste buds.

"There's no chocolate," Ryssa pouted.

"Ah, but try one of these." Moira pointed to a cream-colored ball.

Ryssa eyed it dubiously, before popping it into her mouth. It melted instantly, flooding her taste buds with a rich vanilla sensation.

"It's like warm, melted ice cream. Those are _good_."

"Try the strawberry ones next. They're called Cream Silkies." Moira sighed. "But you're right; the Fey have never properly gotten the hang of making chocolate. I don't understand why. I wonder if we could start an import business—?"

Even Pyro seemed to be enjoying himself in the candy shop. His mood had lightened, and Reggie caught him trying to hide a smile from one of Jet's more outlandish comments. They had just decided it was time to head back to the team quarters, and gathering the remaining treasures they had not yet eaten, when half a dozen children entered, all of them from Team Dragon.

## Chapter 11: Into the Fire

[back to top]

"Let's go, 'mates," Jet said to Team Phoenix, without taking his eyes from the members of Team Dragon.

"What's the matter, Phooka?" Blaze Flamebringer sneered.

"Nothing. Just have a schedule to keep. We were already heading out."

Ryssa eyed Blaze. He was an older boy, maybe sixteen or so. Unlike most of the people of Faery, who wore their hair long as a mark of pride among the Courts, his black hair was cropped short and spiked, the tips dyed in alternating colors of red and orange. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, and gleamed with malice as they swept across the members of Team Phoenix. They settled on Pyro, Jr., who had gathered his sweets, ready to leave with the rest of the Team.

"I guess your father was right," Blaze snorted.

Pyro stiffened. "About what?"

"That you are obviously defective for the Lia Fial to have placed you with this bunch."

Pyro, Jr. scowled and looked away, but Ryssa caught the flash of hurt in his eyes. It made her angry. Even though Pyro, Jr. had been a complete toad since the moment they first met, Blaze was hitting below the belt as far as she was concerned.

"You lie," Ryssa said through clenched teeth.

Blaze shot her a superior smile. "You don't know much about the Codes of Honor among the Courts, do you, Starborn?"

"No member of the Faery will tell an outright lie, Ryssa." Moira didn't take her eyes from Blaze. "We _can't_. It's part of our Earth connection—like a promise or vow. A liar is punished almost as severely as an Oathbreaker, because all in all, it's the same thing. Our word _is_ our bond. It's too fine of a hair to split."

"Maybe I don't know much about Faery Codes of Honor," Ryssa gritted her teeth, "but I can tell when a person is being honorable, and I'm not seeing it here. No parent would say such a horrible thing about their child."

"You really don't know _anything_ , do you?" Blaze sneered, his face darkening. "Junior, here, has been an embarrassment to his family since the day he was born. Seventeen and still only a Fire Initiate? I'm sixteen and already a Fire Practitioner. He's weak. His blood taints the lines. Pyro tried to make him strong, but now the Lia Fial has shown him the truth. Junior's _nothing_ , and never will be."

Pyro, Jr. refused to acknowledge Blaze's comment, but Ryssa saw the muscles tighten in his jaw.

"He can't even protect himself," Blaze smirked. "Ask him. He won't deny it. He knows it's true."

The members of Team Phoenix politely eased their eyes away, trying to save Pyro, Jr. from added embarrassment. Ryssa didn't. She watched as Blaze's hand start to glow down at his side, where the others couldn't see it. Flames leapt across his fingertips, and he raised his hand as if to throw the fire at Pyro. Ryssa did the first thing that came to mind. She balled up her fist and punched Blaze full in the face. Fire raced up her arm. She screamed and yanked it back. The flames extinguished but the pain didn't, and she burst into sobs.

Blaze screamed too, as flames erupted over his body. His clothing ignited in tiny flashes. If something wasn't done quickly, he would become a living torch.

Loo stepped forward. "Hold his arms," he said dreamily. Two members of Team Dragon stepped forward as though to stop Loo. His face and eyes took on a harsh, angry look that was so out of character for him it gave them pause. "Don't be stupid. I'm trying to help."

Ash and Baker Flamebringer looked at each other and shrugged. They captured Blaze's arms to stop him from flailing, all the while attempting to avoid the flames.

Loo brought his hands up and over the head of the burning boy,. Water poured from his palms to run down Blaze's body. Flames extinguished, Loo removed his hands. Little wisps of smoke curled upward from black charred patches. Blaze's hair, no longer spiked, hung limp down his face, water running in rivulets through streaks of soot. He looked like a drowned rat.

Blaze's eyes rolled into his head and he fell forward in a faint. Instead of holding him, Ash and Baker were so surprised that they let go, and Blaze landed with a thump to the floor.

"Neat trick." Jet stepped up and stared down at the still smoking boy, prodding him with his toe. "At least he's alive." He looked up at a dazed and confused Team Dragon. "I'm thinking you might want to get him over to either Luza or Sammiel. They're the only ones who might be able to heal him before he wakes up and really starts screaming."

Jet turned to Ryssa, who was slipping into shock with the pain of her own arm. She whimpered beneath the tears streaming down her face.

"Nice piece of work, that," he admired, trying to keep her calm. He threw a questioning look at Meek. The boy squared his shoulders and stepped toward Ryssa.

Reggie, clearly worried, elbowed his way in closer. Moira held Ryssa's uninjured arm, but placed her free hand on Reggie's shoulder to stop him from interfering. "Meek's going to see if he can help her."

Meek stood at Ryssa's side and critically eyed the arm she still held to her chest. Meek made a motion to show he needed her to hold it out a little, away from her body. Ryssa did as he indicated, but slowly. A cry of pain escaped as the shock of what had happened started to wear off.

Somewhere behind him, Reggie heard shuffling as Team Dragon dragged Blaze out of the sweets shop. They were being none too gentle about it. The boy was sure to feel a few more bumps and bruises if he awoke before the healers were through with him. Reggie found the dark thought appealing.

Meek held his hands a short distance from either side of Ryssa's arm. An orange glow enveloped his hands and expanded until her wrist was encased in a glowing, orange ball of light. Moving his hands slowly up her arm, he took care not to make contact. The ball followed, lingering between his palms.

Ryssa drew a sharp breath as a cooling sensation enveloped her wrist and spread up the rest of her arm. When it reached the last of the burns, Meek stopped and lowered his hands.

Ryssa frowned at her arm. It was charred and crusty, and covered with blisters. "I don't feel any more pain, but it doesn't _look_ any different."

"It's not," Moira said. "Meek's talent is passive healing and it's a secondary talent at that. He manipulated the nerve endings, or maybe your energy field, so your body doesn't register the pain anymore. I'm not sure which, 'cuz I don't know enough about Healing magic. We still need to get you to someone who can heal the actual damage, not just the pain." She looked to Jet.

"Let Aurelius make the call." He shrugged.

"Is she in any danger?" Reggie asked.

"No," Moira shook her head, "just of scars. But she'll be healed long before that becomes an issue."

Ryssa studied her arm, testing the movement of her blackened fingers by curling and uncurling them.

"It doesn't even look like a part of me any more, does it?" She laughed nervously, and waved her hand through the air with a growl. "It looks like something out of an old horror movie."

" _Curse of the Mummy's Hand?_ " Jet supplied.

"Should be wrapped in bandages," Moira laughed. "So that's kind of appropriate."

The other team members watched with blank expressions. They had never experienced the mortal world, let alone movies. Hammie was the exception, of course, but he seemed more concerned by the slight disarray in the sweet shop, especially the waterlogged floor.

"Maybe we should help clean up a little before we head out," he suggested.

"Pay it no mind, child," Madam Quiggley, the plump shopkeeper, said cheerfully. "I seen what was what. Not so much a mess that I can't tackle it. You run along and get that girl's arm taken care of." She winked at Ryssa. "'Twas the best right cross I've seen in some time. I'd hate to have you unable to do it again—not that I'm condoning violence, mind you."

Ryssa blushed, not knowing how to respond.

"Well, off with you now." Madam Quiggley came around the counter and bustled them toward the door. She pressed a small package into Ryssa's good hand and winked again. Ryssa looked down. The label read _Magic Marvels_. Moira smiled enthusiastically, so Ryssa assumed they were good. "Them Flamebringers had it coming if you ask me. Always coming in here with uppity little attitudes and—" She broke off, looking at Pyro, Jr. "Sorry, no offense."

Pyro, Jr. didn't respond. He walked numbly out the door with the rest of the Team.

"So how did this happen?" Ryssa asked suddenly.

Moira gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

" _This_." Ryssa held up her arm. "I don't get it. All I did was punch him."

"Well—" Moira hedged.

"Why _did_ you punch him?" Jet interrupted. "Not that I don't think he deserved it."

"I don't know." Ryssa thought about it. "One minute he was standing there, and then his hand started to glow and catch fire. He moved like he was going to throw it at Pyro, and nobody else seemed ready to stop him. So I just swung. It was instinct."

"Oh," Jet started in surprise. "I suspected something, but—"

"Nobody else saw him—the glow I mean?"

Moira eyed her curiously. "It's not common to see magic being called like that. It's pretty high level stuff."

"You're lucky you didn't get worse, like Blaze," Jet added.

"Number one rule of magic, Ryssa." Jade nodded sagely. "Never, _ever_ touch someone once they've started calling the magic. It can be bad for one or the other, or both. By rights, _you_ should be the one looking like Blaze does right now."

"I didn't know he was casting magic. I mean, I knew, but I just thought—" She shrugged. "I don't know what I thought."

"I thought you needed a wand to cast magic," Reggie was puzzled.

"No." Glinda shook her head. "Wands are used to _amplify_ magic. But everyone in Faery has a sort of ability to cast magic without a wand—like Meek just did to stop Ryssa's pain."

"Oh. So how do you find out what kind of magic you can cast?"

"Magical potentials tests," Gervais said in his gravelly voice. "Usually happens when you're as young as two or three years old. You were both taken out of Faery while you were still infants."

"So don't you think we should be tested now? It might help with this whole competition thing if we knew what mine and Ryssa's strong points were so we knew how we meshed as a team."

"Won't work now." Gervais shook his head. "The tests are done when you're young, because you're old enough to understand simple instructions, but not old enough to have definite opinions about things. It screws up the tests otherwise."

"So how do we find out?" Ryssa asked.

"Trial and error, kidlets," Jet sighed. "A lot more work for all of us, I'm guessing."

"I'm sorry you got stuck with us." Ryssa was irritated. "It could ruin your chances to win this competition."

"Maybe, maybe not," Moira said. "I'm for thinking that the Lia Fial played fair by putting everyone exactly where they needed to be to live to their best potential. We'll figure it out."

The group walked the rest of the short trip back to the tree in silence. That silence slowly became punctuated by bird song, heard long before they even reached the Sithin. The closer they got, the louder the ruckus became.

Glinda's face was scrunched as though trying to focus, but failing in the midst of the racket. When they arrived at the Sithin tree, hundreds of songbirds flitted about the branches, their voices raised to an almost deafening level.

"Sparrows?" Reggie moved closer to Jet.

"Yup." Jet nodded.

"Is that what they're called?" Glinda fixed her attention on the birds.

"You're the bird girl," Reggie eyed her, "didn't you know?"

"No. We have more of the exotic birds here from the mortal world, and others that can't survive out there anymore. But these—sparrows—they're different. And they're kind of a nuisance. It drives me crazy that I can't understand what they're saying. It's not just me. A few of the elders feel the same way."

"You _talk_ to birds?" Ryssa's amazement showed on her face.

"Of course." Glinda glanced at her with surprise. "It's one of the most basic forms of the Animal magics."

Reggie looked at Gervais.

"Me, too," Gervais answered the unasked question. "But not with birds—mostly four-legged creatures."

"But you can't understand _them_?" Ryssa pointed to the sparrows.

"No," Glinda replied. "None of us are able to. The elders think it's because they are so much a part of the mortal world that it makes it impossible for us to connect with the chatter of their thoughts—like there's no magic left to them."

"Then how come they're here in Faery now?"

"There's a lot of speculation, but no real answers." Jet regarded the birds warily.

"They—I mean the elders—think it has something to do with the Wilt," Moira explained. "Since the Wilt is pockets of dead magic, they think the veil between Faery and the Zombie Zone is starting to thin out in places. If that's true, sparrows may not be the worst of what could get through to us here."

"So what happens when the veil is gone completely?" Reggie asked.

"Faery will cease to exist as a separate domain from the rest of the world," Jade was blunt. "And it could mean the end of magic."

"But wouldn't that also mean the end of the world?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it," Jet said. "Now you know why the elders are so uptight about losing more potentials—other than their actual loss, I mean. With each death or disappearance goes one more who could possibly save Faery."

"But who would do such a thing?" Ryssa couldn't wrap her mind around the thought. "Wouldn't that mean they would die, too, along with the rest of the world?"

"Obviously, someone who thinks immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be," Reggie speculated. "Like somebody who's forbidden to use his or her magic anymore—"

"Like the Nightfall guy?" Ryssa interrupted.

Jet grunted. "Maybe—but the elders have been all over him since the fireball thing thirteen years ago. He was the first suspect."

"So were any of those with dark magic potential," Moira added. "There were traces of dark magic found that day."

Ryssa glanced discreetly at Meek, remembering that he had been there. She also remembered he had been up and awake before anyone else this morning—before Glinda's brother turned up missing.

"You know," Reggie gazed at the birds, "maybe there's something more magical about the sparrows than you think."

Glinda furrowed her brow. "How so?"

"I mean, in the, er, Zombie Zone, there is some speculation that goes on about them. It seems like every time there's a major disaster, they appear in flocks around the scene—whether it's a natural or man made."

"Sort of like carrion birds?"

"Yeah, but maybe they are drawn to the energy vibration of the violence. Maybe they feed off the dark energy stuff, rather than actual bodies, like the vultures do."

"So maybe I don't understand what they're saying," Glinda worked through the suggestion, "because I'm trained to tune out the dark magic—because the dark magic is forbidden."

"Maybe." Reggie shrugged.

"Hmm. I'll have to think about it. If you're right—"

Her thought was cut off when a sparrow broke away from its perch and flew directly at her. Glinda ducked, waving her hand above her head to keep the bird at bay. It flew back to the tree and sat, watching her.

Glinda narrowed suspicious eyes in its direction. "I think it's laughing at me."

The rest of the Team looked up.

"I think you're right," Moira frowned. "What a nasty little creature."

"They've never done that before." Jet mirrored his twin's expression. "I wonder why now?"

"Maybe we're getting closer to the truth," Reggie said. "And they're trying to distract us from figuring it out."

"Hmph," Gervais grunted. "Birds are always harder to deal with than the four-leggeds. They're so unpredictable. Four-leggeds are much easier to understand—pretty much straight forward, basic survival instinct stuff."

"Dumb as rocks, you mean," Glinda sniffed.

"Rocks aren't dumb," Jade insisted. "Their thoughts are slow, but they are extremely intelligent."

"You talk to _rocks_?" Ryssa held up her good hand. "Never mind—basic Earth magic, right?"

Jade smiled. "Actually, it's a pretty rare talent. Most Earth magic users can get the earth to work with them, but it's pretty immediate. Talking to the earth, especially rocks, is definitely an Unseelie trait—and it's even rare among them. They have the passive, _lots-of-patienc_ e type attitude more than the Seelie do."

Ryssa could see it pained her to give the Unseelie Court any kind of compliment, so she let it go.

"Okay, kidlets," Jet sighed. "Let's head down and see about our teammate's arm, shall we?"

The rest followed Jet as he led them to the side entrance that was the same as they had left it. Reggie was secretly relieved, figuring it meant they still had time before facing Aurelius.

He was wrong. When they reached the common area, Aurelius was seated on the couch, speaking in quiet tones to a slender woman who wore white and orange clothing that looked like a cross between Faery-style robes and an evening gown. Her white hair hung almost to her ankles and was woven in a single braid down her back. Her kind blue eyes showed concern when they fell on Ryssa's arm.

The woman broke off her conversation with Aurelius and hurried over to Ryssa. She examined the charred limb, and raised a questioning brow to Meek. "Your work?"

Meek lowered his eyes to the floor.

"Who's that?" Reggie whispered to Jet.

"Luza, Matriarch of the Bonemender House," Jet replied softly.

"Excellent work, child, excellent," Luza pronounced. "She isn't feeling any pain, yet she can still feel the arm. You'd have received high marks if you were being tested for level advancement—and without a wand!"

A blush of pleasure flushed Meek's face, but he continued to stare at the floor.

"Okay, girl," Luza stepped back, "hold your arm out straight so we can do this, all right?"

Ryssa nodded and did as she was told. The Matriarch passed her arm in a circle, directly under, then over and around Ryssa's. A trail of orange colored light followed it on the first pass, a trail of white light on the second pass. Each time she completed a loop around the arm, the colors alternated.

She moved faster, building a steady stream of white and orange light that encased Ryssa's arm. Suddenly she pulled away. The light flickered out. The arm was healed—no scars, no marks, just perfect peachy flesh.

"Oh, thank you!" Ryssa threw her arms around the woman in gratitude. Luza stood there as though she didn't quite know what to do. Patting the girl's shoulders, she politely pushed her away. The pressure in the room grew heavy and then lightened again.

"Well, yes." Luza cleared her throat, evidently unaccustomed to physical displays of affection. She lifted her chin as the last of the heaviness dissipated into the air. "I guess I'll have to keep that in mind for the future." She abruptly turned away.

Ryssa was confused. _Did I do something wrong?_

"Not that it's any of my affair, Aurelius," Luza said with a chastising tone, "but you had best see to it that these children get some instruction before they hurt themselves more _seriously_."

Aurelius' face darkened, but he waited until she had left before speaking.

"Very well," he sighed. "I'd hoped to be able to start you further along, but we must do what we must. Have a seat, children. I'll have lunch brought in for us. It's time for your first instructional."

"Which is—?" Jet looked hopeful.

"Basic theories in magic."

Half the Team groaned—the other half rolled their eyes. Reggie and Ryssa just stood there, confused.

"Lectures," Jet explained. "Dry, boring, textbook type lectures without even a slide show to sleep through."

Ryssa groaned like the others, but Reggie just gave a grunt and shrugged. "We have to start somewhere, don't we?"

While the team mumbled their complaints, Aurelius stepped across the room to whisper instructions to the Brownie woman Ryssa had seen earlier that morning with Meek.

Her suspicions returned. _Why were you up so early, Meek?_

## Chapter 12: Magic Theory

[back to top]

Aurelius directed the Team to the side of the common room near his quarters. Two long tables were set up with chairs enough for all. As they took their seats, Aurelius stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his head bowed as though contemplating where to begin.

"I'm certain everybody knows by now that in Faery, we essentially have seven different kinds of magic. We separate these magics into Courts, which _again_ separate into Houses." His gaze was primarily focused on Reggie and Ryssa.

The twins slowly nodded.

"Good. Now, in each of the magical divisions, there are also levels of proficiency that guide rankings within each House, which in turn earns you a title. Let's take elemental Fire magic, for example.

"When you begin to demonstrate strength in a particular brand of magic, you are fostered into a House that can teach you the best control and use of that magic. With the element of Fire, you would begin your training as a Fire Initiate. As you gain focus and control, you move up through the _ranks_ of that element, gaining higher titles to let everyone know how powerful you are. In the Fire Hierarchy, you would first move to Fire Practitioner, and then to Fire Branded, Servant of Heat, Master or Mistress of Flame, Lord or Lady of the Blaze and on up to High Lord or High Lady of the Conflagration.

"Pyro, Jr.," he suddenly asked, "what rank do you hold in all of this?"

Pyro looked around the room as though in a panic, and then lowered his head, mumbling something into his chest.

"What was that?" Aurelius cupped a hand to his ear. "I don't believe we heard you."

"Fire Initiate." Pyro defiantly raised his chin, daring anyone to say something.

"Fire Initiate?" Aurelius gave a look of exaggerated surprise. "Seventeen years of age and only a Fire Initiate? Hmm. That's odd. And your father, Pyro, Sr.—what rank does he hold?"

"Lord of the Blaze."

"Lord of the Blaze. And for how long has he held that title?"

Pyro seemed confused. "I don't know."

"You don't know? Let me tell you. It's been over one hundred and fifty years. Your father took the title of Fire Initiate at age three. It took him until he was thirteen to become a Fire Practitioner. He was sixty-three before he became Fire Branded, one hundred forty-two before he achieved the rank of Master of the Flame, and four hundred and three before he became Lord of the Blaze."

Jet seemed stunned. "Don't most of the Faery reach the sixth level ranking before their first century?"

"Most do." Aurelius agreed. "But some do not."

He was quiet for a moment. "Glinda. What is a wand used for?"

"To amplify the levels of an individual's personal inherent magical talent." The girl blinked in surprise.

"Gervais. What if a person is unable to use their primary magic, for whatever reason, and is forced to use his secondary magic?"

"I'm not sure I understand the question, Lord Aurelius—"

"Counselor will do for now. I will try to clarify. What rank can someone expect to achieve within the use of a secondary power?"

"Fourth, usually. Fifth in some rare cases."

"And without the use of a wand as an amplifier?"

"Second, then," Gervais frowned. "Third on occasion, if the person worked at it really hard."

"Meek must be working at it really hard then," Aurelius speculated. "Because if I'm not mistaken, Lady Luza indicated he might be nearing advancement. Are you not already Healing Practitioner, Meek?"

The boy nodded.

"Hmm—and you are only seventeen. Quite the achievement, don't you think?"

Meek shrugged, not having anything to say, as usual.

"Jade." Aurelius turned. "What is a True Name?"

Jade appeared puzzled. "Isn't that a name of power?" Aurelius nodded for her to continue, but she shook her head. "I don't really know anything else about it."

"Doesn't it have something to do with the elder Faery?" Loo asked. "The ones who have been around since the time of Dana?"

"Yes and no." Aurelius paced back and forth. Without warning, he raised his hand to the bookshelves and sent books floating to rest on the table in front of each child. Every book was different. The students looked at him with confusion.

"Maybe this will help." He whipped out his wand and gave it a sharp wave across the tables. "Open your books to page one hundred and twenty-seven."

The children didn't have to do anything. A quick, but strong wind whispered across the tables, and every book flipped its pages open to page one hundred twenty-seven. Reggie read the title on his page. _A Dissertation on the Treaty of the Sons of Mil_. He glanced at Jet's page, deciphering the upside down words. _Magical Maladies and the Herbal Use of Myrtle_.

Ryssa's book flopped back and forth on the table like a fish out of water. "I don't think mine goes up to page one hundred twenty-seven, Uncle." She eyed the moving book.

Aurelius gave a quick flick of his wand, and the wind died down. The book came to a rest on the table.

He gave an awkward smile. "Maybe not quite as impressive as I hoped for. Now, can anybody tell me what I just did?"

"It was a pretty cool trick." Reggie moved his hand back and forth across the pages of the book in front of him, trying to see if he could find any wires or other means that Aurelius might have used to manipulate it.

"Trick?" Aurelius rolled his eyes. "Can anybody tell me what kind of magic was used to perform this _trick_?"

"Celestial magic for the levitation," Jet offered. "Anything besides flying that deals with gravity is Celestial, isn't it?"

"To a point. And the wind?"

"Air magic," Reggie said confidently.

"Very good, Reggie," Aurelius said.

Reggie gave him one of his _how-stupid-do-you-have-to-be-not-to-figure-out-the-obivous-answer_ kinds of looks.

"But what is wrong with what I just did?"

The members of Team Phoenix stared blankly at him.

"I performed Air elemental magic," he prompted.

The children still looked confused.

"Children, children." He shook his head sadly. "I know that when Court is in session, or at the various other functions you have attended, the naming of titles must seem to be quite a bore to you. _Pompous-and-long-winded-old-folk_ is what I am sure goes through your minds. However, those titles are not given only to make someone sound important. They are to let everyone know the kind of magic individuals possesses, and how powerful the person is. You must learn to pay better attention. It could mean life or death to you someday.

"Jet, I have been your teacher ever since you came to the House of Starborn. What ranks do I possess?"

Jet gave an amused smile, cleared his throat and intoned as perfectly as any announcer, "Aurelius Trenton Icewand Starborn: High Lord of the Great Expanse; Lord of Mountains; Water Branded—Hey, wait. You don't _hold_ a rank in Air magic." Astonished realization showed on his face. "And you surpass the fifth level for a secondary magic. How is that?"

"Ah, that _is_ the question, isn't it?"

Reggie looked at Storm and Whisper. "But if wands are supposed to amplify magic you already possess, how can it raise you to do what—first level—second—Air magic?"

Storm thought about it. "Third."

"Third," Whisper echoed. "A first level would have been able to raise the wind. A second level _possibly_ might have been able to get the wind to open to a page on one book—but the same page on thirteen books?" She shook her head. "Third level at _least_."

Reggie chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Okay, third. How can it amplify magic to a third level that you don't possess?"

"Aha!" Aurelius' voice was loud enough to make them all jump. "Now there is the _real_ question."

Aurelius's eyes swept over the room, drawing the students into his gaze. "Children, I am going to ask you to do what will seem like the impossible, for I am about to do the unthinkable—I am going to ask you to put aside all you have learned about concentrations of magic in the elements and levels and hierarchies. Reggie and Ryssa, Moira and Jet, and possibly Hammie, may have an easier time of this since they haven't had it ingrained into their teaching since the time they could begin to think. In exchange, I am going to teach you to open up to the True Magic—the Magic of the Sidhe."

"The Ancient Ones?" Loo said dreamily. "Cool."

"Who is she?" Ryssa asked.

"Not _she_ ," Aurelius replied patiently, "although the pronunciation is the same— _Sidhe_. S-i-d-h-e. The Sidhe is what we were called long before the mortal world came along and named us Faery. It is the magic of the True Name—soul magic. It goes far beyond the elements, yet incorporates them as a part of the whole."

"If it's so powerful," Reggie leaned back in his chair, "why did they stop teaching it?"

"Because in the early years for one of the Sidhe, the magic is wild—unpredictable. A true Sidhe could just as easily call forth the dark magic as they could any other. With the banning of dark magic in the time of Dana, they were attempting to restore the balance of magic. That much wild magic, if connected with the dark, could have undermined what they were trying to accomplish."

"But won't the same thing happen again?" Gervais growled. "I mean, if we start using the True Magic of the Sidhe—doesn't it eliminate the safety net that prevents us from lashing out with wild, dark magics?"

Aurelius seemed almost amused. "The majority of you have been trained since before you could walk to control the elemental magic within you. There is little chance you'll be able to let go of that training enough to do any major devastation—and you have been trained to stay away from the dark side of those forces."

"What about Reggie and Ryssa?" Jade frowned. "They haven't had the same kind of training. They could be a true wild card, so to speak."

"We will all be here to help and to guide them. With the trained magic available to us in this room—my own notwithstanding," he pointed out, "there shouldn't be a problem. Besides, when they were fostered into the mortal world, there were specific directions given for their training. They don't realize it yet, but their control will be better than you think, because of it."

Reggie and Ryssa looked at each other without expression. The twin-bond didn't have to be in place for either of them to know what the other was thinking. Mary and Debra had gotten into a bit of an argument over the training that had _not_ been provided for the children. Neither of the twins wanted to say anything for fear of Mary's threat coming true—that they wouldn't be allowed to return to the only mother they had ever known.

Reggie was conflicted. Hadn't Debra raised them to understand that a lie by omission was still a lie? In Faery, they considered oaths, promises, and lies to be very serious. But if Aurelius didn't specifically ask, then Reggie was neither lying nor omitting anything—right? He had no one to question about the moral lines of the dilemma, so he let it go—at least for the moment.

His attention returned to Aurelius who was saying, "Besides, I won't take any of you into the realm of the In-Between to get your True Names for you to be able to pull forth any real power until I'm certain that you have the control needed to handle it."

Hammie swallowed hard. "The In-Between?"

"What's the In-Between?" Ryssa asked.

"The In-Between is the veil between the lands of Faery and the Zombie Zone," Jet supplied.

"Do you mean that foggy stuff we came through to get here?" Reggie frowned. "It said things to me when I went through it."

Aurelius drew in a breath. "You heard voices in the mist?"

Reggie nodded.

"What did they say?"

"I don't know." Reggie thought about it. "They said, ' _He's back_ '—or something like that. Then I bumped into Ryssa, and she was really scared, like they were talking to her, too. She begged me to make them stop. The next thing I knew, Darkwind was flying toward us in that fireball, and the voices called to us some more, showing us the way to where you were waiting."

"Did the voices call you by any name?" Aurelius pressed, but held up a hand and quickly added, "If they did, I don't want you to speak the actual name. When you are True Named, you must never give that Name to another person. By knowing someone's True Name, you gain control over him or her. I am only asking whether or not they _did_ Name you."

"No, but what did they mean when they said, ' _He's back_ '?"

"They were possibly referring to your return to Faery." Aurelius looked puzzled. "The In-Between is an entity of its own—for all it may seem otherwise. It doesn't measure things the way we do in Faery, or even in the mortal world, for that matter. It touches your True Self—your soul or your spirit. That is how it Names you True. It is not Naming your physical body, but rather, the essence of who you truly are."

"Oh." Before Reggie could ask anything else, Aurelius turned to Ryssa.

"Did you hear the voices too, like Reggie said?"

Ryssa nodded, but she didn't look happy.

"Did they Name you?" he asked.

She didn't say anything for a long moment, her look dark and mutinous. Finally, she nodded again.

"They said other things to you as well," Aurelius prodded.

Tears well up in Ryssa's eyes, but she set her jaw with an anger that made her whole body go rigid.

"I'm sorry." His eyes held regret. "The True Seeing of the In-Between can be harsh even for those who have been prepared, let alone those who have not."

"Are you saying that what those things were saying to me is _true_?" Ryssa's eyes begged him to say _no_.

Aurelius looked pained, but nodded.

"No!" She slapped the palm of her hand down on the table, making everyone in the room jump. "You're _wrong_ — _they're_ wrong."

"What did they say to you?" Moira asked with genuine concern.

_They had to be wrong_ , Ryssa ignored her. _I'll_ prove _them wrong_.

Ryssa replayed the disturbing event she had experienced in the fog. Voices, hundreds of them, had filled the mist around her, calling to her, just like they had Reggie. ' _She's back_ ', they had said, ' _She brings darkness to the Sidhe. The Heart of Darkness returns to life. With the darkness, all that has been done in the name of light will be undone. She holds the power to destroy them all. We answer the call of darkness in your heart and we name you, Danu_.'

Then Reggie had bumped into her, breaking the hold the voices seemed to have on her. _Strange how I had forgotten it until now_. Someone spoke her name, causing her to jump.

"Ryssa—child?" Aurelius was kneeling beside her. "Ryssa, can you hear me?" He placed his hands over the top of hers. "Heavens, child, you are ice cold."

Ryssa pulled back from the warmth of his touch. She vacantly stared at him for a moment, letting her mind focus on his face, using it as an anchor to pull herself out of the quagmire of thoughts into which she had wandered.

"I'm okay, Uncle." She shook her head to clear it. "I was just remembering—it was as though I had forgotten it all until now."

"Remembering is good." Aurelius nodded. "Preparation is usually required before a True Naming, or else important things can be lost—including your focus when you need it the most. Why don't you come into my chambers, and we'll discuss what has happened."

"No," her response was sharp, but she softened her tone. "No, Uncle. It's okay. I'm fine, really."

She gave him a smile that she didn't feel, but she wasn't ready to talk. She didn't think she'd _ever_ be ready to talk about it.

"Can we just get back to where we were at? There's so much we have to do in such a short period to get us ready." Her thoughts warred within. _The voices are wrong. I'll_ prove _them wrong_.

"Yes, of course." Aurelius watched her closely. "If you are sure—"

"Really. I'm _fine_." This time the smile she flashed was genuine.

"Very well." Aurelius dipped his head toward her, a signal of his letting the issue go—for now.

"As I was saying," he stood and faced the rest of the team, "True Names are your internal link to the earth. They can help you to call forth the power directly and with a great deal of control—which is good, because it allows you to call forth a great deal of power."

"But if your True Name is the link to the power," part of Reggie's mind was still distracted with concern for his twin, "wouldn't you have to have your True Name first, before working with the power?"

"No," Aurelius said. "In actuality, you already possess your True Name. It is a part of who you are. The In-Between only gives you access to what you already possess. They look into your soul and name you True—they are not creating something from nothing."

Ryssa scowled, but tried to hide it. _What had she heard from the voices of the In-Between?_ Reggie wondered.

"It is within the stillness of your mind that you find and connect to the magic of the Earth. When you are able to quiet the on-going chatter that usually spins cycles of thoughts through your conscious mind, you reach a level of awareness that takes you beyond your physical senses to connect directly to your spirit, which is already connected to the Earth."

"Sort of like opening a birthday present," Ryssa said.

"I'm not sure that I understand—"

"You know—you have all of the pretty packaging—the wrapping paper, the ribbons and bows. There might even be a card attached. All of it keeps your thoughts distracted and wondering what's underneath. Or maybe you know what's in it, 'cuz you sneaked a peak ahead of time." She gave a guilty blush. "But you won't have access to the prize that's waiting for you until you get rid of everything that's covering it up on the surface."

"Yes," Aurelius beamed. "It is a very good analogy. But this is like a gift you get at birth. It's always there. Maybe it's put away until you are of an age to understand that it _is_ something—anything—even if not quite realizing it is a gift. As an infant, easily amused and distracted, you might play with the gift for some time, wrappings and all, without understanding there is anything more to it. Then one day, you become coordinated enough to remove the wrappings and find the real prize beneath. That prize is your connection to the Earth and its magic

"The prize is like a game board with many pieces. You start to play with the game, maybe making up a few rules or just moving the pieces around the board. For some people, that is enough. Then someone comes along and shows you it is an actual game with set rules and a purpose—to reach the end goal. That would be like your wand. Now you realize there is actually thought and organization behind it—a purpose—and that with help—meaning your wand—you might even be able to puzzle through most of it. Then one day, someone else comes along and hands you a rulebook outlining how the game is really played and shows you how to move all of the pieces to the winning square. That rulebook is your True Name."

"Cool." Reggie bobbed his head.

"But if you're only connecting to the Earth," Gervais shifted in his seat, "doesn't it mean you're only connecting to the elemental earth energies?"

"Yeah," Pyro, Jr. tilted his head, "what about the other elements—like fire?"

"No—the Earth is the playing board in this case, the basis for magic. The pieces you move around the board are the individual elemental magics. Each one can be moved into the winning spot on the board as long as you understand the rules on how to move them. And like any game, each time you play, you can choose to be a different piece—to use a different magic."

"Okay, oh most wise wand," Reggie joked. "You have shown us the board—are you now going to show us part of the game so we can start moving the pieces around a bit?"

The others looked at their Counselor with hope.

"Not now." Aurelius smiled. "For now, we do lunch."

He pointed to a table that had been set up while their attention had been focused on him. It was spread with an array of fruits, bread, meats, cheeses and a variety of drinks. At the far end were little cookies and other baked snacks, the pleasing aroma drifting their way.

A loud rumble erupted and everyone looked to the source. It was Hammie, his stomach echoing agreement with Aurelius' statement that it was time to eat. They all laughed, including Hammie.

"Besides," Aurelius added as they started to get up, "I am not the wand. I have only pointed out the pretty box that the gift is encased within. After lunch, we'll work on your coordination for opening that gift and take a look at the game under the wrappings. If we get that far before bedtime, then tomorrow we'll introduce you to the actual wands that will be showing you the game."

"But I'm only a Fire Initiate," Pyro hung his head, embarrassed. "I'm not allowed to have a wand until I become a Practitioner. I'll never get that good fast enough."

"Pyro," Aurelius said firmly, "along with forgetting some of the other things you have been taught about magic, you must also forget, or at the very least ignore, what others have made you feel about yourself. The rules are being changed, here and now. You are entering a new game where those rules no longer apply. I have every confidence that you will play this game much better than the last one."

Pyro stared at Aurelius as though judging the sincerity of his words. Determination glittered in his eyes. "Then let's eat, 'cuz I'm ready to play. We have a game to win."

Aurelius smiled, the rest of Team Phoenix giving corresponding comments of a united front. They were going to play this game—and they _were_ going to win.

## Chapter 13: Calling All Sprites

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Morning found most of the members of Team Phoenix sound asleep, but Ryssa was wide-awake, her eyes staring blankly into the dark. She thought she heard movement in the common area. Perhaps it was Brownies setting up breakfast. The noises were so subtle, she couldn't be sure, but before long the scent of cinnamon rolls wafted under the bedroom door.

After lunch the preceding day, Aurelius had set them on the grueling task of clearing and emptying their minds. Ryssa couldn't believe that just sitting there, trying to think about absolutely nothing, could be such hard work. It didn't help that she had a tremendous amount on her mind.

Everyone else was able to get it, although not right away. They had taken a break around dinnertime. Afterward Aurelius had them work on connecting to the Earth's magic. He wasn't trying to get them to call the magic yet—only connect to it. That part was even _more_ frustrating for Ryssa. She had already failed miserably at emptying her mind, only to later watch the others connect to the magic one by one. Aurelius seemed to have to concentrate to sense the connection each one made. Ryssa saw the connections clearly—strings of light folding outward like fans when one of her fellow teammates connected to the magic.

She tried to copy what she thought the others were doing, but nothing worked. It all boiled down to the fact that the others could do it, and she couldn't. Aurelius became cross with her at one point, ordering her to stay focused. That was the worst part. Ryssa was so embarrassed that she had stormed from the common area and shut herself away in the girls' room.

No one had followed. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't because they didn't _know_ what was wrong—they just didn't care. Later that night, when the other girls came to get ready for bed, Ryssa pretended to be asleep. She knew it was childish, but she wasn't feeling very sociable.

The other girls drifted off to sleep, while Ryssa lay awake most of the night, staring into the darkness. The one, single hope she felt at the prospect of coming to Faery had been dashed. All her life it seemed like everything came easily to everyone else, especially her twin, while she had to struggle for every inch of ground, no matter what she did. It was no different here. Once again, she struggled while everyone else succeeded.

When she could no longer stand the smell of the cinnamon rolls calling to her empty stomach, Ryssa gave up and headed out into the common area. Meek sat in the same spot as he had the morning before, on the bench outside the boys' room. The Brownie sitting next to him was there one moment and gone the next. Ryssa started for the table of food, but changed her mind and instead marched over to Meek.

She stood before him, arms folded across her chest. "I need to ask you a question—two, actually."

Meek looked wary, but nodded slowly for her to continue.

"Like everyone else here, you have to be truthful in all things—right?"

His eyes grew even more wary, but he nodded confirmation.

"So the next question—are you the one responsible for the disappearance of all these potentials?"

Meek's expression changed from wary, to stunned, to hurt in the blink of an eye. He shook his head to the negative.

"Okay. I had to know, because of you being up and all before everyone else yesterday and—never mind. I'm sorry. That was really rude of me, but I don't know anything about this place, or anybody here. I didn't want to ask that question in front of the others and start something that shouldn't—oh, just forget it. I'm sorry"

She left him sitting there while she walked to the table, grabbed a warm cinnamon roll and went to sit on the couch outside of the girls' room. Her attention was so intent on the roll that she didn't see Meek until he was standing next to her. When she glanced up, he asked with a gesture and a raised brow whether he could sit. She nodded her consent, and he joined her in silence.

They were still there a short time later when the other Team members started joining them one by one. Nobody spoke, but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was more an unspoken agreement to stay lost, each in his or her waking moments, enjoying breakfast. It was as though after the work they had put their minds through the previous day, no one wanted to make the first move toward engaging their brains that early in the day.

Aurelius entered the room with a hearty, "Good morning, Team," and helped himself to breakfast with the rest. He took a big bite of cinnamon roll and winked at Ryssa.

After the scrape and clink of breakfast utensils had died down, Aurelius rose. "All right. Everyone go get dressed and meet me back here in a few minutes."

A few minutes was all it took for them to get ready. Not even the girls were up to lengthy preparations this morning. They were all so tired from the day before. No one seemed to have any energy.

Today the ramp from the Team Phoenix quarters led up to the Arena Court. Reggie shook his head. He didn't understand it, but he didn't have the wherewithal at the moment to try and figure it out. Aurelius headed up the stairs that led toward the outside, taking a left into another, shorter hall before they actually left the Sithin mound. He turned again into a doorway near the end of the hall. They entered a large room with all sorts of odds and ends shoved here and there, piled in corners, on shelves, and in drawers bursting to overflowing. Stones, cloth, ropes, strings, feathers, claws, paints, jars of glowing liquids and glittering powders—all manner of things filled the room.

Aurelius walked to a large wooden cabinet attached to the far wall. Taking a key from his pocket, he unlocked the ancient lock that held it closed. He threw open the doors, and the children gathered around to see what the cabinet held. Inside, were what appeared to be all kinds of sticks. The collection seemed to be made up of various kinds of wood in different lengths and widths and shades and tones of color. Some were polished, others rough, while others looked as though they still had the bark on them.

"Okay, Team." Aurelius waved his arm with a flourish to bring attention to the assortment encased by the cabinet. "Today we focus our attention on procuring your new lifetime partner in magic.

"When I have finished, you will proceed to the cabinet and choose whichever wand you like. After that, you may spend as much time as you wish going through the baubles within this room, taking whatever items you fancy will make your wand personal to you. When you have done this, find a space at one of the tables and have a seat. Now, go ahead and begin."

Reggie and Ryssa shrugged at each other and moved closer to the wand case where everyone was now examining the contents. As far as they could tell, there was nothing more than a bunch of sticks inside. They watched as Moira and Jet grabbed a matching pair of sleek, black polished sticks, both exclaiming with delight over their find. Gervais grabbed a dark brown stick still covered with bark that was as narrow as his little finger on one end and almost too wide to fit into his hand at the other.

At the same time, Reggie and Ryssa both noticed a set of sticks, not polished, but of a purple so dark they appeared black. They each grabbed one and held them side by side to compare. The grains of each were different, obviously from two different kinds of wood. The coloring, however, was a perfect match.

"Lightning struck oak and ash." Aurelius peered over their shoulders. "Those are two of only a few rare pieces that made the trip from Tir Nan Og itself."

Again, Reggie and Ryssa looked at each other and shrugged. As far as they could tell, they were just sticks. But they thought they were pretty cool looking anyway—as far as sticks went.

"Which one is which?" Reggie asked.

Aurelius leaned a little closer, examining them both carefully down the length of his nose.

"I believe you are holding the oak, Reggie—and you, Ryssa, have the ash. Interesting. I would have expected it to be the other way around."

Ryssa eyed him suspiciously. "Why is that?"

"No reason," Aurelius walked away, "I was just thinking out loud."

Ryssa went to one side of the room and poked through the piles of cloth. She really didn't know what she was searching for—what was a wand supposed to look like anyway? From what she had seen of her uncle's wand, it was nothing more than a carved stick with a crystal. It didn't have feathers, or anything else for that matter. She wanted a little more than that, but what?

She walked over to a selection of ribbons and lace. One piece of black lace caught her eye. Woven into the pattern were stars—eight in all—before the piece had been snipped off. It was pretty. She wasn't sure what she would do with it, but she grabbed it. There were also some ribbons nearby, in a variety of colors. She chose a spool of thin raspberry-pink and another of black, and added them to the lace.

_What else?_ she wondered, looking around the room. Glinda was going through a pile of feathers, selecting a few to add to her own wand craft pile. Gervais studied a collection of claws, examining each with a critical eye before discarding most. Loo ran his fingers through a jar of translucent rainbow fish scales, letting them pour through his fingers like water. Pyro was near Ryssa by the ribbon table, checking out some flame-colored samples. The rest of Team Phoenix already sat at the tables with their piles of crafts stacked next to their wands.

Reggie sat at a table, holding his collection of finds. Moira and Jet were at the same table. A collection of paint pots was situated between them. The Phooka twins playfully charged at each other with tiny little carved horses.

_How were those going onto their wands?_ Ryssa shook her head. _Not my problem_.

Jars glittering with pinpoints of light, their colorful sparks reflecting onto the surfaces around them caught Ryssa's attention. She walked over and grabbed a jar of raspberry-colored glitter to match the ribbon, and then took her supplies and sat next to her twin.

She surveyed Reggie's collection of wand craft treasures. All he had selected were four miniature swords made of a shiny, silver-colored metal. He grinned and pointed to the ring he wore, the one Debra had given him for his birthday.

"The _Three Musketeers_ came to mind. All for one and one for all."

Jet raised an amused eyebrow. "And the fourth for their sidekick, D'Artagnan?"

"Yeah—D'Artagnan and my brother, Terry—both take life far too seriously. It fits."

"How are you going to attach them to the wand?" Ryssa looked to Moira and Jet. "How do we do this?"

"You'll see in a minute," they promised with mysterious smiles.

Ryssa glanced around the room. Hammie was the last to take his seat. Aurelius grabbed a stack of carved wooden boxes next to the wand case. He motioned for Meek, who was closest to him, to help.

"Pass these out to the others," Aurelius piled a stack into the boy's arms, "one for each."

Meek came to Ryssa's table and placed one box in front of each of them. Moving to the next table, he passed the rest out, keeping one for himself. Aurelius handed out the other half of the boxes to the remaining members of the team.

"Remove the lids from your boxes, children, and place your wands inside, along with the items you have chosen."

Reggie and Ryssa examined the covers of their boxes. Each had a depressed pair of handprints set into the cover. They removed the lids and saw the interior was deeply set and lined with velvet. The wands went in first, followed by the items chosen to decorate them. Reggie went to put the lid back on the box, but Aurelius stopped him.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Reggie."

He blushed and put the lid back on the table.

Aurelius pulled out another large box from under the cabinet and lifted its hinged top. He walked around the tables and deposited a small crystal about the size of a robin's egg—and almost the same color blue—onto the table in front of each child. When he finished, he put the box away. He closed the doors to the wand cabinet and relocked it, pocketing the key.

"All right, team." Aurelius turned to face them again. "Listen carefully. Place your crystals into the wand box and close the lid. Without breaking contact with the box, once the lid is on, slide your hands over the surface until your palms rest into the depressed carvings on the top. _No matter_ what _happens_ , do _not_ remove your hands until I tell you to do so. Now—crystals into the boxes, please."

The members of Team Phoenix did as they were told.

"Wow." Reggie was surprised at the feelings emanating from the box into the palms of his hands. "That's really warm."

"Really?" Moira asked. "Mine's kind of tingly."

"Mine's wet and pulsating." Jet frowned.

Ryssa watched her hands with an odd expression. "I don't know." She couldn't take her eyes from the box. "It goes hot and then cold and then hot again. It's making my fingers throb, like I can feel my heartbeat in the tips."

"Cool." Reggie looked around the room.

As always, Loo was wearing a dreamy smile, so Reggie couldn't really tell what was happening to him. Pyro's hands were twitching and smoke rose from under his fingers, but he didn't seem to be in any pain. Hammie's entire body jerked and convulsed as though zapped by an electrical current, but he had a big smile on his face. Reggie swore he heard music coming from Glinda's box, and that she hummed along with it, but he wasn't close enough to make out the melody.

Each child sat holding their hands in place as Aurelius had directed. Eventually, the warmth began to fade from Reggie's box. From the puzzled looks on the faces of the others, he guessed that they also noticed the sensations dissipating. When it looked as though all the boxes were finished doing whatever it was they were doing, Aurelius spoke again.

"All right, children. If you no longer feel anything coming from your box, and _only_ if you feel nothing, you may remove the lid and retrieve your wand."

Reggie took his hands away and lifted the lid, looking inside with surprise. The swords were gone and the crystal had attached itself to the top of the wand, but now the crystal had faceted sides that came to a point at the tip. It was no longer robin's egg blue either. The color had transformed into a dark, purple-black, like the color of the wand, with a burgundy-colored spot at its center. He lifted the wand out of the box, checking the wood. There appeared to be some sort of etching along its side. Upon closer inspection, he saw that four swords had been delicately embossed onto the wand, running from end to tip, with the points coming together at the crystal.

"Way cool! Hey, Ryss, look at this!"

Ryssa was examining her wand, while Reggie eyed it from where he was sitting. Her crystal had turned the exact opposite colors as his—the crystal being a burgundy-color with a dark, purplish-black spot in the center. The shape of hers was different, almost star-shaped with multiple points. Down near the handle, the wood was embossed with an intricately woven style, like thin, braided ribbons alternating in polished black and deep raspberry colors for about the first six inches from the base. Where the weave ended, in the space from the handle to the crystal, the wood was carved in a lacy pattern with stars, eight of them, that shimmered with the reflecting color of the glitter she had chosen.

"It's beautiful!" she pronounced, delighted with her treasure.

Reggie and Ryssa both looked toward Moira and Jet, who seemed to have identical wands—opalescent, rounded crystals at the tips, and little horses embossed down the sides, each a muted variety of colors from the paint pots that had been incorporated into their wand boxes.

Everyone around the room exclaimed satisfaction with the results. Hammie waved his around happily, apparently oblivious that his hair was standing on end from the experience. Meek stared at his, turning it end over end, while Gervais examined his own with its circle of claws curving upward, just above where he would hold it in his hand. He grunted, looking pleased.

"Okay, children. We have to do the next part quickly, while the wands are still fresh." Aurelius pointed to a small door set to the far side of the room. "Through that door is the Hall of Sprites. It is there that the elders of Faery place the Sprites we manage to collect. When we enter the Hall, find a place to stand and hold your wands high. Wave it around to draw their attention if you want. Sometimes they need you to let them know you are there, since they really exist on a plane different than the one we do.

"When a Sprite enters your wand, you will feel some sort of sensation. I can't tell you what it will be, because each will be different—just like when you created the wands. The one thing that _will_ be the same, however, is that you will hear the name of your Sprite in your mind. When you hear its name, you must bind the essence of the Sprite to your wand, and to yourself, by adding the name to yours and announcing it out loud. Under no circumstance are you to leave the Hall of Sprites until you have completed the binding. If you do, the Sprite will be released into Faery, and we are all _very_ aware of what a rogue Sprite can do."

"How do we add its name to ours?" Reggie asked.

"My name, before the binding, was Aurelius Trenton Starborn. The Sprite who came to me was Icewand. When she entered the wand and gave me her name, I called out, _Aurelius Trenton Icewand Starborn_ to bind her. She became as much a part of me as my name. That is why we add their name to ours—to make them a part of who we are."

"Oh, I guess it makes sense."

"Come along now. Let's call in the Sprites."

The scraping of chairs filled the room as the children left the tables and followed their Counselor to the Hall of Sprites. Aurelius opened the door and let them enter, making sure everyone was inside before closing the door. The room was less like a Hall and more like a large cavern with crystals set into the walls that lit the domed rock formation as bright as day. Hundreds of lights circled the top of the dome, much like the lights that floated through the branches of the Sithin tree above the mound. The circling kaleidoscope of colors had a dizzying effect, especially when viewed from below.

"Take your places, children, and hold up your wands."

Team Phoenix scattered about the room, holding their wands high. Reggie and Ryssa stepped off to one side, holding theirs up with the others. The lights circled overhead, but a few began to float lower in the cavern, as though noticing the children below. Some flew directly downward, and it wasn't long before cries of binding echoed through the room.

"Glinda Alysses Summerhand Feathernest."

"Jade Marcea Gardenlight Stoneheart."

"Hammie Marshall Gobletbreath Starborn." He paused. "Oh—what? Sorry. Hammie Marshall _Goblinbreath_ Starborn."

"Moira Tinay Ravencall Starborn."

"Jet Findlay Winternight Starborn."

"Gervais Wilhelm Strongoak Beastmaster."

Reggie looked around. He saw Meek whispering something, closely holding his wand to his lips.

"Move your wand a bit." Aurelius pulled his attention back. "Draw the Sprites to you."

Reggie tried wagging his wand, and then settled for slashing it through the air like a sword. Ryssa sort of poked and jabbed her wand into the air, thrusting it at the Sprites and willing one to come to her.

"Pyro Solomon Wildfire Flamebringer." Pyro looked confused for a moment and then added with uncertainty, "Junior?"

"Loo Loo," the boy blushed, "Sirensound Seacalm."

"Whisper Hexwand Windcall." The girl shrugged. "I was never given a middle name."

"Storm Gray Seabreeze Cloudwalker."

Reggie frowned. Only he and Ryssa had yet to get their Sprites. He looked up and saw two heading directly for them, coming in fast. They hit the wands. Ryssa was knocked to the floor, while Reggie shook his head from the force of the voice that echoed through his mind. When he could focus again, he smiled and announced loudly, "Reginald Aurelius Starsong Starborn."

He looked to Ryssa, who had climbed back to her feet. She wasn't smiling. Instead, she was staring at her wand with a mortified expression.

"Ryss?" He took a step toward her.

Ryssa's eyes turned to him, filled with tears. She threw her wand to the ground and started to run to the cavern door. Aurelius caught her and held her tight.

"Ryssa, you cannot leave until you have bonded with the wand."

"No!" she fought against him, "I _won't_!"

"You must," his voice held a touch of anger. "If you don't, you will let that Sprite loose into Faery where it could go rogue and cause some serious damage. Stop acting like a spoiled child. Do you not like the name? Names don't mean anything. Hammie ended up with Goblinbreath. Go back, pick up your wand and bond with it."

Ryssa glared at Aurelius. Reggie could feel the weight of her anger overriding his own emotions. But he was right. She couldn't let a rogue Sprite loose on Faery.

"Fine." She pushed Aurelius away, but he stood ready to step in again if it became necessary.

Ryssa walked over and picked up the wand. She wouldn't even look at it. Reggie was surprised at the coldness of the anger that flashed through her eyes. He had seen her mad before, but not like this. She locked that stare on Aurelius, refusing to look at the wand now clenched so tightly in her hand that her knuckles turned white.

"You want me to _bond_ with this thing?" Ryssa glared at him, the tears quivering in her throat. She paused to swallow and took a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was tight, but steady. "Maryssa Delzia _Darkwind_ Starborn."

She stood for a moment, locking her gaze on Aurelius just long enough to see the name register in his mind and turn his expression to horror.

"No—Oh, child, no—"

"Names don't mean anything, Uncle." She pushed past him and walked to the door. "Isn't that what you said?"

She left Team Phoenix and their Counselor standing in shock while the sound of the slamming door echoed through the cavern.

## Chapter 14: The Black Knight

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Ryssa sat on her bed staring at her wand when a knock sounded at the door.

"Ryssa?" Aurelius opened the door slightly and peeked in. "May I come in?"

She cocked her head and one shoulder in a shrug that basically said, _I-don't-care-what-you-do-it-doesn't-matter-you'll-come-in-whether-I-say-yes-or-no-so-why-are-you-even-asking?_ He entered and sat on the bed next to hers.

"Child, I am sorry for what happened up there. If I had known—"

Ryssa said nothing.

Aurelius sighed. "If I had known, I would have still had to make you bond with Darkwind. There is no other way. A Sprite can only enter the wand of a person who has what it takes to control it. That's to prevent the Sprite from controlling the relationship. Something inside of you called to Darkwind."

Ryssa lifted her eyes to him and glared.

"I'm sorry, Niece." He shifted awkwardly. "I am on my way to speak with Queen Medwyn. She has been around for many, many more years than I have. I've never heard of an instance where a bond had to be broken between a member of Faery and his or her wand, but in thousands of years, this can't be an unprecedented event. I can't make any promises—"

"So you're telling me I can control this _thing_ ," Ryssa said without emotion. "It has to do whatever I say?"

"Well, yes. But it takes time to build the bond between you and your wand. Telling your wand to do something is less a matter of instructing it and more a matter of connecting to it so deeply that it understands the difference between what you _tell_ it to do and what you really _want_ it to do."

Ryssa nodded, looking back at her wand again, closing him out. Aurelius rose and turned to leave, but she stopped him before he reached the door.

"Uncle," her voice was rough with the emotions she tried to keep under control. "You don't think I'm a bad person, do you?"

Aurelius looked back at her. He allowed her to see, for the first time, a sign of the affection he felt for his brother's children.

"No, child," she heard the emotion in his voice. "I in no way think you are a bad person."

"Then why do bad things always happen to me?"

"Ryssa, bad things happen to bad people too, but when something bad happens to a bad person, we think— _See—that's what you get_ , and give it very little thought. When bad things happen to good people, it hurts us and makes us question, _Why?_ We give it a lot of thought, so we tend to remember those things more often than we do when it happens to someone we feel deserves it. I assure you, child, what is happening here is giving me cause for a lot of thought."

Ryssa looked away. "Thanks," she mumbled. A slight pressure filled the air and disappeared.

"You are very welcome." His expression was sincere. "I will let you know what I find out from Medwyn."

Aurelius left and Reggie poked his head in through the door.

"Mind if I come in?"

"Would it matter if I did?" Ryssa rolled her eyes, but she was glad to see him.

"Nope. But I thought I'd take a stab at being polite."

"Why start now?" Ryssa raised her eyebrows as he closed the door behind him and came to sit in the same place that Aurelius had vacated.

"Practice," Reggie raised his head loftily, "for when we rule Faery and have to be nice to everyone and deal with all the rules of etiquette and protocol and double talk."

"Ick." Ryssa made a face. "You make it sound _so-o-o_ appealing."

"Isn't it, though?" Reggie looked seriously at his twin. "How are you doing? Are you okay?"

" _Okay?_ " Ryssa gave a harsh laugh. "I don't think I'll ever be _okay_ again. I feel like we're caught inside some bizarre dream—but you're living the dream side of it while I'm living the nightmare side. I want to cross over to _your_ side, Regg, but I don't know how. And what I _really_ want is to wake up, safe and sound at home in bed, and find that none of this ever happened."

"Dream? You think my side is the _dream_ side? Think about it, Ryss. All my life, my passion has been studying science. I love figuring out how things work and why they work the way they do. Here, in this place, my whole world has been turned upside down and I can't put a finger on _why_ anything works the way it does, let alone _how_. This isn't a dream—it's a waking nightmare."

" _:So create your dream,:"_ a voice whispered inside his head.

"What did you say?"

"Who? Me?" Ryssa furrowed her brow. "I didn't say anything."

" _:I did. Starsong.:"_

"Starsong?"

"Starsong?" Ryssa echoed. "Your wand, er, Sprite—whatever you call it?"

" _:She can't hear me. She will only be able to hear Darkwind.:"_

"You guys can talk?"

"Who talks? Reggie, what's going on—? Ouch!"

Ryssa jerked her hand back from the bed. Her wand was standing upright by her bent knee. She blinked. Two little legs extended from the base of the wand to give it balance, and one of two short arms reached up to poke her again with star-shaped hands. From inside the crystal, burgundy eyes stared back at her. The whole thing looked like a three-dimensional stick figure. Ryssa gave a yelp and scrambled back on the bed until she hit the wall and couldn't go any further.

Reggie jerked, startled when he saw Ryssa's wand walk toward her on the bed. "What the—?"

"It's _possessed_!" Ryssa looked frightened.

" _:Of course it's possessed, you ninny,:"_ she heard a voice inside her head. _":What else do you call it when a non-corporeal being takes up residence in a corporeal body?:"_

"But before—" Ryssa was confused. "I _saw_ you when Aurelius first captured you—you had a body then."

The crystal shook its head at her from the top of the wand.

" _:Honestly, they don't teach you_ anything _, do they? The fireball was a bit of magic that was manifested into physical form on your physical plane of existence. When that man—Aurelius you say his name was?:"_ Ryssa nodded slowly, unable to speak. _":When he interrupted the magic, the physical essence of the fireball gave me a solid form that made him able to capture me. If I had been able to complete my objective, he would've never been able to touch me.:"_

"Your objective?" Ryssa asked suspiciously.

" _:Why, to kill you, of course. What—you hadn't figured that out on your own?:"_

Ryssa's eyes narrowed angrily and she did the only thing that she could think of. She raised her fingers and flicked her wand solidly in the little crystal head.

" _:Ouch!:"_ A little star hand reached up to rub the crystal. It eyed her with a sullen expression. _":What did you do that for?:"_

"Try to kill me, will you?" Ryssa flicked it again.

" _:Ouch! Knock it off!:"_ Darkwind jumped out of her immediate reach.

"Kill you?" Reggie leaned forward anxiously. "Ryssa, what is that thing—?"

" _:Shh—Leave them alone. They're bonding.:"_

"But Darkwind—" Reggie turned his attention to the wand in his hand and almost dropped it in surprise. It, too, now had little arms. Two violet eyes stared at him from the crystal. One of the hands stroked his index finger.

" _:Careful. Don't drop me.:"_

"Oh. Sorry."

" _:It takes some getting used to, I imagine. Especially for someone like you.:"_

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Reggie asked.

" _:Nothing,:"_ Starsong said gently. _":We'll get to that. For now, just know that Darkwind will bring no harm to your sister. She can't. When you bind a Sprite to a wand and to yourself through the naming, you become one, sort of. If your sister dies now, Darkwind will cease to exist.:"_

"She's not trying to kill Ryssa right now?" Reggie watched the argumentative interaction between his sister and her wand.

" _:Your sister is safer from Darkwind than you are—have you not heard a word I've said? Darkwind will protect her at any cost. If your sister dies, so does Darkwind. Not a bad guard dog, if you ask me.:"_

"Me? Spoiled?" Ryssa was saying. "Why you little—"

" _:Temper, temper.:"_ Darkwind was smug.

"Oh!" Ryssa pounded her fists on the bed, giving a smirk of satisfaction as the wand toppled over.

" _:Hey!:"_ Darkwind tried to stand back up again. _":Watch it.:"_

"Watch _this_." Ryssa got up from the bed and headed toward the door.

Reggie stared in amazement as Ryssa's wand ran across the bed and took a flying leap to grab the edge of her hoodie. It hung there for a second with one hand, waving to him with the other, and then scrambled up to nestle itself into the loose-hanging pocket.

Ryssa threw open the door and crossed into the common area toward the ramp that would take her away from the Team quarters.

"Hey, Ryssa," Moira called from the group scattered around the room, each bonding with their own wands. "You can't go out there by yourself—"

"Leave me alone." Ryssa didn't bother to look back.

The tunnel led directly outside. Ryssa figured it was because Aurelius was speaking with Queen Medwyn. She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that the dark, beautiful Queen was her aunt. She stepped out into the streets of New Faery City, at a loss for which way to go. Meek's sudden appearance at her side startled her. Scowling, she chose a random direction, and started walking.

"I hate this place," Ryssa complained after they had walked for a while. "I want to go home."

Meek, of course, said nothing.

They continued in silence for a time, paying distracted attention to the other denizens who were out and about. Ryssa was skeptical about the term _city_ being used in this case. New Faerie City wasn't anything like the cities in the Zombie Zone. The cities there had tall buildings that blocked out the sky and miles of concrete stretching as far as the eye could see. This place was more like Oz, a patchwork of magical colors and fantastic scenery. And unlike the cities of the Zombie world, the people here actually acknowledged each other. Not just here and there—but all around the city.

_I guess when you live to be several hundreds or thousands of years old, you actually have time to get to know the people in your neighborhood,_ Ryssa thought.

Their quiet stroll eventually led them to the edge of a large open field.

"What's this?" Ryssa asked Meek. "Some sort of playing field, like baseball or something?" She noticed several pitted wooden objects pasted with targets set around the field.

" _:They play games here sometimes. But mostly it's used for magic training purposes—like fireballs—magics that tend to need a wide open space for practice.:"_

Ryssa jumped, noticing the wand in her pocket for the first time since she had stormed out of the room. She gave it a dirty look, deciding to ignore it. She started across the open space. Trees lined two sides of the field, and homes were scattered along the others.

"You know, Meek, you're lucky."

" _:He's not lucky. Most people think he's cursed.:"_

Ryssa heaved an impatient sigh, but went on ignoring the Sprite.

"I mean—I love my brother more than anything. But sometimes I wonder what it would've been like to be an only child—or at least not the other half of a twin. Even other people think it's weird, the two of us being so different." She was rambling, but she really needed to talk.

"It's hard, because you never feel like you're alone. Now I'm finally getting older and maybe I can start doing my own thing—and I end up with this stupid wand thing that I'll have for the rest of my life. Now I'll _never_ be alone.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe I'd hate being alone—or at least apart from my brother. That's what my mom—my _foster_ mom—always tells me. Now I'll never know for sure, will I? You're lucky that you at least had the chance to feel what it was like."

Meek shot her a dark look, a mixture of hurt and anger. He turned and walked away.

"Meek?" Ryssa took a step to follow him. "Did I say something wrong?"

" _:He's cursed.:"_

"What do you mean, _cursed_?" Ryssa saw Meek stop, his shoulders stiffening as he slowly turned to face her.

" _:He had a twin.:"_

"You had a twin?" Ryssa asked Meek out loud. He was staring at her now with what looked to be panic. He nodded without taking his eyes from hers. "Where is he? What happened to him?"

" _:He was born dead. When they came out, this boy's fingers were wrapped around his brother's throat.:"_

"You can't strangle an infant before it takes its first breath," Ryssa snapped. "It doesn't work that way."

" _:I'm just telling you what I've heard over the years.:"_

"Well, don't! It's only rumors, and rumors cause nothing but hurt. Unless you know that something is a _fact_ , I don't want to hear it from you."

Meek watched her strangely, almost as though relieved.

" _:You're in trouble.:"_

"That's the story of my life. I suppose Aurelius will be pretty upset with me for taking off."

" _:No, not that kind of trouble—_ that _kind.:"_

Ryssa looked to where Darkwind pointed, behind and slightly to the side of Meek. A knight in solid black armor, astride a midnight black horse, was bearing down on them. He wasn't slowing down—he was going to run directly over them.

"Meek," Ryssa grabbed his arm, "run!"

Meek eyes widened in surprise. He stumbled after Ryssa as she yanked his arm to get him moving. They sprinted across the field, heading toward the nearest street. The sound of hoof beats grew louder and louder. The horse was almost upon them.

"We're not going to make it," she gasped. Then the worst happened. She tripped.

Meek stopped in his tracks and spun to help her. The Black Knight was closing in. Both of them grabbed their wands and pointed, the tips glowing. But neither had a clue as to how they worked. Just as the Black Knight was about to trample them, a green blur cut in front of his path. It was another knight, his armor emerald green, and his mount the bright color of spring grass.

The Black Knight didn't stop, or maybe it couldn't. Ryssa didn't know for certain. She threw up her arms to protect herself, just in case the Green Knight was toppled over on top of her. The fact that it wouldn't do any good never crossed her mind.

The pounding of the hooves suddenly stopped. Ryssa had her hands up, her eyes scrunched shut. It was quiet. She opened one eye, tentatively peeking between her fingers. Nothing was there—no Black Knight, no Green Knight, no horses. Her hands came down and she looked around. It was as though they had vanished—or had never existed at all. Ryssa gaped at Meek, who looked around, seeming as perplexed as she was.

"So." She slowly climbed to her feet, staring at the wand in her hand. Meek was still holding his. "Did you just do that, or did I?"

Meek watched her, his expression blank.

"Yeah." Ryssa glanced around the field. "I don't have any idea what just happened—do you?"

Meek slowly shrugged, obviously confused.

"Okay," Ryssa said breathlessly. "Okay—how about we don't say anything about this until we figure it out?"

Meek raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, right. _I_ won't say anything until we figure out which one of us did this."

Meek nodded. They turned to walk away from the field, continuing to check over their shoulders.

" _:I don't suppose it crossed your mind that maybe a certain Sprite should be given credit here?:"_

"Nope, not at all." Ryssa shoved Darkwind into her pocket, and raised her chin, once more ignoring the annoying voice in her head.

## Chapter 15: Misery Loves Company

[back to top]

When Ryssa stormed out of the girls' room, Reggie followed as quickly as he could. He saw Meek head up the ramp after her, so he wasn't as worried, but he knew his sister was stressed out. When _that_ happened, it was anybody's guess as to what she would do next. He made a quick detour into the boys' room to grab the bag containing Terry's book and headed out to find her.

As Reggie neared the top of the ramp, he heard voices. He slowed his pace. The ramp led to the Arena Court, where a heated argument carried to him through the acoustics of the dome. Aurelius and Queen Medwyn faced each other, both obviously agitated.

"It can't be done, Aurelius. You cannot break the bond between the Sprite and the girl."

"There are cases where the bond has been broken and one or the other has survived."

"Certainly, but the three who survived the breaking of their wands are still in various stages of catatonia or insanity; and of the two Sprites that survived, one is locked away behind magical shielding and is extremely volatile, and the other—"

"And the other is Darkwind." Aurelius seemed disturbed. "Have we ever had an instance where a Sprite bonded to a second keeper?"

"Never."

"So what if it isn't a True bond?"

"There is no way to know. Would you risk our niece's life on chance?"

Aurelius was silent for a time, obviously struggling with indecision. The longer he said nothing, the angrier Reggie became.

Finally, he hung his head in defeat. "No, I suppose not, but I fear she isn't strong enough to control the bond between the two of them. We know what Darkwind is capable of, especially if the Sprite takes control of the relationship."

"Are you trying to say that the girl is _flawed_?" Medwyn asked.

"She cannot control her emotions."

"Oh, Aurelius," Medwyn laughed, "you are judging the girl through your _Seelie_ sentiments. They once said the same of me, and I went on to become the Queen of Air and Darkness—the head of the New Faery Unseelie Court. Do you consider _me_ flawed?" The last was asked lightly, but Reggie could hear the edge to her voice.

"Don't put words in my mouth, Medwyn. I have a valid concern here. With the trials that the potentials will be put through in a very short time, it is possible that the girl could snap, and if she does—"

" _If_ or _when_ it happens, we will deal with it. We will have members of the Faery Court on standby to contain her if necessary. If she cannot control the Sprite, then we will break the bond and deal with those consequences as well. But until that happens, Aurelius, just do as you were assigned and train your Team to victory—that is, if you think you are up to the task."

Reggie had a feeling they were almost finished, and he searched frantically for a way to get past them to the exit of the Sithin mound without being seen. Aurelius's back was to him, so he wasn't worried about that. He was more concerned with having the dark eyes of his aunt fall on him. His opportunity came a moment later when she turned from his uncle as though to dismiss him. Reggie ran as quietly as he could to the exit without looking back.

He made it without being discovered, as far as he could tell. By the time he got there, Ryssa and Meek were gone. With only a touch of guilt about breaking Aurelius' order not to go anywhere alone, Reggie stepped past the dome of the Sithin tree's branches and into the streets of New Faery.

The conversation between Aurelius and Queen Medwyn played itself over in his mind. More angry than he had been in a long time, he had no idea what to do about it. He certainly couldn't tell Ryssa. She felt horrible enough as it was.

_Of course,_ Reggie admitted, _I've never seen what a rogue Sprite can do_. But Darkwind had killed his parents! Was Aurelius right? Was it better to break the bond between Ryssa and Darkwind now, especially with so many other lives at stake?

Reggie shook his head. _No way_. Sacrificing his sister was not an option. Aurelius obviously thought it was, which led him back to thinking about the journal Terry had sent along. _Trust no one._ No kidding. But he needed some guidance. He couldn't figure this thing out by himself—he didn't know enough about this place and how it worked to save his sister on his own.

He was angry with Aurelius most of all. How could the man even _think_ such a thing? Reggie didn't know if he would ever trust his uncle again.

Reggie tightened his jaw. If this was the world he'd been born into, he was glad he'd been raised outside of it. Away from here, he had a loving mother and brother—even if only a foster family—who were good and decent people. Everyone said his real mother was a great person, loved by all. Reggie wondered about his father. _Was he like his brother, Aurelius?_ Reggie hoped not. _What would he have done in this situation?_

" _:Your father would have considered the same thing,:"_ Starsong said.

"Really? Well, that stinks."

Reggie caught the sidelong glances from nearby people. He needed to find a place where he could have privacy, so people didn't think he was talking to himself.

" _:Take a right here and go to the end of the street. You'll end up at one of the training fields. You can be alone there. As for the talking to yourself part—first of all, they've almost all been in your position before, when bonding with their wands. Second, you don't have to speak out loud, we can talk inside your head.:"_

"Really?"

" _:In your head.:"_

" _:Really?:"_ Reggie sent the thought to his wand. _":Okay, but it'll take some getting used to.:"_

" _:You'll slip from time to time even after you get used to it. It can be confusing.:"_

" _:So how do I shut you out if I want privacy?:"_

" _:Well, that's the thing—you can't. I'm a part of you now. Besides, what if there was a way of shutting me out, and you forgot to open it back up again? Think of how that would've played out with Lord Aurelius and Icewand when you came out of the In-Between with Darkwind on your heels. If he'd had to take that extra moment to unlock a closed bond with Icewand, you wouldn't be here right now.:"_

"I see your point."

" _:In your head.:"_

" _:Oh, sorry.:"_ Reggie turned his half of the conversation back inside. A thought struck him. _":Hey—how long were you locked away in the Hall of Sprites?:"_

" _:I don't know. Time really doesn't hold any meaning for me in the sense you think of it. Since long before you were born, I'd imagine—probably several decades.:"_

" _:Then how do you know about this whole thing with Aurelius and Darkwind? I hadn't thought of it since we bonded. Can you dig through my memories?:"_

" _:No. You have that much privacy. I can only connect with your thoughts on a very conscious, surface level. So in a sense, there are many parts of you that can always be shut off to me. I was told what happened by Darkwind, and then I asked Icewand to fill me in on the other details.:"_

" _:So you guys talk to each other, too?:"_

" _:Yes.:"_

" _:Can you ask Darkwind why she tried to kill me and Ryssa? Or why she did what she did to the potentials and my parents?:"_

" _:Do you think you're the only person who has had that thought?:"_ The Sprite's sarcasm dripped through the link. _":We asked—Darkwind isn't answering.:"_

" _:Oh.:"_

" _:There's the training field, just up ahead.:"_

The end of the street open onto a large dirt area, the size of several football fields. As Reggie drew closer, he noticed several blackened or otherwise charred objects scattered about the field.

"Let me guess—Fire magic training?"

" _:Yes.:"_

Reggie found a space at the edge of the field where the grass still grew and sat down with his pack in his lap. He pulled out the journal Terry had given to him. His hand brushed against another object. With a smile, he pulled out his football. He gave it a spinning toss into the air and caught it, satisfied. Whenever he and Ryssa became bored at home, or needed to talk things out, they tossed the football around. He set it to rest between his crossed legs and opened the journal on top of it.

" _:What's that?:"_

"It's a football."

" _:Interesting,:"_ Starsong eyed it critically, _":although it doesn't look like it would roll very well. But that's not what I meant. The book—what is the book?:"_

"Oh," Reggie said out loud and then remembered to speak inwardly. _":It's a—:"_ he stopped. _":Let me ask this question first. If I tell you something, do you automatically share that info with the Sprite network, or is it kept between us?:"_

" _:I only answer questions from other Sprites when they are directly asked of me. But if there is information you wish me to keep private, I am bound to secrecy. Just let me know what you don't want talked about, and it remains between us. As the bond grows, I will actually learn without your telling me what you would prefer, but for now, you'll need to be a little more specific.:"_

" _:Fair enough. This book is one of those things. My foster brother in the Zombie—the mortal world, gave it to me. He and my foster mother are also not open for discussion. I don't know where the lines are drawn between the mortal world and Faery. Whoever is attacking the potentials and put together the attack on my parents—I don't want that to carry over into my life outside of Faery. I may have to deal with it here, but I don't want my family in the mortal world to be touched by something they can't protect themselves against. Terry gave me this book to try and help me work through some of the stuff he thought I might run into here.:"_

" _:He sounds like a good brother.:"_

" _:He has his moments.:"_ Reggie smiled.

Reggie opened up his book to the second page, the one where the rules began.

#1: Trust No One.

As the thought went through his mind, he became angry again with Aurelius.

" _:It's not necessarily Lord Aurelius's fault for conceiving the idea,:"_ Starsong said.

" _:Oh yeah? And how do you figure that?:"_

" _:It's logic. If you were to break it down into one major difference between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, it would be that the Seelie try to look at things from a purely logical perspective, while the Unseelie usually approach things from an emotional perspective.:"_

" _:So you're saying_ logically _, it would be better to do something about Darkwind before she has the chance to do further damage?:"_

" _:From his perspective of logic, yes. But pure logic is not something that is experienced by anything other than a construct—a machine, if you will. Even the Seelie allow various levels of emotional input to seep into their logic.:"_

" _:So you're saying the logic he's using is flawed by emotion:?"_

" _:To an extent, yes. Logically, he should know that a bond is a bond and Darkwind can no longer do anything that Ryssa doesn't control, even if only on a subconscious level. But the emotional side of the equation—the damage Darkwind caused when she went rogue, including the death of Aurelius's brother—enters into his thoughts and leaves him doubting the logic.:"_

Reggie thought about that. It made sense. His eyes drifted to the next rule written in the book.

2. Not everything is as it seems in Faery.

"That's an understatement," Reggie muttered under his breath.

3. None will lie in Faery, but you must sometimes listen hard to hear the truth.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Reggie asked out loud.

**W** HAT IS _WHAT_ SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

The letters appeared on the right hand page, across from the list of rules. Reggie almost dropped the book. The letters faded away.

" _:Did you just do that?:"_ Reggie asked Starsong.

" _:Do what?:"_

" _:Write that reply to my question in the book.:"_

" _:No, it wasn't me.:"_

" _:Then who was it?:"_ Reggie turned the book upside down. He looked around the training field and over his shoulder to see if anyone else was around, but saw no one.

" _:Ask out loud—isn't that when the first response appeared?:"_

"Okay." Reggie turned the book back around to face him with the pages opened upward. "Who is this?"

**A** N ECHO OF SOMEONE WHO HAS KNOWN YOU SINCE BEFORE YOU WERE BORN.

The letters appeared for a moment and then vanished as though they had never been there.

Reggie frowned. "Do you have a name?"

**I** HAVE MANY.

"Will you tell me your name?"

**N** O.

"Why not?"

**I** T IS SAID THE QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS CAN HEAR A WHISPER OF A THOUGHT ON THE WIND IF SHE CHOOSES TO LISTEN. **I** CHOOSE NOT TO SAY.

"Then how do I know that I can trust what you _do_ say?"

The page remained blank for so long that Reggie almost gave up and closed the book.

**I** AM OF THE FEY. **I** CANNOT LIE LEST I BE DEEMED AN OATHBREAKER. **I** WILL TELL YOU THAT MY VOW AT YOUR BIRTH WAS TO PROTECT YOU AND YOUR SISTER. **Y** OUR FATHER'S DEATH DOES NOT RELEASE ME FROM THE VOW I MADE TO HIM. **Y** OUR FOSTER BROTHER'S DESIRE TO HELP YOU—TO PROTECT YOU—CALLED ME TO THE PAGES OF THIS BOOK TO HELP FULFILL MY VOW.

"Are you dead then—a spirit?"

**S** OME WOULD SAY YES. **M** Y PHYSICAL BODY NO LONGER WALKS THE WORLD OF FAERY. **M** Y SPIRIT CONNECTS TO THE BOOK TO GIVE ME THE ONLY ACCESS I AM ALLOWED.

"Is it dangerous for your spirit?" Reggie asked. "Is that why you're afraid to tell me who you are—or were?"

**I** T IS A DANGEROUS TIME FOR ALL OF FAERY.

"Yeah. I'm kind of getting that." He sat quietly for a moment, until a thought struck him. "Hey—does Terry know about you—is that why he only wrote on the left side of the pages?"

**I** T WAS AS HE SAID, HE WROTE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGES TO CONFUSE THOSE WHO CANNOT SEE WHAT THEY CHOOSE NOT TO SEE.

"So you didn't, like, put a spell on him or something?" Reggie peered suspiciously at the book.

**T** HE COMPULSION IS ON THE BOOK. **I** WORKED NO SPELL ON YOUR FOSTER BROTHER.

" _:Interesting piece of work, that,:" Starsong interjected into the mix._

"Okay, then—back to that first question. Rule number three: What is that supposed to mean?"

**E** XACTLY WHAT IT SAYS. **J** UST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS NOT LYING, IT DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE TELLING THE TRUTH. **Y** OU CAN ASK SOMEONE WHAT COLOR THE SKY IS, BUT THEY CAN WORD THE ANSWER IN SUCH A ROUNDABOUT WAY AS TO LEAVE YOU THINKING IT IS GREEN OR RED—BECAUSE OF THE CONCLUSION YOUR DRAW FROM THEIR ANSWER—NOT BECAUSE THEY LIED. **T** HINK CAREFULLY WHEN PHRASING YOUR QUESTIONS, AND REALLY LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF THE ANSWERS YOU RECEIVE.

"Yuck—double talk at its worst."

**I** T'S AN ART FORM IN FAERY.

"That's all right," Reggie said confidently. "My foster mom always said that with the way my mind works I should be a lawyer. I'll figure out the technicalities."

**B** E CAREFUL.

"Er, thanks." Reggie sighed. Right now, the two best companions he could trust to give him information about Faery were a stick and a bunch of paper.

" _:Hey, watch it. I happen to be a little more than a stick.:"_

" _:And so you are.:"_

" _:Hey—you're not pulling double talk right now, are you?:"_

Reggie didn't respond.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" Ryssa's voice came from directly behind him.

Reggie slammed the book shut and twisted around to face her, raising an eyebrow. "Like you wouldn't have done the same if Meek hadn't followed you from the Team quarters."

Ryssa reached down and grabbed the football from his lap and tossed it into the air a couple of times. All the while, she glanced around as though something might jump out at them.

Reggie looked from Meek to his sister. "You guys seem spooked. Is everything all right?"

"Nothing about this place is all right." She shook her head.

Reggie stuffed the journal into his pack and climbed to his feet.

"I'm going to tell my brother, Meek," Ryssa was saying to the silent boy.

Meek gave her a look of uncertainty. Reggie frowned.

"Listen," Ryssa explained. "We usually share everything, and then we puzzle it out together. He's the smart one."

"Stop it, Ryss," Reggie's frown deepened. "Stop putting yourself down. You're smart. You're just lazy and don't apply yourself." His voice held a note of teasing at the end, but he felt guilty. He couldn't share everything with her right now. He couldn't tell her about Aurelius unless it became necessary. He wouldn't put hurt on her like that. And the journal—well, he'd tell her about that, but not with Meek standing there.

Ryssa threw the football at him point blank and he caught it at the last moment before it bulleted into his chest.

"Snot." She stuck out her tongue and stepped back. Raising her chin haughtily, she proclaimed, "Just for that, I'm not telling you anything."

Reggie tossed the football to her, stepping further away.

"Come on, Ryss—what's up?"

They tossed the football back and forth, adding a touch of normalcy to their bizarre lives. This was an activity they pursued often at home, sometimes involving the neighbor kids over the chain link fence that separated their yards. It kept their hands busy while they talked about whatever the topic of the moment was. The topic of this particular moment was Ryssa and Meek's encounter with the Black Knight and the equally strange appearance of the Green Knight that had saved them.

At one point, Ryssa took the football over to Meek and showed him how to properly place his fingers along the laces and throw the ball to Reggie. It took him a couple of times to get the hang of it, but soon all three were throwing the ball around between them while they talked. Or at least while Reggie and Ryssa talked. Meek just threw the ball and listened.

"So do you think maybe one of us did it?" Ryssa asked at the end. "Maybe one of us produced the Green Knight with some kind of accidental magic?"

Reggie was silent for a minute. He cocked his head as though listening to something. "Starsong thinks not," he said at last.

"Are you two getting along?" a trace of envy was evident in her voice.

"Yeah, fine." Reggie shrugged. "How about you and—"

"I'm dealing with it," Ryssa cut him off with a sour face. "But Darkwind is a real pain—Ouch!" She smacked her pocket lightly and grimaced. "Literally."

"Sounds like a good fit for you."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning—that with your friends back home, you tend to get a little bossy. The ones who stick it out with you are the ones that give as good as they get. I think it's the only way you respect them."

"Maybe," Ryssa said, "but it's not like I have a choice with Darkwind. I'll deal with it. I always manage somehow."

"I know. It's one of your strengths. Now back to the Black Knight thing. Starsong said that even with accidental magic, the chances of you bringing forth a solid, physical Green Knight to stop the Black Knight are pretty slim. But the Black Knight vanished when it touched the Green Knight, so it may have _all_ been an illusion. There's no way of knowing for sure."

"Well, I didn't exactly get close enough to poke him and find out whether he was real or not, now did I?" Ryssa twisted her lips sarcastically.

"No—but we can't figure it out by just going on what little info we have."

"I know," sighed Ryssa. "But I don't want the others to know. I kinda want to keep this to ourselves, at least for the time being."

"Agreed." He nodded in the direction behind her. Moira and Jet were walking toward them with Pyro and Gervais in tow.

Reggie tossed a long ball to Jet who caught it with a grin and slammed it to the ground. The Phooka twin held his arms high while he did his own version of an end zone dance.

"Cool!" Moira's face lit up. "A football. Maybe if we get a little time to ourselves later, we can play. We have enough people to divide up into a couple of teams."

"Sure," Reggie said. "Sounds like fun. What's up?"

"We've come to grab you guys and take you to the Wing Field."

"Wing Field?" Ryssa looked confused.

"Yeah," Jet laughed. "We're going the full route of the little fairies. We have our wands—now we earn our wings."

"Flying?" Reggie's eyes danced with excitement. Then he remembered the stomach-churning trip to New Faery City. "Ugh—not the dragonflies again—I'll think I'll pass."

"No can do." Jet shook his head. "Personally, I'm a _both-feet-on-the-ground_ kind of guy, too. But no, this is not a dragonfly. These are Faery wings."

"I still don't get—"

"Remember the Pixies at Madam Quinn's?"

"Uh—those little flying creatures?"

"Yeah, them," Jet said. "Pixies are the weavers of the Fey. They pretty much make anything that passes for clothing in Faery."

"What does that have to do with Faery wings?" Reggie asked.

"I'm getting to that. Way back, even before the time of Dana, the Pixies experimented with thread made from spider webbing. Because of their size, they asked the Ghillie Dhu—"

"The _who_ —?"

"The _Ghillie Dhu_ —tree guardians of the Fey. Anyway, the Ghillie Dhu created super lightweight frames for the Pixies, ones they could manage with their small size, and all. While the Pixies wove their way in and out of the cloth, their wings would brush against the thread. I'm not sure exactly how it all works, but somehow, the combination of the spider thread, the lightweight frames, and the touch of the Pixie wings in flight creates the basis for Faery wings.

"The Pixies and the Ghillie Dhu work hand in hand now to make wings for those Fey who can't fly. They've gotten pretty creative with the whole process. It takes years for the Ghillie Dhu to coax the vines into the proper shape for the Pixies to work with. You'll see—they're pretty cool. Our first lesson will be in elemental Air magic—the other ingredient needed for Faery flight."

"Classes are back in session?" Ryssa gave a wry, lopsided grin.

"Yep." Moira tossed the football to Reggie so he could stow it in his pack. "But this time we get a little hands-on work."

Reggie tucked the ball into the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Lead the way."

"Football, huh?" Gervais eyed the pack as they began to walk. "So tell me about this game."

## Chapter 16: Flight School

[back to top]

It took the group over half an hour to walk the entire width of New Faery City to reach the Wing Field. While most of them discussed football, those with experience explaining the details, Ryssa watchedd her surroundings. She wanted to focus on anything other than the Black and Green Knights.

Most of the human-looking inhabitants they passed were tall, slender, and graceful. They carried themselves with an air of superiority. She could see it in the way they moved. Interspersed throughout the Faery were other types of creatures, some familiar in their appearance, others bizarre and other-worldly. She saw Brownies here and there, exiting various shops and dwellings in route to new destinations. One left a house that looked like a gigantic tulip without a stem. A yellow petal the size of a queen-sized mattress flowed to the ground, to allow the Brownie to leave the dwelling before it lifted back into place.

Moira dropped back from the conversation with the boys to walk at Ryssa's side.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Moira said in response to Ryssa's look of awe.

"Yeah. It's like something out of a—"

"Fairy tale?"

Ryssa laughed. "That about covers it."

"I remember when I first came here." Moira's gaze wandered the streets. "I must've driven Lord Aurelius absolutely bonkers asking him questions. I've always been the nosy type."

"Me, too." Ryssa nodded. "It usually gets me into trouble."

"It will here even more than in the Zombie Zone. In Faery, it's considered the height of rudeness to ask questions, particularly questions of a personal nature."

"Then how are you supposed to learn anything?"

"Personal observation." Moira tried to put on a serious face, but failed. "Me? I play the _I-was-raised-around-humans-and-don't-know-enough-not-to-be-rude_ card a lot."

"Isn't that bordering on a lie?"

"Not really. I mean, I don't actually _say_ I don't know any better. I just shrug and say something like ' _I wasn't raised here—I was raised by humans_.' They usually sniff and nod. Mortals have come among the Fey before. It's expected they will be rude. I just don't elaborate. I figure I've got at least a couple of more years before they start to realize I've been around long enough to know better."

"You make the Faery sound pretty snobbish."

"Oh, they are. But most of them are okay once you get past their snotty exteriors."

"What about the others?" Ryssa tipped her head toward a Brownie, and then toward a short creature that had large round eyes, gray skin and bat wings. He—or at least Ryssa _thought_ it was a he—had two tall, appendages sticking out from the top of his that turned this way and that toward various directions—like antennae. Ryssa thought they looked like fat rabbit ears.

"They are not Faery, they are Fey, which the Faery are a part of. Like the Faery, other Fey have their individual Courts. But they tend to be a little more straightforward and are usually aligned as a whole with either the Seelie or Unseelie Courts." She nodded toward the variety of Fey bustling about. "Brownies—Seelie; Goblins—Unseelie; Pixies—Seelie; Red Caps—Unseelie; Nymphs—Seelie, and the Slaugh—" She pointed discreetly toward the little guy with the fat rabbit ears. "The Slaugh are _definitely_ Unseelie."

"What are the Slaugh?"

"The Slaugh," Moira shivered, "are the nightmares of the Fey. They are the one of the most dangerous creatures of Faery. The Slaugh are the hand of punishment the Queen of the Unseelie Court holds over people to keep them in line. Right now, Queen Medwyn has pretty much given them free reign over New Faery to try and find out who is attacking the potentials. It's sort of like Homeland Security—but far more dangerous."

"Oh." Ryssa eyed the creature curiously. He didn't seem all that scary. And then he looked at her. She felt her body go cold all the way down to her toenails. It was as though he were seeing inside of her, pulling out what was there and judging her based on what he saw. He grinned, sharp, pointed teeth showing within his little mouth that had somehow now expanded to cover the lower half of his face. She quickly turned away. "So what about the Phooka?"

"What about—?" Moira gave a little chuckle. "Oh, most definitely Unseelie."

"Then how did you come to be in a Seelie House?"

"Now there's a question that would send some of Faery into epileptic spasms—the height of rudeness."

"I was raised among humans," Ryssa retorted.

"Our being considered Seelie is based on the fact that the _only_ magic potential Jet and I have shown any measurable levels in is Celestial. And since the House of Nightfall has been disbanded, well, that's where we've been put. It'd be a lot worse if half of the highest-ranking members of the House of Starborn hadn't been annihilated. The Seelie Court can be extremely priggish about half-breeds."

Ryssa made a face. "I hate prejudice."

"Yeah," agreed Moira, "and it's no different here than in the Zombie Zone. Maybe someday people will get a clue and realize it's what's inside that matters—not the outside. But until they do, we live with it."

"You have an outside?" Ryssa raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. She poked Moira with a finger and let her mouth hang open. "So you do—how unobservant of me."

"See? A clue," Moira laughed. "There's hope already."

Ryssa joined her merriment as they followed the boys onto an open field where the other members of Team Phoenix waited.

"Why did the Wing Field have to be so far from where we were?" Reggie whispered to Jet when he saw the impatient disapproval on the face of his uncle.

Jet shrugged. "I think it has something to do with your bad choice in direction when you left the Sithin."

Reggie gave him a disgruntled look.

"That," Pyro added, "and it has something to do with not wanting those who are practicing with fireballs to be near those who are in flight practice. With the huge margin of error typical of newbies, the two don't make a good combo."

"Come along, children." Aurelius waved them over to where the others lay on their backs, gazing up at the sky. "Find a spot and get comfortable."

The new arrivals found places on the grass as instructed, and when everyone was settled, Aurelius began.

"All right, then. I trust you all remember our lesson from yesterday? That's going to be our starting point for today."

Ryssa groaned inwardly. She still hadn't gotten the hang of the previous lesson.

" _:But today you have me,:"_ Darkwind said.

Ryssa didn't respond. She was trying to focus on what Aurelius was saying.

" _:I'll get you through this.:"_ Ryssa didn't feel that assured.

"Today we learn about Air magic, but we'll be combining it with a little Celestial magic as well. When you get your wings here shortly, they will contain spells to help you get past the first stages. I want you to feel and understand these stages before you begin, because it will give you better control.

"First, I want you to find your focus. Empty your mind of conscious thought and let your subconscious take over. Concentrate on the sound of my voice and what I tell you to do.

"Let the weight of your body sink into the Earth. Think of your body and the Earth as one, and let the Earth hang onto the physical part while your thoughts focus on the sound of my voice. Watch the clouds above you—follow their movement with your eyes, and think of yourself as one of those clouds, floating above the Earth on unseen currents of air. Pay attention to the currents around you. See the rivers of air and light that can take you in whichever direction you want to go."

Suddenly, the sky filled with tiny sparkles of light. It was like the Sprite cavern, but these lights had specific paths they followed through the sky, some of them wrapping around each other, winding in and out, all the while keeping a solid, uninterrupted flow.

"Air is extremely malleable. It is one of the simplest of the elemental magics to work with, yet it can be the hardest to control. When you work with Air, it is best to remember that you cannot stop the wind, but you can make it change direction."

A disk appeared in the sky above them and the lights changed their path to flow around it. They didn't stop, but instead adjusted the flow and moved in another direction.

Ryssa watched and listened, but she didn't feel like she was connecting to anything. She sneaked a peak at the others. They all had the subtle glow of their connections—a link to the magic it seemed only she could see. It was a patterned mixture of purple and silver lines. She could see it, but couldn't find the connection herself.

" _:Listen to me for a moment,:"_ Darkwind's whisper came over the top of Aurelius's voice. Ryssa frowned, but didn't say anything. _":Think of your twin.:"_

That threw her off guard. Reggie leapt instantly to her mind.

" _:Now focus on him while you are listening to Lord Aurelius. Think of the times when you have looked at him and just knew what he was thinking, or feeling.:"_

The frown came back. _She's talking about the twin-bond_ , the suspicious thought crossed her mind.

" _:That's_ exactly _what I'm teaching you. If you can't focus on the Earth, which you have never been able to connect to, then you need to focus on your twin who has, and who is doing it right now. By connecting to him, you'll be able to feel the Earth link and understand it better. With that understanding, it'll make it easier to find the connection for yourself.:"_

Ryssa thought about it for a moment and decided it made sense. She focused on Reggie, thinking about him. Almost immediately she felt peace wash over her, filling her with pleasant emptiness. _This must be the emptying part Aurelius was talking about, she thought in amazement_ —and it stopped.

" _:Don't think—just_ feel _.:"_

She tried again, focusing on her twin. The emptiness came and she allowed it to sweep over her, opening her to its sensation. And what a feeling! With the emptiness came the connection to the Earth—and to the Air and Celestial magics—Ryssa almost laughed out loud at the sheer pleasure of it.

" _:I get it now—I really get it.:"_

" _:Ryss?:"_ Reggie's voice came into her thoughts. _":Is that you?:"_

" _:Yes. Darkwind showed me how to open our twin-bond so I could learn about connecting to the magic. I just couldn't get a grasp on it by myself—you're not mad at me, are you?:"_

" _:No. Jet and I talked about it once, but I was waiting until you got over some of your heebie jeebies about it.:"_

" _:I'm over it, I think.:"_

" _:Cool. Hey—we'll have to check this out—this could be pretty useful.:"_

" _:Like now—sorry I didn't ask first.:"_

" _:No prob. We'll figure this all out.:"_

" _:I'm going to sign off now. Or whatever you call it. I want to see if I can do this on my own.:"_

" _:Sure,:"_ Reggie agreed and the bond between them ceased.

Ryssa let her mind go to that empty place and opened up as she had with Reggie. The rush of connection was overwhelming, far more powerful than she had been able to experience through the twin-bond. With the Earth connecting to her physical self, she sent the essence of the connection to the Air, feeling the flows begin. The Celestial magic came next and she watched the flows interlock into a pattern of purple and silver.

Ryssa closed her eyes and purred inwardly at the warmth of the feeling that enveloped her. She embraced the sensation, allowing it to wrap over, around and through her, becoming one with the magic. Her sigh of happiness was interrupted by the soft tone of Aurelius' voice next to her ear.

"Ryssa," she felt his breath tickle her ear, "come back to us, child."

Confused, Ryssa opened her eyes. She hadn't gone anywhere—what was Aurelius talking about? She looked into his face, very near to hers, and was startled into losing the magic connection. Ryssa felt as though she was falling and started flailing her arms. Her forearm connected with Aurelius's face as he caught her.

"W-what happened?" She trembled with uncertainty.

"You gave yourself over to the magic." Aurelius frowned. "Completely."

Ryssa recognized the trace of disapproval in her uncle's voice. "Isn't that what I was supposed to do?"

"Well, yes." Aurelius put on his emotionless mask, and helped her to her feet. "And you did it well. Now we have to make sure you have some control over the magic."

He started walking toward a cocoon-type dwelling, similar to Madam Quinn's, at the edge of the field. "Come along, Team. It's time for you to fly."

The rest of the team shuffled after Aurelius, a couple of them shooting odd looks her way. Ryssa lingered back, still unsure of herself. Reggie, Moira, and Jet came up to her. Reggie took her by the arm and gently urged her toward the group.

"Wow, Ryss." His face held a look of awe. "How did you do that?"

"How did I do what?" Ryssa was confused. "What did I do?"

"You were levitating," said Jet.

"No." Moira shook her head. "It was more than that. You were floating—and glowing."

"Glowing?"

" _Glowing_ ," Reggie confirmed with a nod. "It was like your skin was lit up underneath with thousands of tiny silver and purple lines. They sort of, um, shined through."

Ryssa looked worriedly at Moira. "Is that bad?"

"I don't think so," the Phooka girl grinned. "But it was _really_ cool."

Ryssa smiled tightly.

"I think you made it so all of us could _see_ the magic," Jet said thoughtfully.

"You mean you can't normally see it?" Ryssa thought about all the times she had seen it, or at least thought she had.

"Nope. Most of us can't—not even the elders. It's pretty rare—like when you saw Blaze calling the magic in the sweets shop. None of us saw it then, either. And this was more than just _you_ seeing the magic, it's like you helped _us_ to see it, too." Jet gave her a big grin. "Better than a laser light show."

Ryssa gave him an uneasy look, holding up her hands to see if there were any traces of what the others had seen. They seemed normal enough. She noticed Reggie watching her, and she scowled, shoving them into her pockets.

They went through the doublewide entry of the cocoon and found that, as it seemed everywhere else in Faery, the inside was far larger than it appeared to be from the outside. Reggie shook his head. He didn't think he'd ever understand it.

The interior of the cocoon was alive with moving colors. Sets of wings attached to straps hung on the walls, fluttering as if they were alive. It looked like a hundred giant butterflies were nesting inside the cocoon, but there were no bodies—only wings. Aurelius stood near an area of wings patterned in orange and black, much like those of Monarch butterflies.

_Jet was right,_ Reggie thought to himself. _These_ are _pretty cool._

Aurelius was adjusting the straps of a set of wings onto Glinda's back, but her eyes were on a pair of beautifully feathered ones that flapped gracefully across the room.

"Can't I try those instead?" She pointed.

"Once you get the hang of the training wings, you'll be able to move into other flight styles," Aurelius promised absently. He tested the straps to make certain they were snug, and then directed her toward the door as he called Loo over. The rest of the Team shuffled aside as Glinda passed, so they didn't crumple her wings.

"Wait until everyone else is ready before you attempt using them," Aurelius called after her.

He worked his way through the rest of the team, fitting wings securely to their backs. Reggie was the last. He felt a little odd following Aurelius out the door, his wings fanning out behind him. As they left the cocoon, he saw Ryssa twisting this way and that, trying to get a glimpse of the wings attached at each shoulder. Others were doing the same, and Reggie noticed that each set of wings, like the butterflies they resembled, had a unique pattern.

"Okay, children," Aurelius motioned for the group to spread out, "link to the magic and focus on bringing it to your wings. You won't need a lot—a little will do. Once you feel the lift of Air, take yourself up into the currents and ride them. Flow with the currents and get a true feel for how Air works."

Whisper was the first one off the ground, her look of surprise turning to delight as she shot upward into the currents, which were still marked by the little lights to show how they flowed. Moira and Jet were not far behind. Jet gave a victory cry as he zipped up to the flow of lights and air.

Reggie followed, and one by one the members of Team Phoenix made their way to the air currents that floated passively above the ground. Reggie found it wasn't difficult to maneuver the flows, and he relaxed as a current took him on an idle flight around the wing field. At one point, he saw Jet on a parallel current, grinning at him as he pretended to do a breaststroke through the air. Before long, their currents separated and took them in different directions.

Reggie looked for his sister and saw her struggling just above the ground, trying to make her way up to the currents. He zipped into a flow and headed in her direction. He let his path glide downward a bit and caught her hand, pulling her up with him.

"Just let go. Let the currents take you—don't fight it."

Ryssa nodded determinedly, closed her eyes, and let go. Reggie felt a tingle as her body started to glow with the magic. He dropped her hand in shock and noticed a change in the airflow around him. The current sped up and Reggie almost lost control of his wings as he struggled to keep up with the increasing pace. He looked around and saw he wasn't the only one struggling. Looks of enjoyment had turned to panic as the members of Team Phoenix fought to stay within the currents.

The pattern shifted, tightening the flows into a spiral, drawing all of the team toward a single point in the middle. At the center of the spiral was Ryssa, her eyes still closed, spinning slowly upright, her arms held out to her sides. She glowed with the silver lines of Celestial magic interwoven with purple ones of Air. The purple lines extended outward from her fingertips, gathering the natural airflows around her, pulling them, and her teammates, into a vortex that continued to increase in speed.

Reggie was fighting in earnest now, as were the rest of the Team. They no longer had control of their flight paths.

"Ryssa!" he shouted, but she didn't seem to hear him.

He focused on her, trying to access the twin-bond. A moment of dizziness washed over him and then he suddenly found himself at a peaceful center, watching through the mind's eye of his sister as the patterned lines danced around her.

" _:Ryss.:"_

" _:Isn't it cool, Regg?:"_

" _:It's awesome. But you need to stop—or at least slow it down a bit.:"_

" _:Why?:"_

" _:Because you're messing up the flows over the whole field. The others are having trouble keeping up with what you're doing—me included.:"_

" _:Oh, no!:"_ Reggie heard her dismay and felt his body dropping the instant she loosened her grip on the magic.

" _:Wait, let me help.:"_ He tried connecting to the pattern. He had the feeling that if she panicked and let go all at once, the entire team would find themselves instantly grounded.

They worked together with the pattern of the magic, releasing it slowly from the hold Ryssa had on it, allowing it to settle into its natural cycle.

" _:I'm gonna pull back now and come over to you,:"_ Reggie said once the currents felt back to normal again. _":Then we'll land together.:"_

" _:I stink!:"_ Reggie felt his sister's emotional lash. _":I can't do anything right.:"_

" _:You just did some pretty heavy mojo, Ryss:,"_ he tried to calm her. ":I wouldn't say you stink, I'd say you were incredible. Don't worry, we'll figure this out together:."

Reggie pulled back from the bond and focused on his sister. He caught the nearest current and flew to her side, and hugged her body close to his. Gradually, he let his path glide to the ground, coming to a stop near Aurelius.

Their uncle hurried toward them, his expression both anxious and wary. Ryssa threw her arms around Reggie's neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

Reggie looked at his uncle. "I'm going to take her back to the rooms."

"Yes, of course." Aurelius blinked, his emotionless mask sliding back into place. He stared at Ryssa, and Reggie was fairly certain that he wouldn't like to hear the thoughts going through the man's head right now.

Reggie put his arm around his sister's waist and let her lean on him for support as they walked away from the wing field.

## Chapter 17: Great Balls of Fire

[back to top]

A week of Air training passed quickly. For Ryssa, it went by in a haze of numbness. The only way she had any control over the wild magic that concentrated when she connected to the Earth was with Reggie's assistance through the twin-bond. He seemed to instinctively understand how to manipulate the patterned lines of magic that she could help him see. It helped him get better control over his own magic, Ryssa still couldn't perform magic without endangering everyone around her unless Reggie was there to help guide it.

_It's not fair,_ she grumbled and pouted frequently. The majority of her teammates seemed to feel it was better to keep a healthy distance from her. They sometimes whispered amongst themselves, but when she glared at them, they fell silent. Moira and Jet appeared to be the only ones not afraid of her. Moira worked especially hard to try to cheer her up, but without success. Ryssa found herself sinking deeper and deeper into depression, and she wasn't sure how to climb out of it.

Meek didn't seem bothered by her either. They spent quiet mornings together, sitting on the couch and munching on cinnamon rolls before the others woke up.

One morning, she brought out the little package of _Magic Marvels_ that Madam Quiggley had given to her the day of the altercation with Blaze in the sweets shop. Each candy was individually shaped into symbols representing the seven different kinds of magic. Ryssa had popped a Water Marvel into her mouth and a cool sensation flooded her taste buds. It was a flavor she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it definitely reminded her of a calm ocean. Not that it was salty—it was more like what the ocean would taste like if its essence could be captured into a candy.

Meek selected a Fire Marvel and placed it cautiously on his tongue. He hopped up and down, his eyes watering. Ryssa was concerned until he let her know with his hands that he was okay. She laughed at his antics, feeling the welcome release that came with the first enjoyment she had felt in days. She eyed the bird and beast shaped candies. Unable to think of any flavor related to them that would taste good, she left those alone. The star-shaped Celestial ones, however, sort of crackled and popped in her mouth. With each _pop_ , the flavor seemed to change slightly. Those quickly became her favorites.

The Team uniforms arrived that week as well. Everyone critically examined them, holding them up and turning them this way and that. After a time they excitedly pronounced them the best of any they had ever seen.

Each uniform was a two-piece set with a top and pants. The tops had black mesh on one shoulder and white mesh on the other, coming together in a _V_ , tunic-type neck. The front and backs of the top, together with the sleeves, were almost entirely comprised of flame-colored material designed in the shape of a phoenix. The sleeves, with their flowing arms and flame-shaped fringe, made up the wings of the bird. At the end of each _flame_ was a symbol embroidered in gold, alternating across the sleeves and around the fringed bottom to make up the bird's tail. Each symbol represented the seven different kinds of magic.

Inset at the waist of each top were triangles of white and black, alternating from the shoulder colors, which gave more definition to the shape of the bird. The pant legs, too, were of black and white, one leg in each color, alternating the colors back again to match the shoulders.

On the front of each top was another symbol set into the breast of the phoenix. A circle, white on one side and black on the other, was divided in half by a curving line. Set into the black half was a smaller white circle, and into the white half, a smaller black circle.

"Yin and yang!" Moira held hers up in delight. "Look, Lord Aurelius, a symbol for the balance of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts—how cool is that?"

"It is a very appropriate symbol for this Team," Aurelius smiled. "Whose idea was that?"

Ryssa blushed as she raised her hand. "I've always loved that symbol."

On the backs of each top was a unique embroidered emblem in gold, representing the different Houses for each Team member. From that day on, Team Phoenix wore their uniforms everywhere they went. Each morning, before the team members awoke, the uniforms would be laid out on their beds, freshly cleaned and pressed by the Brownies of the Sithin.

On this particular morning, Ryssa rose early, as had become her habit, threw on her uniform, and headed out into the common area. She couldn't believe she was getting up this early every morning, especially without an alarm clock to rouse her or her mother to force her out of bed.

_Just goes to show how unnatural this place really is,_ the thought leapt to her mind. Ryssa decided it was probably a good thing Debra couldn't see her now. Her mother would keel over from the shock of her daughter becoming an early riser. This place was definitely bringing out some unnatural habits.

She entered the common area and smiled at Meek, who was sitting stiffly on the bench outside the boys' room. He didn't smile back, but had his eyes locked on a spot off to her side. Ryssa turned to see what held his attention, and found herself face to face with the Queen of Air and Darkness.

Once again Ryssa was mesmerized by the woman's beauty. She had read stories as a small child about fairies and their queens. Even in school she'd been assigned to read a version of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ by Shakespeare. The fairy queen was always the most beautiful—and Medwyn was no exception. For all Ryssa had learned about Faery, their connection to the earth and shared human ancestral lines, when she gazed at the Queen of the Unseelie Court, she saw something beyond human—and her beauty seemed anything but earthly.

Deep, black eyes formed two rippling pools of darkness inside a flawless face glowed with a luminescent shade of alabaster purity. Her lips were the color of rubies, softened and shaped into an amused, almost mocking, smile. Ryssa looked back into the woman's eyes and saw matching amusement there.

_Her aunt, the Queen—Oh—her aunt—the_ Queen! She panicked, suddenly realizing that she was probably supposed to bow or something. With clumsiness born of mortified uncertainty, Ryssa sank into a deep curtsy, like she had seen in the movies, her head bowed. Warm laughter rolled over her, the sound of it reminiscent of the Sithin chimes.

"It is all right, Niece." Queen Medwyn caught her wrist and gently guided her upright. "We are not at Court. I'll not expect such formalities this morning. Here, let me have a look at you."

Ryssa came to full attention. Medwyn's hand cupped her chin as her eyes swept over Ryssa's face in quiet appraisal.

"Amazing. You look so much like my sister. She had those same stunning, earth-brown eyes—" Medwyn looked wistful for a brief moment, but then the vulnerability vanished behind a polished mask of regality. She let go of Ryssa's chin and one soft finger reached to touch the small, star-shaped mole to the left of her mouth. "And star-kissed to seal the beauty—and the power."

Ryssa blushed. This incredibly stunning woman actually thought _she_ was beautiful? _She is just being nice._

"The power—that is why I am here today. I will be brief, child, but I have much to say and I would prefer—" Medwyn looked pointedly across the common area to Meek, who dropped his gaze. "I would prefer that what I say not be made public.

"Maryssa—" the Queen looked at her niece, all amusement aside and her tone serious.

"Ryssa."

Medwyn frowned. She obviously wasn't used to being interrupted, let alone corrected.

"Very well— _Ryssa_. Aurelius tells me that you hold great power within you—the likes of which Faery has not seen in a potential since long before we left Tir Nan Og. He claims it is great enough to rival my own—and that says a lot, especially for one as young and untrained as you."

Ryssa nodded slowly, wondering just how powerful the Queen was, and more importantly, how she kept it under control.

"But it is control you lack," Medwyn said, echoing her thoughts. "Is it true that the only way you have managed to achieve it is through the efforts of your twin?"

The heat rushed to Ryssa's cheeks. "Yes," she responded, her voice hinting of the misery she felt.

"Do you understand what this competition is all about, Niece?"

"To find those who will eventually serve as replacement leaders for New Faery."

"That is correct. And do you believe that one can be a leader if you only have control through another?"

When Ryssa didn't respond, Medwyn answered for her. "No. A leader controls others. They are not— _cannot_ —be controlled by someone else. That is not a leader—that is a puppet."

"I thought a leader _leads_ others, not controls them."

"Semantics." Queen Medwyn swept away her words with a wave of her hand. "It is all the same thing."

"What is all the same thing?"

Ryssa was relieved to see her uncle enter the room. When his eyes fell on Medwyn, his expression grew dark. Regardless, Ryssa was glad to see him. She was becoming increasingly uncomfortable in the presence of this powerful woman, and even more disturbed by her philosophies.

"Medwyn," Aurelius said coolly. "What brings you here?"

"I was just having a dialog with my niece." Medwyn brushed her skirts, appearing unconcerned.

"Would you to care to elaborate?" Aurelius came closer.

"Not particularly."

"I thought the rules were clear," Aurelius had a note of warning in his voice. "The potentials involved in the competition are to be free of interference of Faery politics until it's over."

"This _competition_ ," Medwyn gritted her teeth, "as you say, will take place over the next several years. Do you think to have me banned from speaking to my kinsfolk for that long—after you have kept them from me for all this time already?"

"If it means keeping them free of undesirable influences, then yes," replied Aurelius, his nostrils flaring.

Medwyn stood, drawing herself to her full height. "And is it desirable to have this child sinking deeper into depression because you won't address the emotional side of her well-being due to your _Seelie_ ignorance?"

"It is my duty as Counselor—"

"Hey!" Ryssa shouted over the arguing voices of the two Faery. Her face was angry and defiant. "Right here—remember? Stop talking as though I'm not. No matter what either of you decide, I have the final say in my life, because I'm the one who has to live with the decision—so back off."

Both of the elders turned to her with surprise on their faces. Ryssa heard noises around the room and saw the members of Team Phoenix coming sleepily into the common area. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Meek staring at her with shock.

" _:Hey, Ryss—everything okay?:"_

She ignored her twin, wanting to hold onto her anger.

"Impudent child," Aurelius tried to get the situation under control, "you must address elders with better manners than that."

"When _elders_ stop acting like nothing more than spoiled children fighting over a toy," Ryssa met his gaze with determination, "then I will give them the respect they are due. My foster mother taught me respect is earned, not automatically deserved. Until then, as you said, _Uncle_ , politics need to be left out of this. I don't want to spend the next several years of my life being the tool the two of you use to _one up_ each other. If that's all I am to you, then both of you can just leave me alone."

She turned to leave, heading for the ramp that would take her out of the Team quarters. The Queen's laughter, sounding again like the rolling chimes of the Sithin tree, filled the room. Ryssa stopped, looking back suspiciously.

"Well." The Queen's eyes danced with amusement. "I'm not sure whether to applaud you, or punish you, Niece. I can't remember the last time someone dared to speak to the Queen of Air and Darkness thusly." Medwyn walked over to her and stared down from her full height into Ryssa's face. She shook her head and clucked her tongue. "But mind your manners, child. You must never leave a room where royalty is present without being dismissed, or until they make the first move to leave."

With that, Queen Medwyn swept out of the common area, her black skirts trailing behind her.

Ryssa heard the shocked whispers of the Team.

"Did she just tell the Unseelie Queen—?"

"She called the Queen a spoiled brat—"

"Wow—I can't believe Queen Medwyn took that—"

"Ryssa's still standing—I can't believe it!"

"Enough, children!" Aurelius snapped. "Now eat up and fuel your bodies—we head to the Fire training field today."

Aurelius spun and headed for his rooms with one last, emotionless glance at Ryssa that made her heart sink down to her feet.

* * *

Her heart in her feet. That was becoming an all too common place for it to be. That's where it was now. Ryssa looked down at her shuffling feet as she moved behind the rest of Team Phoenix, away from the Fire-training field. Nobody would look at her—not even her own twin.

She held up her arm, surveying the burnt and tattered remains of her sleeve. She was certain it was beyond salvage even for the Brownies. Some of the Team uniforms were worse than the others—it depended on where they were standing when the blast of Ryssa's fireball exploded in the center of the field. Most of the already charred targets had been annihilated, so lessons were cancelled for the day.

Ryssa scowled. It wasn't her fault that Darkwind was competent with the whole fireball thing. It also wasn't her fault that Aurelius had scolded her disastrous efforts when she locked Reggie out of the bond so she could try to control the magic herself. She didn't mean to get so angry. And she'd had no idea her anger would channel itself into a fireball that would cause major devastation on the training field.

Again she looked at the smoking remnants of her teammates' uniforms and felt guilt surge through her. Maybe Fire training hadn't been such a good idea, at least not with her emotions still high following the episode with Aurelius and Queen Medwyn. When would she learn to get her emotions under control? _Before or after I seriously hurt someone?_ Sometimes the emotions sprang from out of nowhere, and she didn't recognize it until she had already lashed out. Most of the time, she couldn't understand them herself. It was just part of who she was.

With a quick glance to make sure no one was paying attention, Ryssa dropped back from the rest of the group and took the first side street that would lead her away. She couldn't take her teammates' disappointment and rejection any longer. She needed time to think—alone.

Wandering through the streets of New Faery City, Ryssa kept her head down and her hands in her pockets. She took the familiar route that eventually led her to the Wing Field. Sitting at the edge of the field, she stared despondently out into the open area. She was alone, just as she had wanted, but now what?

Only, she wasn't alone. Ryssa felt the presence of someone else and looked up, expecting to see Reggie or Meek. Even Meek had been frightened by the episode on the training field and had shied away from her. Ryssa was sure it had something to do with the fireball and the fact that he had lived through one, so she really couldn't blame him. She was disappointed to see that it was neither Reggie nor Meek. When she realized who it was, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up in alert.

The man standing beside her wore robes of black and silver. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Are you going to make me disappear with the rest of the potentials?" Ryssa eyed him suspiciously. It was the man from the disbanded House of Nightfall. For the first time, Ryssa regretted going off alone. On the other hand, maybe her disappearance would solve a lot of problems. At least she wouldn't have to deal with any of this anymore.

"Make you disappear?" The man appeared genuinely surprised, and shook his head sadly. "No, I am not the one responsible for that," his voice held a trace of bitterness. "Trust me. The Unseelie Queen used every resource known to Faery to be certain I was not the one involved." He gazed into the distance, shivering as though at some private remembrance. From the look on his face, Ryssa didn't think she wanted him to elaborate, so didn't ask for an explanation.

"Do whatever you want." Ryssa frowned, adding, "I mean, sitting down or not—whatever." When he did, she turned and asked bluntly, "So who _are_ you?"

The man's smile lit his eyes with amusement, crinkling at the corners. Ryssa got the strange feeling he didn't smile that much.

"A bit of a rude question for a member of Faery." He arched his eyebrow at her, but his tone held no animosity.

"I was raised among humans." Ryssa shrugged, trying to hide her smirk at the personal joke.

"Ah, of course." He nodded knowingly. "And those humans—such a rude lot they are."

Ryssa watched him closely. He was still smiling, and she couldn't help but give a little smile in return.

"Sorry. I've had a rough day."

"You mean blowing up the training field—or calling the Queen of Air and Darkness a spoiled child?"

Ryssa looked at him curiously and he laughed.

"I was watching your Team on the training field, and the story of your encounter with Queen Medwyn this morning is already legend. Word travels fast. There's little you can keep secret in Faery. There are few who could have stood up to the Unseelie Queen without repercussion." He chuckled, adding almost to himself, "I would've loved to have seen the expression on her face."

"All right. I'm about to be rude again. Who are you and what do you want?"

The man laughed again.

"Very well." He tried to be serious. "My name is Kyellin Nightfall, although I suspect you already knew that much."

"Only that you are from the House of Nightfall. Not your first name."

"Nightfall is a designation. It is only a name, no longer a House."

"I heard that, too."

"And what do I want?" Kyellin mused out loud, as though contemplating the other part of her question. "I want many things, as do we all. But perhaps you meant for me to be more specific—what do I want from _you_?"

Ryssa nodded, her brow drawing together.

"Then the answer is nothing." He paused, considering. "Or maybe everything. That remains to be seen. But for now, I just want to satisfy my curiosity—and perhaps offer some help."

Ryssa didn't feel threatened, but she wasn't quite sure what to think. "What kind of help?" she asked warily.

"A little advice—perhaps to help you understand what you're going through—from a perspective that you'll get from none of the others who are currently teaching you."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Kyellin looked confused. "Why won't you learn it from them?"

"No. Why do you want to help me?"

"A fair question," Kyellin said, "especially since it's not wise to trust the motives of _anyone_ in Faery."

_Trust No One_. The familiar warning leapt to Ryssa's mind.

"Long ago, when Nightfall was still an accepted House, I was close to your mother and father. Even after the disbanding of the House of Nightfall and use of dark magics were forbidden, Delzia was very kind to me. Marcus took more of the political party line of ignoring me, since I fight still to this day for Nightfall's recognition among the Courts. But still, he was not _unkind_ , as many of the others are. Your mother, as the Ard Ri, was always patient and listened with an open heart and mind. She was truly an exceptional leader and a good person. Maybe I just feel it right to offer whatever assistance I can to her child."

Ryssa wasn't convinced. "There's more to it than that."

"There is—but you'll not hear it from me at this time."

"So what kind of advice do you have that could possibly help me right now?"

"Raised among humans," Kyellin laughed, although his voice held a note of chastisement that made Ryssa blush. "That's a good one—but it will only take you so far in Faery."

Ryssa didn't respond.

"Listen." He looked around cautiously, as though expecting someone to overhear. "As I said before, there is little among the Faery that isn't known, despite all the secrets that hide in the shadows. I know of the power for which you are showing potential. I also know about your lack of control—especially where the emotions are concerned."

Ryssa glowered. Everyone was _so_ concerned about her power.

"I am also very concerned about your well-being."

_Yeah, right,_ Ryssa thought with a snort. Her disbelief must have showed in her face, because Kyellin's expression turned to one of depressed knowing.

"You don't believe me. But I speak true."

"Why? Why should you care? You don't even know me."

"No. But I know what will happen if you can't control the emotions. You need to understand them—I mean _really_ understand where they are coming from. If you don't, the emotions will control the magic and that magic will turn to darkness the likes of which Faery hasn't seen in a long time. Not only would it be destructive, it would unravel everything I have worked for to restore the House of Nightfall."

"So there's your _real_ agenda." Ryssa's shoulders slumped and she looked away. "You don't care about me—you care about restoring the House of Nightfall and the potential that I have for mucking up your plans."

"Ask the others what happened to Darkwind's last controller." Kyellin gave a deep sigh and stood to leave. "Ask that question and hear the answer. Then we will talk again."

"Ryssa," a voice called. She turned to see her uncle rounding the corner of the street toward her. She looked back to Kyellin, but he had disappeared.

"Who are you looking for?" Aurelius examined the empty area suspiciously. "Were you talking to someone?"

She gave him a bland look, tired of everyone badgering her. "There is no one here but me, Uncle."

Aurelius frowned, his doubt evident, but he said nothing to contradict her.

"Yes, well," he cleared his throat gruffly. "You know better than to be out and about by yourself. It's time to go back to the Team quarters."

"Yes, Uncle," her response was politely dry.

As she followed him off the field, Ryssa's resolve settled with firm purpose in her mind. One way or another, she would get a handle on what was going on. It was time to come up with some new rules to the game. She just had to figure out what those rules would be.

## Chapter 18: Dark Stormy Knight

[back to top]

" _:Time to get up,:"_ Starsong's voice whispered across Reggie's mind.

Reggie moaned in protest, but rolled over and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had been doing this all week now, getting up before everyone else. He looked around the room to make sure the others were still asleep. They were, except for Meek, who was just starting to stir.

Like Reggie, Meek had been crawling out of bed even earlier than before. They were both pulling double magic practice to try and help Ryssa get control over the wild magic that surrounded her every time she tried to connect. They'd actually had some success. Ryssa could now call the magic and link to it without causing major havoc. This was good—considering the amount of magic she seemed to be able to call forth.

They managed to teach her to pause between the calling of the magic and the actual doing something with it. That appeared to be the key. Reggie knew they'd eventually need to get past that block. Hesitation could be detrimental in a desperate situation—such as when he and Ryssa were first being chased by Darkwind through the In-Between. Starsong explained that if Aurelius had hesitated that day, he and Ryssa might not be here.

For now, the magic wasn't running rampant, because Ryssa gave herself over to the magic instead of trying to control it. The emotional thing—that was still a bit of a problem. In moments of hesitation, if she gave herself over to her emotions, they were channeled into whatever magic she called forth. She and Reggie were still trying to find a balance between her giving herself over to the magic and giving herself over to the emotion.

Reggie sometimes wished Debra was there to help him understand female emotions better. His foster mother might not understand the whole magic thing, but he was way out of his element where Ryssa's emotions were concerned. Even _she_ didn't seem to understand them—how was he supposed to figure it out?

Moira and Jet both admitted they had never seen the kind of power Ryssa called forth, let alone the stumbling blocks she faced with the control of it. But they also admitted they were very young compared to the rest of Faery and had spent most of their growing up years, like Reggie and Ryssa, in the Zombie Zone. The Phooka twins bowed out from participating in the task of helping Ryssa with her magic control. It seemed that having fewer people around made a huge difference in how much control she had. The rest of the Team were frightened of her to some extent, and it was almost as though she sensed that fear. When others were around, she acted more out of desperation than finding the balance for true control.

So it had settled down to Reggie and Meek pulling extra magic time. They never mentioned it to Aurelius, but their Counselor was always up and about in the common area when they returned. He never did anything more than give them a nod of his head before bustling them off with the rest of the Team to magic training. Ryssa went to practice with the rest, but abstained from using magic while there. Strangely enough, Aurelius didn't push her.

Ryssa paid close attention when the others trained, watching how they manipulated their flows, each one reacting differently with their own use of the magic. It was almost as though each individual had a magic signature that only she could see. Sometimes she would ignore the individuals themselves and pay attention to only the flows, playing a private game of _who-is-casting-magic-this-time_? She was actually getting good at it. Now, if she could only figure out her own magical signature, she might have the whole thing licked.

Every night before bed, Reggie would fill in the male half of the Team with the progress made for the day. And every morning, the boys would fill the girls in before Reggie, Ryssa, and Meek returned from their extra lessons. It wasn't that Reggie was carrying stories behind his sister's back. He had talked it over with her before starting along those lines. They would eventually have to work together as a Team for the competition, and they couldn't do that with the level of anxiety currently running rampant among them. With each progressive step that Ryssa made, some of the anxiety faded. But they all had the same worries. Would Ryssa gain control soon enough for the competition? And would they be able to pull together as a Team?

The lack of information about what the competition would entail didn't help matters. One rule of the competition was that they didn't have any foreknowledge. The Teams were expected to prepare for overall competence in magic—not plan specific tactics. How would they ever pull this off?

" _:Something's wrong.:"_

Reggie frowned. Starsong's voice pulled him from his sleepy reveries to a more alert state of awareness. A murmur of sounds and voices filtered through his consciousness, coming from the common area. He looked around at his teammates who were still in their beds, but were now stirring, awakened by the same sounds. A quick glance at Meek, and the boy's answering shrug, indicated that he, too, had no clue as to what it was all about. Without bothering to get dressed, Reggie jumped out of bed and headed to the door, still in his pajamas. He opened it a crack, and peeked out.

The door had apparently muffled most of the sound, because as soon as he opened it, the room was flooded with birdsong. The other boys tumbled from their beds and rushed up behind him to see what caused the racket.

Hundreds of sparrows roosted in scattered places about the common room. Many sat amongst the imitation branches of the miniature replica of the Sithin tree in the center of the room. They were everywhere, on tables, desks, chairs, and shelves. Some had settled on the buffet table and were pecking at the children's breakfast. A Brownie scolded the birds, waving her hands and arms to shoo them away, but those that scattered merely relocated to another section of the buffet and continue feasting. Still others chirped and swooped throughout the room's high domed ceiling.

The warning chimes of the Sithin tree added to the almost deafening noise of the birds. Aurelius stood in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, a mixture of emotions crossing his face. His normally well-managed hair was in a serious state of disarray, giving him a wild look that added to the strangeness of the morning.

Eyes wide, the girls huddled inside the half-opened doorway of their bedroom. An annoyed Glinda swatted at a sparrow that kept flying at her. Reggie wondered whether it was the one that had dive-bombed her that day outside the Sithin mound. It was hard to tell. They all looked the same.

Ryssa was standing off to the side of the girls' room. A sparrow landed on her shoulder. Wary, she slowly brought her hand up to touch the bird. It nuzzled its head against her finger. After a moment, the bird sidled closer to rub its head against her neck.

_Odd_ , Reggie noted, but his sister seemed pleased, despite her initial caution. Pleased, that is, until the bird stretched its neck and caught her earlobe in its beak. It must have bitten hard from the cry Ryssa gave before she smacked it to the floor.

The bird barely hit the ground before it took off for the door that led from the common area. At the last possible moment, it changed direction and flew back to Ryssa. It fluttered in a circular path over her head. She wouldn't allow it to land on her shoulder again, so it flew back to the doorway instead. It repeated this pattern a couple of times before Reggie realized the bird that was annoying Glinda was doing the exact same thing.

" _:Hey, Ryss.:"_

His sister looked around for him and met his gaze. _":Uh, a little busy here.:"_

Reggie felt her agitation.

" _:I think it's trying to get you to follow it. Check out Glinda—the same thing's happening to her.:"_

Ryssa looked at the Feathernest girl, and the corners of her mouth turned down in thought.

" _:I think you're right. So what should we do?:"_

" _:Follow it. Let's see what's up. Let Glinda know.:"_

" _:What about Aurelius?:"_ Ryssa ganced to their uncle, who was paying little attention to anything other than the birds.

" _:What about him? They'll be three of us at least,:"_ he looked at Meek _, ":I bet four. Even if Aurelius doesn't come, we'll be safe enough.:"_

Ryssa determinedly worked her way to Glinda's side, whispering in her ear. Reggie saw Glinda eye the birds and nod. The two girls headed toward the door. Reggie grabbed Meek's arm and noticed that Jet had come to stand next to them.

"We're going to see where they want to take us," Reggie spoke over the din in the room.

Jet and Meek both turned to check out the two girls heading toward the exit, the birds still flying back and forth between them and the door.

"I'm in," Jet said. Meek echoed the statement with a nod.

The three started toward the door as Ryssa and Glinda hit the bottom of the ramp. The girls stepped into the archway, their two winged annoyances shooting past them to the tunnel ahead. The room fell silent. Everyone glanced at each other, and then the room erupted in confusion as torrents of chirps and squawks burst forth. As one, the sparrows swooped toward the exit.

"Watch out, Ryss!" Reggie shouted.

Ryssa and Glinda had already ducked, screaming and covering their heads as the birds flew over them and up the ramp. Ryssa stared at Reggie in horror, frozen in place.

"Go, Ryss!"

She came to her senses and ran up the ramp to follow the birds, Glinda on her heels. Reggie and the other two boys sprinted after them. Not totally oblivious, Reggie noted that the rest of the Team followed, with Aurelius bringing up the rear behind the stampede of children and birds.

The ramp took them directly from the Sithin mound to the streets of New Faery City. Reggie paused for a second to gain his bearings and saw his sister and Glinda head off to the right.

"This way." He grabbed Jet's arm, pulling him in that direction. Ryssa and Glinda were disappearing down the street, birds swarming around them.

The birds led the group through the streets of the city. Wide-eyed Fey joined in as the pajama-clad Team Phoenix ran past. Before long it was a winding parade of Fey and sparrows. Reggie might have spent more time examining those who fell into step with them if he hadn't been so intent on trying to figure out where this was heading. It wasn't long before he got his answer.

The streets opened onto one of the training fields. Reggie hadn't been here before, but he noticed Ryssa hesitate at the edge of the field and shoot Meek a strange look. The birds flew across the field to one of the tree-lined edges. He remembered what Ryssa had told him about the encounter with the Black Knight. He bet odds from the looks on their faces that this is where the encounter had taken place. Hurrying to his sister's side, he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay. Nothing will happen—there are too many others around."

She gave him a grateful look.

Glinda paused just ahead of Ryssa and asked over her shoulder, "Are we going to keep following them or what?"

Ryssa nodded, and they continued toward the flock inside the edge of the trees. The birds regrouped, jumping and twittering in a single location amongst the branches.

The girls stopped suddenly and Reggie plowed into Ryssa, pushed by the oncoming group of people who followed. Ryssa and Glinda stepped back, retreating against the crowd, not wanting to move any further forward. Reggie put his hand on his sister's shoulder, and she turned, throwing her arms around his neck. Glinda stared at the ground, unable to move, but unable to look away.

She crumpled to the ground sobbing. Gervais was the first to reach out and help Glinda to her feet, pushing his way back through the crowd by growling at anyone who got in his way.

Reggie held tight to his sister, peering over her shoulder to see what was there. He almost wished he hadn't. No, he _really_ wished he hadn't. On the ground before them was something so hideous that he wasn't sure what it was.

It had arms and legs and a head and a body. The face was pulled out from the skull in an elongated manner, almost as though someone had taken a human face made of putty and pulled on the nose to stretch the rest of the face away from the head. The body was bloated, almost round, but more egg-shaped. The arms were shriveled and emaciated, the hands a single lump, but you could see they could have once been fingers. The legs were twisted at an odd angle under the body, almost as skinny and sickly-looking as the arms. Reggie would have thought it to be some sort of human-type Fey if the knees hadn't been bent totally backward from the way a human's should be.

Then Reggie noticed two things as the flow of people moved around them and came to stand in a single mortified circle around the seemingly dead creature. The first thing was that the bones in the legs were broken. They hadn't been made to bend the way they were bent now. The second was that this horribly deformed creature was wearing the uniform of Team Firefly. It was one of the potentials—or what was left of him.

And he wasn't as dead as Reggie first thought. A leg twitched, and then an arm. The head didn't move, but the eyes opened and stared at Reggie, a single tear seeping from the corner of one.

Reggie's stomach churned. He felt like he was going to be sick, yet he couldn't turn from the sight now burned into his brain. A wailing, keening sound erupted overhead, the noise of it so loud and high-pitched that he, like everyone else in the circle, covered his ears against it.

"For the love of the motherland," an awed voice shouted above the sound. "'Tis the _Baen Sidhe_ , come to New Faery."

_Banshee?_ Reggie looked up and saw a beautiful young woman floating overhead in an old-fashioned green dress, the train almost reaching the ground near the potential's head. Her hair was bright red-gold and flowed in curly waves down her back and to her ankles. Her eyes glowed red, her face streaked with tears. For a brief moment her eyes stared directly into Reggie's, and he saw a flash of pain pass through them. The wailing stopped, and the woman vanished.

Reggie felt his legs tremble. _What was going on here?_ He glanced around the circle and realized that Fey and Faery alike had bowed their heads. Those with hats removed them and were wringing them in their hands. Reggie looked down at the misshapen form of the potential and realized the body had gone still. The eyes that had been staring at him but moments before no longer held the spark of life. He was dead.

Ryssa twisted her head around to look, but stayed in the tight hold of Reggie's arms. She stared strangely at the body, before turning to Reggie.

"Magic, Regg," her voice held traces of horror. "He was killed with magic. I can see the pattern—but it's starting to fade. Someone did this to him on _purpose_."

Reggie saw the shock in her eyes, and understood. _How could someone have done that to another living being? And what kind of magic could do this?_

" _:Dark magic,:"_ Starsong whispered.

Reggie shivered. _No wonder it had been banned_.

Sounds of anger rose from behind him. He heard cries of outrage as someone pushed through the crowd. Reggie was shoved aside as a boy wearing a Team Hedgehog uniform burst through the ring of people and creatures. The boy stared for a horrified moment before falling to his knees at the side of the dead potential. He lifted the body to his chest and cradled it in his arms, rocking back and forth. He threw his head back and cried, the loud keening almost matching that of the Baen Sidhe.

"Sweet Dana," Jet was in shock. "They're _twins_ —bonded twins. That's Knot Landstrider, so _that_ ," Reggie knew he referred to the grotesquely disfigured potential on the ground, "must be Woody. They were one of the few sets of twins who were put on separate Teams."

Reggie felt coldness spread through his body. He clutched Ryssa tight, never wanting to let her go. He couldn't begin to imagine how he would feel if he lost her. He heard someone getting sick behind him, but didn't turn to see who it was. He was too afraid that he would do the same and never be able to stop.

Whispers flew all around the circle, but Reggie's mind was so numb he couldn't understand a word. Someone else pushed into the circle. A man in the orange and white robes of the House of Bonemender came forward, his robes bearing the crest of Team Hedgehog on the right side of his chest. He went directly to Knot and gathered the boy in his arms. Another elder stepped into the circle. The woman, dressed in the green and black colors of the House of Landstrider, moved to help the Counselor from Team Hedgehog pull the struggling boy from his twin. The boy fought, kicking and screaming for them to let go, but they finally managed to remove him from the site of his brother's death.

Queen Medwyn finally made her way into the inner circle and stared at the body of Woody Landstrider. Reggie detected a twitch, a tick in her cheek, as she ground her teeth with an anger she was trying hard not to display. Others stepped through the circle, pushing the children back from the scene. Someone touched Reggie's shoulder gently and he turned to look into the somber face of his uncle.

Aurelius said nothing as he quietly ushered the children of Team Phoenix away from the macabre vision of death. Reggie knew for certain the image had been forever etched into his mind.

* * *

Team Phoenix was stunned when Aurelius led them later that afternoon to a beautiful lake at the edge of New Faery City. It served the dual purpose of both recreation and the Water training grounds. After what they had all witnessed that morning, their thoughts weren't on either one.

When they had arrived at their quarters immediately following the horrible event, everything had been returned to its usual tidy state. For the first time, Reggie could have sworn he heard a Brownie grumbling about it from the shadows.

A long time passed before Glinda could stop crying, despite the reassurances of her teammates that her brother Barry had not met the same fate as Woody Landstrider. No was able to eat their breakfast or their lunch. Talk was minimal, as the children tried to assimilate what they had seen.

They were dumfounded when Aurelius announced they would begin Water training that afternoon. How could he expect them to function after what had just happened? Obviously he did, because the stunned Team soon found themselves staring numbly out across the idyllic lake.

Aurelius led them through the connection exercises at the water's edge, trying to get them to focus. Some were able to, but with little enthusiasm. Once they had the basic idea, he grouped them into four teams of three and sent them onto the water in little boats he called skiffs. They reminded Reggie of short, wide canoes, each decorated with a variety of water-themed carvings.

The object of the lesson, Aurelius explained, was to connect with the Water and the spring-fed currents, and to use those currents to propel them across the lake. He even made it a competition, with the prize being a gold coin and a trip to the sweets shop for the first group to make it to the other side of the lake. It brought a few smiles to the Team, but not the excitement it normally would have. Their hearts just weren't in it.

Aurelius gave the starting signal from his position in a skiff with Loo. Since the Seacalm boy was already proficient in this type of Water magic, Aurelius explained that he would add some weight to even out the rest of the Team's chances. Loo's skiff was the only one that immediately began moving across the water, but it was at a slow pace.

First one skiff, and then two more, lurched haltingly forward as the members in each boat figured out not only how to work with the Water magic connection, but also how to work with each other to navigate their vehicles into the currents.

Reggie, Ryssa, and Meek were together in a skiff. Reggie noted that his twin didn't have as much difficulty with the Water magic as she did with Fire and Air. Soon their skiff was into a current and moving slowly across the open water. Since the three had been working with each other so much, they instinctively combined their efforts. They were actually gaining on the other boats, and Reggie felt a building excitement.

They hit a wave, and the boat jumped from the water's surface as they dropped from crest to trough. Another wave cut across their bow and Reggie's excitement plummeted. Something was wrong. The water had gone from smooth and crystal clear to choppy and foamy. Small waves rose into increasingly larger ones as they worked to catch up to the other skiffs near the center of the lake.

Clouds began to roil overhead, coming from the far shore. The winds picked up, keeping the boats from their destination. The other skiffs slowed, almost coming to a standstill, but they couldn't stop completely because of their struggle against the waves. As water splashed threateningly over the sides of the skiffs, angry glares shot in Ryssa's direction.

" _:Ryss, stop!:"_ Reggie cried through the twin-bond. _":Break your link with the magic! You're going to swamp us all!:"_

Ryssa shook her head, a pleading look on her face.

"I _can't_ ," she shouted over the sound of the wind and waves that continued to pick up around them. "I mean, I _did_ —I don't think this is me!"

Reggie stared at her, trying to feel the magic connection through the twin-bond. She was right. This wasn't coming from her. He frantically looked around.

"Is it magic?"

She nodded and pointed toward the other side of the lake. "It's coming from over there. The pattern is really strange."

Reggie looked in the direction she pointed. Squinting through the spray of water, he noticed a dark form on the far bank. He closed his eyes and opened them again, wiping the spray of water away so he could focus better.

"Ryssa, look—is that the Black Knight you saw before?"

From the corner of his eye, Reggie saw Aurelius turn to stare, a look of alarm on his face. Ryssa clutched Reggie's arm, drawing his full attention back to the Black Knight.

A new dark cloud formed directly in front of the distant figure on horseback. A funnel descended from it, the wind picking up speed as it swirled in a circular motion. It touched the surface of the lake, and the water rose to meet it, forming a spinning nightmare that reached from lake to sky.

Reggie had grown up in Florida, not so far from the water. He knew what it was—a waterspout—and it was coming straight for them.

## Chapter 19: Twist and Shout

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"Children!" Aurelius shouted over the wind that now sounded like an on-coming train. "Get your boats turned around and head for shore—split up!"

"No!" Loo shook his head frantically. "We'll never make it—it's coming too fast!"

Aurelius glared at the boy, and then nodded, closing his eyes. When he opened them, Ryssa saw they held a look of newfound intensity. Taking out his wand, Aurelius paused for a moment to let the power build through his connection to the magic and then cast it toward the waterspout.

Ryssa watched with fascination as the pattern of magic exploded from the tip of her uncle's wand. It formed a wall of diagonal crisscrossed lines in silver and purple. Did she detect a few strands of green running through it as well? The wall moved toward the waterspout, blocking its path.

Team Phoenix turned their skiffs around as best they could and scattered. Reggie and Meek struggled to steer their boat into a current that would take them away from the waterspout and the Black Knight who directed it. Meek lost concentration every time he looked back at the Knight. Reggie tried to control the skiff by himself, but couldn't match his magic to the current.

Ryssa watched Aurelius. She was mesmerized by the magic he worked. Loo did his best to distance the skiff from the waterspout, but the waves kept throwing Aurelius off-balance. Loo finally gave up on his efforts in order to help elder Faery stand upright against the rocking swells.

The Black Knight took on a glowing pattern all his own, as though he were a creature of pure magic. But the lines emanating from him were like liquid black webbing, encasing him in ebony radiance. Ryssa would never have thought anything that black could _glow_ , but the Knight did.

The magical struggle between Aurelius and the Black Knight was on a level that only Ryssa could see. Her uncle's face was strained with the effort of keeping the wall secure, but blackness would surge from the Knight, pushing the waterspout toward the wall, searching for its weakness. First it probed, testing in various places. The spout then changed tactics and retreated, only to surge forward like a battering ram as it attempted to break through. Again and again it pounded. Each time it connected, Aurelius was thrown off-balance, as though struck by the whirling mass through his link to the wall. Only Loo's grip around his legs kept him from toppling over.

The funnel pulled back to hover for a moment. Ryssa swore it was picking up speed. Her heart leapt into her throat as she realized what it was about to do. There was no warning she could have given that would have made a difference.

Then Aurelius's words came to her mind—words he had spoken the day he taught them about Air magic— _You can't stop the wind_ —Why was he trying to? In that instant, she knew. He was trying to give the children time to get to safety. But what would it mean when the waterspout did get through?

" _:He sacrifices himself to save the children,:"_ Darkwind said.

" _:But what about Loo? He'll be killed. He's one of us—would Aurelius sacrifice him, too?:"_

" _:Better to lose one than to lose all.:"_

Ryssa could hear the indifference in Darkwind's tone, and it made her angry. She looked to Loo, whose face was filled with fear, but she could tell he was trying hard to be brave.

_He knows_ , the thought leapt into her mind, _he knows he is about to die_ —she felt the fear rolling off of him like a tangible line of energy calling to her heart.

Ryssa frantically looked around. The other members of Team Phoenix had not gotten far from the middle of the lake. They were panicking, and Ryssa knew that panic didn't mix with magic. A chill of foreboding raised bumps on her skin, but at the same time, a strange calm settled over her and she suddenly felt detached from what was happening. It was like watching from a distance, only she wasn't.

Then it happened, just as she knew it would. With a surge of tremendous force, the waterspout shot forward to the wall, propelled by the dark power of the Knight behind it.

Something inside her changed. She felt fear rolling around like a bad taste in her mouth. It wasn't her fear—or maybe it was—but it came as much from outside of her as it did from within. Time froze, or crept by so slowly that she could see every instant from a hundred different perspectives—a thousand—but all with the same results.

" _:Detach,:"_ Darkwind's voice stroked her mind, and Ryssa did, without thought, without anything. She just let go.

Her body floated upward. _No_ , she realized, looking down—her body was still there. It was in the skiff, behind Reggie and Meek, holding onto the edge of the boat for balance.

_Wow_ , Ryssa thought with an idle touch of personal scrutiny, _my hair's a mess_.

The waterspout burst through the wall and she saw the lines of magic that formed the barrier snap at the point of impact. With nothing to hold them together, the lines lashied about like downed power lines seeking a place to ground.

Aurelius reeled with the momentum of the force. If Loo hadn't been there, he would have toppled into the water. As it was, Loo did everything he could to let Aurelius's weight carry them both to the bottom of the skiff instead of over its edge.

Ryssa heard screams, and looked for the source. She couldn't _see_ anyone screaming, and yet they came from the skiffs below. Team Phoenix was only marginally separated by open spaces of water. They were far enough apart that the waterspout couldn't hit them all at once—but still not far enough. If the waterspout were to hit any of them directly, the others would face the danger of being swept into the twisting wall of wind and water. But the funnel seemed to have chosen its path—it was heading directly for the skiff that held her, Reggie, and Meek.

Looking across the expanse of water below, Ryssa saw everything at once. She saw Team Phoenix struggling to get away. Aurelius still sat dazed in Loo's arms. The waterspout moved closer and closer, dodging the whipping lines of magic that had not disconnected from her uncle. And she saw the Black Knight—the evil creature who was behind it all.

_It's funny_ , Ryssa thought. _Looking down at my own body. I wonder—if I die when the waterspout hits me, will this part of me survive, or will it die with the rest of my body?_

She absently noticed new lines of power, different from the ones she was accustomed to seeing. Stretching outward from the children below, the lines were flailing around. All were thick and in various shades of deep, grayish-white. When a line from one child lashed across another, Ryssa felt a state of heightened fear, and the first line would increase in size and intensity.

_I wonder what those are_ , Ryssa speculated with idle curiosity.

" _:It is their fear.:"_ Darkwind said.

" _:A person can't see emotions.:"_

" _:_ You _obviously can.:"_

" _:But emotions are just—:"_ She frowned, trying to think of a word. _":They're just emotions.:"_

" _:Emotions are power. It is emotions that fuel the magic without a wand. And often emotions, more than anything else, determine whether magic is light or dark—not the magic itself.:"_

" _:Oh. Aurelius never taught us that.:"_

" _:Didn't he? Isn't that what he's been teaching you all along?:"_

" _:What do you mean?:"_

" _:What does he have you do before you work with any magic?:"_

" _:Empty our minds of all thought.:"_ It hit her. _":_ That's _why he does it—if we aren't thinking of anything, then we can't get all emotional about it before we work with the magic.:"_

" _:Exactly. Why do you think your magic is so intense?:"_

" _:Because I have such a hard time clearing my mind?:"_

" _:Yes. You are a creature of almost pure emotion. You let your emotions, rather than thought, guide the majority of your actions.:"_

" _:That's what my foster mother says. She always said Reggie is the head and I am the heart.:"_

" _:It happens that way with twins sometimes.:"_

Ryssa looked down again and her heart stopped. Well, it would have, maybe, if she'd been in her body. The waterspout was almost on top of them. She could see Reggie's fear lashing out from him like a whip. Meek's intertwined with Reggie's, making it appear stronger and larger. Then the full brunt of their emotional energies swept across Ryssa's body in the skiff.

The power of it coiled through her. She could now see another thin line of energy, silver in color, secured between her physical self and her floating self. It was like an anchor keeping her in place. The power of the boys' fear traveled up that line, flooding her with its intensity.

Without thinking, she grabbed the end of the intertwined projection of their fear and held onto it. It poured into her and she rocked with the realization that the waterspout was about to strike.

" _:No!:"_ she screamed, and heard the echo of her cry reverberate around her. All the lines coming from the children below froze for a second, and Ryssa became aware of her teammates looking around as though they had heard her.

Once again, Ryssa didn't think—she acted out of pure instinct. Her floating body dropped closer to her physical form and she grabbed the lines of fear from the others, pulling them together.

Then she understood, if only in a small way, the phrase so many in Faery used— _time has no meaning_ —because for her, in that moment, it didn't. It seemed to take an eternity to gather those lines to her, and yet the waterspout had barely moved.

_Now what?_ she wondered as she held the lines.

A moment of indecision passed, and the children's fear rushed through the lines again, flowing over and through her, making their fear her own.

Borne by the desperation of their fear, Ryssa frantically grabbed for the lines still pouring from Aurelius's wand. The additional intensity almost made her drop everything. Before she could lose complete control, she lashed out with the twin-bond.

" _:Reggie—help me!:"_ She could see him almost knocked over by the despair that surged into him through the bond.

" _:Ryss?:"_ She heard the shakiness in his voice. _":What—?:"_

" _:No time! Just help me.:"_

" _:Help you what?_

Reggie was bewildered. Ryssa could tell the instant he joined her floating point of view above the scene.

" _:Ryss, what's going on? Is that my body—? Wow—your hair is really a mess:!"_

" _:No time,:"_ Ryssa repeated with irritation. _":Help me pull these together into a wall—that's what Aurelius was doing—we have to tie them off.:"_

Reggie quickly took in the situation and worked to help her weave the flows together, trusting that they were doing the right thing. Ryssa spotted another line of magic, bright and emerald green. Remembering the flash of green in the wall Aurelius had created, she grabbed the line to add to the wall she and Reggie were weaving.

Ryssa froze. The line emitted power filled with despair and something else— _was it anger?_ It was a line of pure emotion, yet somehow it seemed more solid than the others that she held. She traced the line back to its source—Meek.

Looking at the boy, she saw that two lines were coming from him—one like the lines from the other children—and then this one. The first line was already woven into the pattern she and Reggie were creating. The other one, the line of green, pulsated in her hands, throbbing and surging with power. Without being told, she knew it was throbbing to the steady rhythm of Meek's heartbeat. The tempo was a strong, fast, pounding force—like the galloping hooves of a horse.

Ryssa felt the power in that single line, and as she did, Meek turned his head to look directly at her. Not at her physical body in the skiff, but at her, the floating essence above them all—the part of her that held the green line in her non-physical hands.

She suddenly recognized what it was that she held. A look of understanding passed between them, and she knew what she had to do. Swiftly, she took the green line and thrust it into the center of the woven wall, adding the line to the pattern, straight up the middle. The green line snaked into place, finishing the weave, strengthening it.

And it held. The waterspout stopped in place, no longer moving toward the children. The outer edges of the funnel sat only yards from where the boats bobbed, riding the swells that assaulted them.

While the waves of water battered the physical Ryssa, another wave beat at her floating essence above the water. Blackness rolled in, seeping through the weaves of the magical wall. Nausea roiled through her stomach, the darkness clinging to her, suffocating and weakening her defenses in order to weaken the wall. She knew then that it was the essence of the Black Knight, come to fight her directly.

Despair washed over her. He was so strong—how could she ever hope to defeat him? Her hold on the ties weakened and she gave a sob of dismay that coiled outward through the lines, touching the children below. She could feel their fear intermingled with her own, and the wall weakened under their combined uncertainty.

" _:Ryss!:"_ She felt the echo of Reggie's voice in the lines and knew the members of Team Phoenix could hear what he said. They all stopped, as she did, like a single breath caught in the surprise of the contact between their minds. _":Don't give over—you can do this! You're the only one who can—without you we're all toast!:"_

A brief moment of terror overwhelmed her at the thought of the enormous responsibility—one solitary moment when the Black Knight almost succeeded in his onslaught against her. The weave of the wall widened, then weakened, and she felt the Black Knight's triumphant certainty of victory.

The waterspout pulled back like before, gaining strength to make its final break through the wall. It lurched forward, and the wall began to unravel under the force of its attack. The terror of her teammates inundated her and she felt faint from the pressure. In that moment of terror an image flashed in her mind's eye—an image of the deformed and broken body of Woody Landstrider cradled in the arms of his twin. It was an image of twins separated by loss—

Ryssa looked down at her own twin, the fear locked on his face as he stared at the nightmare battering its way through the wall. Through all of it, he still strove to give her the courage he didn't feel for himself. He had always believed in her more than she had believed in herself. She grew angry—and with the anger came resolve.

She blew out the breath she had been holding, and slid back into her body. The waterspout loomed before her, larger than life. Ryssa stood in the skiff, immediately feeling Reggie and Meek's hands holding her steady. Her left hand was clenched, and the lines of power flowed through the grasp she had on them. She could tell by the faces around her that because of her connection to them, they could see what she saw—the energy, the wall, and the nearing success of the Black Knight.

Sheer defiance blocked out the fear and turned it to determination. Ryssa pulled the wand from her pocket with her free hand, and held both high, allowing the defiance to give her strength. At the last possible instant, she gathered all the energy available to her fingertips and channeled it through the wand pointed at the waterspout.

Power shot from Darkwind's glowing crystal—no lines—just a solid core of power that struck the wall where the lines of green held the last defense against the Black Knight's attack. The green was energized, and Ryssa felt Meek's grip on her tighten as his body jerked with the power fed into his own. The green glowed bright, spreading its color across the lines of emotional power coming from the other children and the lines of magic that still flowed from Aurelius's wand, changing all the energy to green in the wake of its growth.

When the power reached the outer edges of the wall the outer edges of the wall it solidified. No longer was it just a weave of multi-colored lines—now it was a solid wall of green that blocked the waterspout from view. The green flared, blinding all who looked at it.

Ryssa blinked rapidly, trying to make the tears blurring her vision go away. The lines she held in her hand were suddenly wrenched from her grasp, leaving her fingers cramped from the tightness used to hold them in place for so long. She fell back into Reggie and Meek, who caught and held her between them.

The spots before her eyes dissipated, and Ryssa, along with the others around her, watched in amazement as a Green Knight appeared before them, riding his horse atop the waves. As tall as the waterspout, he pulled out his sword and hacked at it, disrupting the flows of air and water. The spinning slowed as the funnel's solidity was interrupted and began to disperse.

All at once the waterspout vanished, the wind dying out to leave the water hanging for a single moment in the air, before it dropped with force back into the lake. A gigantic wave splashed over the members of Team Phoenix, creating a rocking swell that pushed them away from where the Black Knight stood.

The blackness of the Black Knight's power was still a tangible force, but he fought a losing battle against that of the Green Knight. Inch by inch the darkness retreated toward the Black Knight and the Green Knight followed, hacking and slashing as he drove it further from the children.

Suddenly, the darkness pulled back into the Black Knight, and was sucked into his form like a vacuum. The Green Knight galloped toward him, his mount picking up speed across the open lake to the distant shore. The Black Knight spun his horse around and took off at a run, trying to escape into the tree-lined edge of the water. The Green Knight followed him into the trees, head and shoulders above the canopy of the woods. At last both were lost from sight.

Team Phoenix sat numbly in the skiffs, the waves dying down around them as the winds and clouds disappeared. Aurelius stared at Ryssa with a strange expression on his face that slipped back under his mask when he saw her regarding him. He sat up in the skiff, with the help of Loo to steady him.

"Back to shore, children." Aurelius avoided looking directly at any of them.

A shocked and bewildered Team Phoenix did as their Counselor bade and worked their way back to land. There was little talking amongst them. Meek refused to look at Ryssa, although she tried to catch his eye. She wasn't sure how much the others had seen or whether they had noticed that the green line, the core that formed the Green Knight, had come from Meek, and she didn't want to draw attention to the silent boy.

They pulled to shore. A group of elders in both purple and white, and purple and black robes hurried up to Aurelius. They spoke to him in low voices, outside the range of the children's hearing. Ryssa flushed with annoyance and embarrassment as their sidelong glances repeatedly fell upon her. When they stepped back from her uncle, Aurelius turned his emotionless gaze to her.

"Team, return to your quarters until further notice. Ryssa, Reggie. You come with me." He turned and headed off, expecting them to follow.

## Chapter 20: The Hall of Futures

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The parade of children and elders traversing the streets of New Faery City from the lake was separated into two distinct groups. The first included the elders in the purple robes that alternated with black and white. They walked ahead and alongside of Reggie and Ryssa. Aurelius strode in front of his niece and nephew, his eyes focused straight ahead.

The remaining children from Team Phoenix made up the second part of the procession. Reggie glanced back to see the Phooka twins directly behind them, leading the Team back to their quarters. Since his own group hadn't changed direction yet, Reggie assumed both were headed to the same location—the Sithin mound—the Heart of New Faery.

Jet gave him a thumbs up, letting him know—

_What?_ Reggie wondered. _That everything was going to be okay?_ He didn't think the Phooka boy could give him that certainty. Maybe he meant the Team stood ready to offer them whatever support they could? Judging by the mixture of concern and determination on his teammates' faces, Reggie thought that to be more likely.

They arrived at the Sithin mound, and the two groups split off from each other. Members of Team Phoenix secretly clapped Reggie and Ryssa on the back or else gave them gentle squeezes of reassurance as they passed them into the main entrance of the mound. The elders that Reggie and Ryssa followed went around to another access, one the twins hadn't seen before.

This entrance held a deeply sloped, wooden arched hallway that wound its way down and around what seemed to Reggie to be the outer circumference of the Sithin. It opened at the bottom into another hallway that led either way, both ends disappearing behind a curved central area.

Reggie estimated, from the distance downward they had traveled, that this central area had to be beneath the Arena Court—although he was learning quickly that appearances were deceiving in Faery, and were particularly true of the Sithin.

They turned into the hallway that led to the right, passing a few entryways on the outer side of the circle. Some had carved doors to block the view of passersby. A few had arches that opened into rooms where members of the Fey could be seen engaged in various activities from sitting hunched over desks, writing or reading enormous books, to sitting around tables and chitchatting with each other.

_It's Fey central_ , Reggie thought to himself as a few glanced at the group traversing the outer corridor, _the office complex of Faery_.

A massive double archway on the inner circle wall caught his attention. Beyond it was a huge room that Reggie guessed to be about the size of the central part of the Arena Court, if you included the water area up to where the seats started. The same thirteen robed figures from the Team Matching day sat in front of large crystals the size of vanity mirrors. All circled the larger, flat crystal of the Lia Fial. There was no time to see any more than that. If he slowed his pace, he wouldn't be able to keep up.

Not far past the opening that led to the inner room, the elder Faery turned into yet another arch on the right side of the hallway. The thought of the inner chamber was pushed from Reggie's mind as he saw what the new room held. It was a large, domed area, at least double the size of the Team Phoenix common area, and appeared to contain a scale model of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico areas.

Reggie could see, in fantastic detail, the land, homes and cities of the state of Florida. The islands around the Caribbean were clearly depicted, as well as one off the west coast of Florida that he had never seen before. He realized that it was New Faery. Reggie marveled that an island, almost a quarter of the size of the state, could be kept so well hidden from the eyes of those on the mainland.

"Observe," one of the robed men in purple and white said to Aurelius. Reggie tried to peer through the wall of robes to see what they were looking at. The man moved his hand across the top of the model, like wiping a chalkboard clean.

Reggie saw a circular formation of clouds appear just south of an island he knew to be Cuba. The formation moved in rotation as it moved across the land mass. Bewildered, Reggie watched for a moment before realizing what it was. He looked at his twin, who watched the map with a puzzled frown.

" _:Ryss, it's Faery Doppler.:"_ When Ryssa's frown deepened, he added, _":They're watching a hurricane over Cuba.:"_

A light of understanding touched her eyes, and Reggie turned his attention back to the map.

"This one was heading directly for us," the man in purple and white was explaining.

Reggie could see the path of the hurricane coming across the Florida Keys and rounding the lowest part of the peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of moving into the Gulf like most storms, this one hugged the west coast of the state, and looked as though it were headed directly for New Faery.

"We made the necessary adjustments to produce a path that would take it into the open waters to avoid the more populated areas," the man frowned at the scene before him, "when the whole thing was yanked from our hands and _this_ happened."

Reggie watched as an almost tangible green wall sprang from the island of New Faery and headed directly for the hurricane. The storm veered away and moved inland and was cutting a path that took it northeast across the state. It was strange. Reggie could see little things flying around as the storm raged across the mainland. Suddenly he realized it was pieces of towns, cities—the homes and workplaces of those caught in the path of the storm. Reggie's heart dropped into his stomach.

"The magic was ripped from our hands," a woman in purple and black muttered. She held her hands up to Aurelius, shaking them at him. "Right out of our hands!"

"What are you teaching these children, Lord Aurelius?" This came from a tall, slender man dressed in purple and black.

"Nothing, Lord Sigh. We were having boat races. I was teaching them Water magic."

"Water magic didn't do _this_." Lord Sigh's voice grew heated. "What manner of darkness do you bring to Faery now, Aurelius?"

Aurelius raised an eyebrow. Reggie instantly assumed it was at the man's lack of using his title. Jet had explained to Reggie that to do so was an insult. From the look on Lord Sigh's face, Reggie knew he had _meant_ the insult.

"Was darkness detected in this magic?" Aurelius indicated the green wall that went into instant replay mode, moving again and again to push the hurricane to shore. "Well, was it?"

Lord Sigh scowled. "No."

"Then don't make such accusations again." Aurelius' eyes glittered with an undercurrent of warning.

"It _had_ to be dark magic," Lord Sigh hissed angrily. "That is the method you used with storms in the past. How did you do it _this_ time, Aurelius?"

Reggie and Ryssa exchanged stunned looks. Their uncle—Lord Aurelius, the pompous stuffed shirt of the Seelie Court—had once engaged in the use of dark magic against Faery? The memory of a previous conversation tickled Reggie's mind, but he couldn't call it forward.

"I didn't do this," Aurelius said softly.

"Perhaps you didn't _mean_ to," Lord Sigh stepped forward threateningly, "but you managed to do it somehow. We are trying to determine how."

"Lord Aurelius." The man in purple and white held Lord Sigh back with a restraining hand. He stepped closer, ready to come between the two if necessary. "You were once at such a level in both Air and Water magic to have surpassed rank and title in Faery. We all know this. But only through dark magic were you able to perform at that level. If you have found a way to perform at that level without the use of dark magic, your skill would be invaluable in combating these storms attacking Faery."

The man paused, looking at the other elders gathered in the room with question. They all nodded, giving silent permission to say what had not yet been said.

"The truth of the matter," the man sighed, "is that our efforts are proving to be— _unsuccessful_." The admission seemed to roll with pain off his tongue. "If you had not done whatever it was you just did, then for certain—"

"You don't know that," Lord Sigh spat. "The last move we made might have—"

"For _certain_ ," the man took back control of the conversation with a warning glance. "This latest attack against Faery would have succeeded."

"I am distressed to hear that, Lord Hurq," Aurelius said with concern. "That does not bode well for us."

"No, it does not. But now you understand the true crux of our dilemma. They have finally succeeded in overcoming the efforts of our most powerful storm elders. With minimal effort, they will breach our defenses the next time."

"Who?" Reggie asked.

The elders turned to him, startled, as though they had forgotten the presence of the two children in the room.

"Are you saying the hurricanes that come this way have been a direct assault against New Faery?" Reggie tried again to get a response. "Who would do that?"

"These children should not be here," Lord Sigh grumbled. Nods of agreement from the other elders followed.

"Lord Aurelius—" Lord Hurq started.

"I was not responsible for turning the storm."

"Perhaps we should have the children wait outside the Hall of Storms while we address this—" Lord Hurq continued with a frown.

Aurelius shook his head, trying again. "I was not responsible—"

"The _children_ , Aurelius," Lord Sigh growled.

"The _children_ ," Reggie was sick of being ignored and having the elders talk over his head, "are the ones who turned the storm." He looked at Ryssa's stricken face, but the truth was going to come out eventually, even if Aurelius did seem to be trying to protect them. "Or at least Ryssa did—I only helped."

The elders looked as though they had been struck.

"I didn't even know about the stupid storm." Ryssa avoided looking at them. "I was only trying to protect us against the Black Knight."

"Children," Aurelius tried to raise his voice over the last part of Ryssa's statement, but the elders' response to the words "Black Knight" overrode it. It was fear—and shock—that took the pompous attitudes out of the elders and somehow made them less—lofty.

From Reggie's point of view, it brought them to a level more—human to deal with. He took a small measure of satisfaction in that knowledge. Or at least he would have, if they hadn't been staring at him and Ryssa like undesirable mud slime from the bottom of a rock. _What was going on here, anyway?_

"Children," Aurelius' voice echoed softly in the silence-stricken room, "please wait in the hall."

Reggie wanted to yell. He was tired of being on the outside. He wanted answers. Whether it was an understanding that he wouldn't get any, or the silent request for patience coming from his uncle, Reggie didn't know for sure, but he turned to leave.

"Come on, Ryss." He grabbed his twin's arm and pulled her toward the door.

Outside in the hallway, Reggie turned back in time to see Lord Hurq wave his wand toward the archway. The interior of the arch sparkled for a moment before it was clear again.

"They locked us out." Ryssa stared dumbly at the arch.

Reggie nodded, knowing she could see the magical pattern that had been put into place. He'd figured as much.

_Now what?_ Reggie wondered. The edge of the archway that led to the interior chamber of this level caught his eye. He strolled casually in that direction and Ryssa followed. He didn't know whether or not they were supposed to be wandering about, but he thought he'd take advantage of the fact that there was no one there to tell them they couldn't.

Reggie peeked around the outer edge of the archway.

Everything seemed the same as when they had passed it a short time earlier. Thirteen brown-robed elders sat at crystal mirrors surrounding the Lia Fial. He and Ryssa slipped into the room unnoticed by those inside. They stood back, taking in the scene with quiet curiosity.

The first thing Reggie noticed was that the Lia Fial wasn't sitting on the floor. It was suspended over a pit. Multi-colored, steam-like wisps rose from the cavity, brightening the Lia Fial in muted rainbow tones.

The crystals weren't mirrors as Reggie first thought. Images moved across them like those displayed on a television screen. Every few minutes, one of the elders would retrieve a small crystal from a bucket next to them. They would then hold it to the surface of their screen and freeze the image. As the smaller crystal lit with flaring colors, the image would vanish. The smaller stones were then tossed into the pit beneath the Lia Fial.

Reggie didn't know how long he and Ryssa watched from a distance, but his inquisitive nature got the best of him. He moved closer to see what images played across the surface of the larger crystals. He was right. It was like watching television.

On the screen in front of him, he saw the Hall of Storms with many of the same people who had been in there earlier. But this image also showed Medwyn and the man from the disbanded House of Nightfall. Lord Hurq was pointing at a storm on the three-dimensional model while Ryssa looked on in panic.

The elder at the screen raised a hand and froze the image before turning to look back at Reggie. Reggie found himself looking into the same amethyst-colored eyes that had stared out at him from under the hood the day of the Team choosing. A smile formed on her lips, matching the amusement in her eyes.

"You shouldn't be here, little one." The woman's voice was gentle and rolled like music across Reggie's ears.

"I'm sorry—I didn't know."

"But you suspected."

Reggie just nodded. What could he say?

"This is the Hall of Futures," she informed him as she rose from her chair.

"Futures—plural? As in more than one future?"

The elder laughed, but moved to block the images of the other crystals from his view.

"There are more futures than just one. You have a future, I have a future—each individual has his or her own future."

"Oh, I get it. I thought at first that you meant there was more than one possible future."

"Ah, but there is," the elder said knowingly. "Our futures are shaped by the choices we make. So the future lying before us now may change if we make a decision that changes the path we take."

"Like what?"

"Like what?" The woman paused as if to think it over. "Well, for instance, if you had chosen to ignore your sister's cry for help on the surface of the lake—you might not be standing here right now."

Reggie nodded thoughtfully. "So, if I hadn't helped her, I'd be dead?"

"Perhaps." The elder tilted her head.

"Would I have been?"

"Would you have been what?"

"Dead?" Reggie persisted.

She laughed. "Little one, never waste time wondering what could have been. The moment is past and cannot be retrieved. Look to the now."

"Don't look to the future?"

"No." The elder shook her head. "The future is not yet written. It can be changed, so why look to something that _might_ be when you can focus your energy to work with what _is_?"

Reggie nodded again, but it was all so confusing. He looked at Ryssa and saw her staring intently at one of the crystal screens. Concerned, he went to move her away, but was drawn to the same image that held her rooted in place.

Team Phoenix was gathered around a dying tree on one of the training fields. Crowds of Fey sat in seats along the outer edges of the field.

_It's an image of the competition_ , Reggie realized in wonder.

The crowd in the monitor gasped in horror as a fireball came down to engulf the tree and the Team beneath it. The elder chose that moment to freeze the image. The smaller seemed to suck the image from the larger crystal, because it was gone. The elder tossed the smaller crystal into the pit beneath the Lia Fial. Reggie wondered which of the many colored wisps rising from the pit fed the image to the Stone of Destiny.

Tears rolled down Ryssa's cheeks. The elder gathered his twin in her arms and gently urged her from the room, motioning for Reggie to follow.

"Listen, children—" the elder said quietly as they exited the room through the double archway.

"Does this mean we're going to die?" Reggie interrupted.

The elder hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "That is one possible future."

"I don't want to die," Ryssa said forlornly.

"None of us do—or at least most of us don't."

"How can we make it _not_ happen?" Reggie demanded.

"Little ones," the elder sighed, "this is why the Hall of Futures is avoided. Not even the Ard Ri passes through that doorway. Do not focus on a future that _could_ come to pass—you must work with the _now_ to create the future that _will_ come into being."

"But how do we do that?" Ryssa asked.

"I have no answer for you." The elder shook her head. "The number of potential futures being shaped is too great. We are given only fragments of them. None of us truly understands how those pieces fit together. But if you see yourself headed into a future you don't like, you need to make changes in the _now_ to create a future you would rather have come to pass."

"But how do we know the choices we make won't be the ones that take us into a future we don't want?" Reggie asked.

The elder smiled. "You don't. Let your hearts guide you. Your future will reveal itself there better than any other place you might think to look."

"I don't get it," Reggie mumbled.

"You will." The elder shrugged. "Or maybe you won't. Just make the best choices you can—it's all any of us can do."

Reggie noticed compassion in the elder's eyes. Behind her, he saw Aurelius stepping out of the Hall of Storms, holding a last minute conversation with Lord Hurq.

"Find the heart within you, little ones." The elder moved back into the Hall of Futures, leaving Reggie and Ryssa with confused and miserable thoughts.

## Chapter 21: Aurelius Cries Uncle

[back to top]

Ryssa trudged up the ramp from the lower level of the Sithin behind her bodyguard, a member of the Slaugh. The grotesque, rabbit-eared creature occasionally looked back as though to make sure she was still there. His leering grin of sharp teeth was getting on her nerves.

The next time he glanced back, Ryssa bared her teeth and growled at him. The creature's eyes grew wide. Ryssa took a bit of pleasure from that, until his gaze turned to amusement and his head bobbled with laughter. She scowled, and he laughed even harder, but at least he quit looking at her.

Extra work— _that's_ what the whole thing on the lake had gotten her. Extra work and a whole lot of stares from everybody she came across. Whenever she walked the streets of New Faery City, it seemed as though people went out of their way to go around her. And now, tramping through the streets behind one of the Slaugh, no one made a show of pretense—they simply scattered to the other side of the street.

The storm elders singled Ryssa out to show them what she had done to stop the storm. But she couldn't do it. On the lake, it had been an instinctive need for survival—and to protect those she cared about. Trying to recreate it while the elders watched and criticized her every move? _That_ made it impossible.

Ryssa felt like a dog who was supposed to understand a trick and perform it on demand. _At least a dog gets treats and praise. I don't even get that much._ And it was as though they were afraid _this_ dog might have rabies and turn on them at any minute. A member of the Slaugh was now present everywhere she went. _What was up with the Black Knight thing anyway—and why did it spook the entire Fey population?_

Reggie had a member of the Slaugh assigned to him as well, but at least he didn't have to endure the grueling sessions with the storm elders.

Neither she nor Reggie had mentioned anything to them about the Green Knight's connection to Meek. It was enough that _they_ were under scrutiny—they didn't see any reason to put Meek through it as well. Not until they knew more about what was going on.

At least Aurelius attempted to limit what the elders did with her and Reggie. He was protecting them, sort of. They didn't know whether that protection would extend to Meek. Short of asking questions that would draw attention to their silent teammate, they were the only protection he had at the moment.

The Slaugh guard led Ryssa to one of the training fields. That was another thing that irritated her. She would spend humiliating hours laboring under the demands of the storm elders, only to have to go straight to training afterward. It had been several weeks now, and the Team was rapidly covering what they could to prepare for the competition.

_The competition_. Ryssa shuddered. She was terrified of that upcoming day. She and Reggie tried to figure out how to get around it, but the truth was, they didn't know enough to come up with a solution. By the time she and her guard had reached the training field grounds, Ryssa had worked herself into a full mad.

The rest of Team Phoenix were already there, seated on the grass, while Aurelius prepared to talk them through an exercise. _What is it today—?_ Ryssa frowned and pushed the thought away. It didn't matter. She was tired and angry, and for the most part feeling pretty worthless. And she'd had enough.

The Slaugh guard stopped at the edge of the field where another one sat, no doubt to watch over Reggie. They looked so similar that Ryssa made a mental note to figure out later how to tell them apart. She continued on, her fury building with every step she took. Aurelius glanced up at her arrival, but once again would not look her in the eye.

"Come along, Ryssa. Take a seat. We're starting to—"

"No." Ryssa stood directly in front of him, stopped and crossed her arms.

Aurelius blinked in surprise—and finally looked at her.

"No?"

"No."

"No, what?"

"No nothing. No, I'm not going to sit. No, I'm not going to deal with any more training today or any other day, until I get some answers."

"Enough of this, Ryssa," Aurelius pushed aside her words with a wave of his hand. He went back to not looking at her again. "Take your seat with the others and—"

"No," Ryssa repeated and turned to walk from the field.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"If _you_ won't answer questions, then I'll find someone who _will_."

"Who do you think will—?"

"I'm going to have a chat with my aunt." Ryssa had almost reached the Slaugh guard when she heard quick footsteps in the grass behind her. A hand came to rest on her shoulder, and she stopped to face her uncle. He met her eyes briefly, before looking away.

"Very well." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Let's sit and talk about this. I'll answer what I can."

Ryssa examined him for a moment, deciding whether or not he was being sincere. She finally nodded and took a step toward the rest of the Team, who were openly watching the exchange. Aurelius raised his hand to stop her.

"Not there. We'll talk in private."

Ryssa shook her head. "No. They're in this as much as I am. Every time something happens, they get put at risk. It's time for truths, Lord Aurelius," she added his title to show respect in the Faery tradition. "Too many things are being unsaid— _that's_ what is putting Faery in danger. It's not protecting us, it's _hurting_ us."

Aurelius stared at her long and hard—so long, that Ryssa grew uncomfortable under his scrutiny. But she didn't let it show. She was firm in her resolve and had no intention of backing down. He nodded and they walked back, side by side, to a surprised and waiting Team Phoenix.

" _:Way to go, Ryss.:"_

Ryssa flashed her twin a tight smile and sat at his side. For a change, Aurelius did not stand over them as he usually did, but instead sat on the grass with the rest of the Team.

"So what would you like to know?" Aurelius looked to her with a blank expression.

Ryssa was silent for a moment. There were so many questions begging to be asked, and she suspected she wouldn't get answers for them all. She sorted through them, trying to prioritize.

"Okay—let's start with the Black Knight." When she saw her uncle wince, she knew she had chosen one he had been expecting—and also one he had hoped to avoid. _Not as much as some of the others, I'll bet_. Out loud she said, "What's up with that, anyway? Why are people treating me and Reggie like the plague now?"

"The appearance of the Black Knight," Aurelius started slowly, "is the first stage of a prophecy that is believed to be the beginning of the end of Faery."

"Prophecy?" Ryssa looked around while the rest of the Team lowered their eyes in avoidance.

"The Lia Fial seldom speaks," Aurelius tried to explain, "but it did the day of the selection of potentials almost thirteen years ago. It hadn't done so for several hundred years—since even before the time of Dana."

"What does this prophecy say?" Ryssa frowned.

"There is a lot to it, actually. To hear it all, you would have to gain Queen Medwyn's permission for access to the archives. But the first part goes like this:

The Blackest Knight cometh to the land of the Fey

and darkness follows in its wake;

To a land untouched by the echo of the past;

Spreading the echo outward like the ripples

of a pebble thrown into a lake;

Brought by the twins of darkness and light

to break the light.

"So what is the _echo of the past_?" Reggie asked.

"It's hard to say," Aurelius shrugged. "Most prophecies, this one being no exception, are usually so obscure you can only know the truth of them once they have come to pass. The scholars who have devoted time to this one suspect it applies to New Faery, since this would be the land of the Fey untouched by echoes of the past."

"And now they suspect me and Reggie as being the twins of darkness and light because the Black Knight has shown itself twice around me. It's a no-brainer to figure out which they think is which."

"Yes," Aurelius nodded unhappily and then sighed. "I wish I could tell you otherwise, child, but I'm afraid that's the truth of it."

"But how do they know for certain it's me and Reggie the prophecy is talking about? How do they know that it's not, say—" She looked over the whole Team, ignoring the panic in Meek's eyes. She made a mental note to corner him at the first opportunity. "I don't know, maybe it's referring to Moira and Jet as the twins of darkness, with their dark skin, and me and Reggie as twins of light—how do we know it's singular and not plural? Maybe it's as simple as that?"

Moira and Jet looked stunned, and she hastened to reassure them.

"I'm not trying to make any accusations. I'm just asking why it has to refer to just me and Reggie?"

"It doesn't, of course," Aurelius said thoughtfully. "But that's the thing with prophecies. Until it comes to pass, all the guessing in the world is for naught."

Ryssa wasn't satisfied, but by the way her teammates started to relax, she knew that she was no longer at the top of their boogeyman list. No doubt she was still _on_ the list, but at least she wasn't the number one terror anymore. Reggie looked at her with pride, so Ryssa guessed she was handling herself well.

"Okay, next question." She saw Aurelius tense and decided to throw him off guard. "Who was Darkwind's last controller and what happened to him—or her?"

From the look on Aurelius's face, she knew he hadn't been expecting that one. It took him a moment to recover. Even Reggie was surprised. She had never mentioned her conversation with Kyellin Nightfall to him.

"Dahlia Nightfall. She was the Matriarch of the now disbanded House of Nightfall. No one is quite sure exactly what happened. She—" He paused, searching for a word. "—um, well, she seems to have gone over the edge."

"Seems to have? As in she's still alive?"

"Yes." Aurelius actually seemed to squirm a little. "But Dahlia is no longer—well, she's not quite—"

"Sane," Jet provided. "I heard she went bonkers when Darkwind exploded the fireball that killed your parents."

"Yes," Aurelius sighed. "But it's not quite like that. She became, shall we say, _less in touch with reality_ every day. We aren't sure if the fireball incident pushed her over the edge, or if she went over the edge first, which in turn made her to lose control over Darkwind and caused the incident."

"Which came first," asked Reggie, "the chicken or the egg?"

"Pardon?" Aurelius asked absently, and then seemed to come back to himself. "Oh—yes, well, only Dahlia knows for certain."

"Dahlia and Darkwind." Ryssa looked at her wand. Two burgundy-colored eyes blinked innocently up at her from the crystal.

Aurelius watched her carefully. "Darkwind refuses to speak on the matter."

"We'll see about that," Ryssa said.

"There are suspicions—" Aurelius offered cautiously.

"About what?"

"About what was driving Dahlia's strange behavior."

"Care to elaborate?" Reggie asked when Ryssa hesitated.

"Nothing that can be proven. So I don't know—"

Ryssa stared at him, not blinking.

"—she seemed to act more nervous around groups of people," Aurelius tried to explain as best he could. "Especially around strong emotional situations. It gave her bad headaches. We couldn't find a cure, even with the best of our healers."

"You mean she was empathic?" Reggie asked. "She could feel other people's emotions?"

"Well, that's the general theory. But we don't know for certain—"

"Oh, you _people_!" Ryssa slapped furious hands on the ground in front her.

"What's wrong, Ryss?"

"Don't you see, Regg? If Dahlia was one of those empathy-thingies—if she could feel emotions from others around her and they suspected—"

"Sheesh—with everyone around here so involved in their little secrets and afraid of being exposed—"

"They'd have acted a lot like they do around you and me now." Ryssa shook her head sadly. "With suspicion and fear, which in turn she would have felt—"

"The people of Faery sent her off the deep end!" Moira straightened, seeing where their logic was taking them. "By the time she went wonky, all she was feeling whenever she was around others was their fear and paranoia. No wonder she flipped out!"

The members of the Team turned accusatory eyes to their Counselor, as though the entire thing was his fault—and they had never even known Dahlia Nightfall.

"We didn't know for sure," Aurelius protested in a small voice. "By the time we figured out what might be happening, it was too late. Some of the abilities cropping up in New Faery now haven't been seen since well before the time of Dana. Without access to the old knowledge of Faery, we can't understand how to deal with it."

"So some abilities are popping up that people have never dealt with before?" Reggie asked.

"Not often. But even some of the elders have been experiencing abilities they hadn't had before now. We're not sure what's going on—we suspect it has something to do with the Wilt and the thinning of the barriers."

Ryssa was no longer paying attention. Her thoughts had turned inward. She was thinking back to what Kyellin had said to her that day: ' _I know what will happen if you can't control the emotions. You need to understand them—_ really _understand where they are coming from. If you don't, the emotions will control the magic and the magic will turn to darkness—'_

The words faded as the remembrance of the voices in the mists came forward: _'She's back. She brings darkness to the Sidhe. The Heart of Darkness returns to life. With the darkness, all that has been done in the name of light will be undone. She holds the power to destroy them all. We answer the call of darkness in your heart—'_

"No!" Ryssa covered her ears with her hands to block out the words, even though they had come from within.

Everyone turned and stared. With all of the talk of Dahlia's path of insanity, she knew what they were thinking. Her resentment grew at the fear she saw in their faces—fear she could almost feel. _Was_ she like Dahlia? Is that why Darkwind had chosen her? Was she going to go insane, too?

_No_ , she told herself firmly. _I'm going to beat this and prove them all wrong—even those stupid voices in the mists_.

Ryssa suddenly refocused her stare on her uncle. "So how did _you_ do it?"

"How did I do what?"

"How did you stop using dark magic?"

Team Phoenix looked shocked, but when Aurelius did not deny it, their gazes locked on him inquisitively.

Reggie's face lit in sudden understanding. "It was _you_. _That's_ what I was missing in the Hall of Storms. You're not originally from Faery, are you, _Uncle_?"

"Aurelius is the mage who helped the humans defeat Faery with the storms," Pyro, Jr. said. He glanced at the surprise on his teammates' faces. "What, you guys didn't know that?"

From the individual reactions, it was obvious she and Reggie weren't the only ones who had been unaware of that fact.

"Then how can you be our uncle?" Reggie asked. "Are our parents human, too?"

"We are _all_ human." Aurelius brushed at his robes with a trace of irritation. "It's only the Earth-link that sets the Faery aside from those with mortal life spans."

"Then how—"

"Your father." Aurelius brought a tired hand up to rub his eyes. "Dana decreed my life to be forfeit unless someone of Faery would take blood-bond with me, to control the dark magic and see that I never use it again."

"That was why the storm elders thought you moved the storm away from Faery—and that you used dark magic to do it," Ryssa said. "Because our father is dead, they thought his control over your dark magic was dead, too."

"Yes. And what they suspect is correct. But I still have not called on dark magic to this day." He shuddered. "I will not be responsible a second time for that kind of devastation against Faery."

"But if you don't help me understand it so I can control it, the same thing will happen again, and it will be your fault anyway."

The accusation hung in the air, but Aurelius did not look angry.

"No, child, I don't sense darkness in your magic. It is—different. I've yet to determine what it is, so I haven't been able to help you. Your brother seems to be your control—just as Marcus was mine at first. Eventually, I learned for myself what I needed to control it—just as you have to do."

"I can't do it by myself," Ryssa said.

"You don't have to," Pyro, Jr. spoke up. "You have _us_." He blushed when everyone looked at him.

"He's right," Moira grinned confidently. "Isn't that what being a Team is all about?"

"You made Aurelius talk about this in front of us," Loo added. "So it protects us by giving us a clue about what's going on. But the only real protection is for us to figure this out together— _that's_ what being a Team is all about."

"Yeah," said Jet. "Team Phoenix, rising from the ashes of destruction. This is _our_ win or lose, Ryss. You're not alone."

Ryssa smiled, tears springing to her eyes. She was grateful that they were behind her, but the horrible image of the fireball had leapt to mind when Jet spoke of Team Phoenix rising from the ashes. She couldn't tell them—she couldn't bear to feel their fear again.

A look at Reggie confirmed she had made the right decision. Now she just had to hope they could figure out a way to make that future go away—or pray Team Phoenix lived up to its namesake.

## Chapter 22: A Whole New Game

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Ryssa might have been surprised to know that the scene she was participating in at the moment was the very same one Reggie had glimpsed in the Hall of Futures. She might have been surprised, but she wouldn't have cared. At the moment, she was just tired—so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.

The hurricane that she and the storm elders were working on had weakened considerably before reaching warm waters where it hovered, picking up speed and strength. Those in the Hall of Storms waged a war designed to slow it down and push it away. They had been unable to push it further into the Atlantic two days prior, after it had ravaged its way through the Bahamas. The storm plugged determinedly along a path that would take it across Florida, over the Tampa Bay area, and across the beaches to make a direct hit on New Faery.

Ryssa looked at the area north of Tampa and a sob caught in her throat. Her foster mother and brother were there—along with all of her friends from school—and the bands of the storm fighting its way to the Fey were pounding away at them. Exactly _when_ the three-dimensional model had taken on that reality for her, she couldn't say. But she realized the storm had done little to slow down once it had made landfall across the state.

The outer bands of the storm had hit the Bay area. The elders had tried to push it further north, sending it on a path away from New Faery. But that put the bands directly over the home where Ryssa had grown up. And she found that quite unacceptable.

The realization caused her to open her heart, pouring her love and protection in waves toward her family and friends in the area. Of course, opening her heart made it a two-way street as far as the emotions of those on the mainland. She could feel their fear and worry pouring back at her, and she lashed out with anger transformed from their fear.

The winds of the storm slowed and moved slightly south, taking it back on a path to New Faery. Ryssa began to realize the best she could do was to strike at the speed of the winds and not worry about the path the storm was taking. The storm was so large it almost obscured the entire state. Only little spots of land were evident on the three-dimensional model.

The storm elders cursed, yelling at her to stay focused. Suddenly she realized what the problem was. She remembered back to the clinical detachment they had shown when reviewing what she had accidentally done to the previous storm. They hadn't seemed particularly concerned about the lives it had affected when it tore across the central state. Their anger had been more about the control that had been taken away from them. Her resentment toward them grew, and she decided to take something else away from them—their detachment.

Ryssa looked across the model that represented a life she had been pulled from, only to be brought here and battered time after time by these elders who felt themselves above the petty emotions and turmoil of people barely a hand's breadth away on a scale model that separated them from the reality of what they really faced. Her eyes met the gaze of her aunt, the Queen of the Unseelie Court, who observed the proceedings. Ryssa looked to the man standing next to her aunt, Kyellin Nightfall, and their eyes locked in understanding.

Ryssa detached, the way she had on the lake that day. She could see lines of power streaming from the storm elders as they fought to keep the hurricane from battering the shores of New Faery. There were also lines of emotion stemming from those in the Zombie Zone. Ryssa marveled at the strength in those lines. She would never again of think of those from the mortal world as having no power. They had a magic all their own—they just didn't know how to use it. But in that moment, _she_ did.

With both hands outstretched, she grabbed the lines of power from the storm elders and brought them together with the emotional lines of the humans on the mainland. The reaction from the elders was instantaneous. They recoiled, trying to back away from the fear being forced upon them. She made them feel the terror the humans were feeling. The only way for them to escape it was to make it go away.

The elders took a different tact in fighting the hurricane. They worked to reduce the winds instead of pushing them away. The hurricane lingered for a time, just north of New Faery, trying to rebuild its strength as it pressed against the barrier that kept it from the island. Ryssa saw the barrier push northward, forcing the storm to move with it. It took effort and time, but Ryssa saw the resolve put into it by the storm elders. Sweat beaded their foreheads as they worked together, propelled by the fear they were now connected to.

The power of that fear lessened in Ryssa's hands as the storm inched away from the huge center of population. After a while, she let go of the lines and allowed them to settle back into their original places. The storm continued northward, still spreading torrents of rain and wind, but the backbone of its fury was broken.

She came back into her body and swayed where she stood. The tremendous effort she had put into making the storm elders see what they were doing had taken its toll. They watched her strangely, stepping back as though afraid of what she might do next. Ryssa laughed and they jumped. They obviously didn't know that every ounce of her energy was being put into standing upright. She had nothing left.

"How did you do that?" the Queen was asking, but the voice sounded as though it was from far away. "And why?"

" _How?"_ Ryssa's head was swimming. _What had she done?_ She shook her head to clear it, but the dizziness only got worse. "I d-don't know— _why_?" She shrugged, the single movement sending her off-balance.

Kyellin Nightfall rushed from across the room, catching her as she fell.

Ryssa looked at him with confusion.

"I had to make them understand," she whispered as the blackness took her. "I mean _really_ understand—"

* * *

Reggie sat on the edge of his sister's bed, waiting for her to wake up. Well, it wasn't exactly as though he had spent the entire time at her side, but it had been almost a full day now and she should be coming around soon—shouldn't she? He had tried to reach her through the twin-bond, but had found only darkness. He asked Jet about it.

"She's off in the dream world, Regg. She's not in a place of conscious thought. You'll have to wait until she crawls back out to our level of awareness—the storm elders had her going non-stop for close to three days. She _needs_ this rest."

It made Reggie feel better, but not much. He wanted to know that she was all right—and he needed to hear it from her.

He had almost jumped through the miniature Sithin tree in the Team Phoenix common area when Kyellin Nightfall had carried Ryssa in as unconscious as she was now. Aurelius had held him back and ushered the man carrying the limp body of his sister into the girls' room to put her to bed.

They kept saying nothing was wrong with her. He looked down at the dark smudges under her eyes that had barely faded while she slept. _Why wouldn't she wake up?_ He was trying not to panic, especially since no one else seemed to be, but he couldn't help but worry.

He sighed and got up from the bed and headed for the door.

* * *

Ryssa opened her eyes and tried to focus on her surroundings. She frowned, attempting to place where she was through the throbbing in her skull. The room was dark, and she was in bed. How had she gotten there? She tried to remember, but couldn't.

The throbbing intensified as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Why did her head hurt so much? And her stomach? The lower part of her body growled in response, bringing a slight smile to her lips. She was hungry. One mystery solved.

Ryssa eased her feet over the side of the bed, moving slowly to work through the dizziness that accompanied the pain in her head. Her Team uniform lay at the foot of the bed—the replacement uniform sent from Madam Quinn's after the fireball incident on the training field.

Madam Quinn had said it would take some time to complete. _How much time?_ She tried to think. As Ryssa pulled the uniform on, her gaze wandered around the room. The beds were empty. _Where is everybody?_

" _:They're not here.:"_ Darkwind said.

" _:Really?:"_ The headache jolted with a momentary sharpness. _":I thought I told you that unless you have something useful to offer, I don't want to hear from you.:"_

She stopped. She _had_ told the Sprite that—when? It hurt to think about it. _Distraction_ , she decided. _That's what I need. Move my body to distract me from the pain in my head_.

Ryssa started across the floor of the room, her thoughts roaming. She tried to take her mind in a direction that would give her some bearing on her present state. _The Sprite_. She recalled interrogating Darkwind about— _about what_? That got her to the door. When she wrapped her fingers around the handle, she remembered. _Dahlia Nightfall_. Darkwind wouldn't talk about it, and she had been angry enough to say that, just before—

Ryssa opened the door to an abandoned common area. _Oh yeah—right before the storm elders came to get me. Jerks_. Her flash of annoyance with them was punctuated by yet another burst of pain.

A single tray of cinnamon rolls and fruit could be seen on the cushion of the sofa outside the girls' room. Ryssa made her way over and sat before breaking off a bite-sized chunk of the first pastry she grabbed. It was still warm. The Brownie had known she was awake. She stopped short of calling out a _thank you_ , remembering it wouldn't be taken well. Instead, she showed her gratitude by working her way through the contents of the tray.

She leaned back on the sofa, sucking the last traces of icing from her fingers. Her stomach felt better and even the pain in her head began to subside, allowing her to think more clearly.

The storm elders. _I bet they'll be a little more careful now_. Ryssa felt a small bit of vindictive satisfaction. But it didn't last long. Weariness settled over her at the memory of her work with them those past few days, and with that feeling came depression.

She had tried, really _tried_ , to work with the storm, no matter that they thought her focus wasn't there. It was—or had been. The simple fact was that she was a failure. Sure, she could call the magic and see the magic others called. She just couldn't do anything about it without Reggie. What good was the magic if she couldn't use it?

Now she had figured out part of the emotional side—but would the knowledge do her any good? Or would it just hasten her down the path of insanity, like Dahlia Nightfall?

Even when she had combined the emotional lines with the storm elders' lines of magic, she hadn't woven them together. It was more like she had jammed them into place and used her hands like tape to hold them there.

"Forget this," she mumbled and got up from the sofa.

" _:Where's Reggie?:"_

Darkwind remained silent.

"Hmph," Ryssa said out loud and headed out of Team Phoenix common area. At the top of the ramp, she gazed out over New Faery City with indecision. A noise drew her attention and she looked down to see her Slaugh guard staring over the city in much the same manner she was. _Oh, right. Like that would've changed_.

"Do you happen to know where my brother is?" Ryssa asked, trying her best to be polite through the various stages of her frustration.

The Slaugh turned to her and cocked its head. It stayed in that position for a moment, staring _through_ her, not _at_ her—or at least that's what it felt like. The creature's eyes came back into focus and it nodded. Ryssa stood waiting, but the creature indicated nothing more.

"Will you take me to him?" she gritted out through her teeth. _"Please?"_

The creature grinned, sharp teeth filling the lower half of its face. Ryssa glared. The Slaugh silently laughed at her and turned to lead the way through the streets to the right.

_Nothing's changed_ , Ryssa realized as people nervously hustled from her path. Her irritation grew. _I guess this is how Dahlia felt before she went off the deep end—at least I can't feel their emotions like she could_.

Ryssa stared at her feet, trying to act as though she didn't care. At least that way she wouldn't have to see the way people looked at her. She wanted to scream at them, but then they'd think she'd gone wonky for sure. No, it was better to focus on her feet, ignore the people, ignore the subsiding pain in her head.

Without warning, Ryssa felt the breath knocked out of her as she was bashed against the wall of a shop she was passing. Absently, she noticed that it felt like the wall of leaves it resembled, springy and cool to the touch. She wasn't hurt, but once again found herself irritated. For her, it was becoming an all too common state of mind. Meek's frightened gaze stared wildly at her, and he kept glancing back the way he had come.

"Great." Ryssa eyed him with disgust, plucking at a bothersome twig that clung to one of the fringes of her uniform. "So now _you're_ afraid of me, too?"

His expression turned to puzzlement, but still registered alarm. A moment later Ryssa found out why. Blaze Flamebringer rounded the nearest corner with the same members of Team Dragon that had been with him in the sweets shop weeks before. Meek started to bolt, but then seemed to realize that Ryssa wasn't moving. He stepped in front of her to block the Teams' approach.

"What's this?" Blaze sneered at Meek, stopping just out of reach. "Shouldn't _she_ be protecting _you_? What do you think _you're_ going to do?"

Ryssa noted that Blaze's hair had grown back to full length, spiked at the top with red and orange flamed tips, just as it had been before getting fried. She put a hand on Meek's shoulder, and he moved to allow her to step forward. But he still seemed ready to jump back in front of her if necessary.

"He's not going to do anything," Ryssa said coolly. "And neither are you, Blaze."

"You don't have any control over your magic." Blaze looked back at his teammates with confidence. "I don't care how much—"

"But maybe others do," a voice came from Ryssa's left.

"Get lost, Waverider," Blaze sneered. "This isn't any of your business."

"Really?" The Waverider boy looked at his teammate standing next to him. "Bart—didn't you just say that maybe we—Nope, I guess it was me who said that." He shrugged. "I believe I said that maybe we care—which makes it our business."

Ryssa watched the two boys gratefully. They both had almost the same colored sea-green eyes and waves of white hair curled around their upper bodies like sea foam. Bart was a touch shorter and stockier than his tall, slender counterpart. Ryssa saw impish amusement dancing in their eyes—they were protecting her!

"Back off, Waverider." Blaze made a move to grab his wand.

Before Ryssa could call out a warning that would have probably been unnecessary, the Slaugh had Blaze's wrist in his crushing fingers and was bringing the boy to his knees. Its other hand reached out and plucked the wand away, handing it to the boy's teammates who fearfully grabbed it while trying not to touch the Slaugh. The Slaugh opened its set of sharp teeth near Blaze's face and growled before releasing him to scramble back into his teammates.

"This isn't over," Blaze tried to sneer again, but it failed to achieve the effect he was obviously looking for. "We'll see you out of the competition when this is through, Starborn."

Ryssa blinked in surprise. Why were they singling her out?

"You and your whole creepy lot of losers," Blaze spat.

The Slaugh growled again, and the crew of Team Dragon beat a hasty retreat back around the corner.

The taller Waverider boy stepped up to Ryssa with a look of concern. "You all right?"

She nodded slowly, noting the dazzling smile that lit up his face.

"Good deal. I'm Taz—this is my brother, Bart."

"Ryssa—Ryssa Starborn."

"Yup. We know." Taz glanced around the street where people had stopped to watch the exchange. "I'm pretty sure _everyone_ knows."

" _Great_ ," Ryssa rolled her eyes. She glanced at Meek with concern. He nodded to let her know he was okay. She caught sight of her Slaugh guard, and her look turned to gratitude. She took a step toward it. "Hey," she stopped, frowning with the realization that she didn't even know its name—and wasn't even sure it had one, "I just want to th—"

Ryssa found her mouth suddenly covered by hands from both of the Waverider boys, while Meek's expression turned to horror. Annoyed, she bit into the hand placed over her mouth. Bart Waverider yanked it back with a yelp.

"What did you do that for?" Ryssa angrily stepped away from them.

"Whoa, star-girl." Taz held up his hands to placate her. "No one thanks the _Slaugh_ —they collect in ways you don't even _want_ to imagine."

"Oh." She had almost forgotten _that_ whole thing about Faery. "Okay, then."

"Where are you headed?" Bart asked.

"This—" Ryssa frowned, turning her eyes to the little guard who leered at her. "The Slaugh was taking me to my brother."

"Hey," Taz smiled. "That's where we were headed, too. Heard from Loo that he's got some kind of foot game thingy going on with a weird ball."

"Football?"

"Yeah, that's it. We wanted to check it out. It kind of sounded like fun. Mind if we tag along—seeing as how we're going in the same direction anyway?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "But are you sure you want to?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

Ryssa pointedly stared at the cluster of people shuffling away, most sending sidelong glances her direction.

Taz laughed. "No worries, star-girl. We don't care. By the way— _wicked_ piece of magic on the lake the other day."

Ryssa smiled.

It didn't take long to reach the field where Reggie was entertaining not only the members of Team Phoenix, but also a few others, who, like Taz and Bart, had decided to try their hand at a good old fashioned game of foot—

_Wait—were they wearing wings?_ Ryssa's mouth gaped open.

Reggie took off running across the field, the ball tucked under his arm. A mound of dirt erupted beneath his feet, but he didn't stop, he just launched himself into the air—and straight into one of the Slaugh who swooped in from out of nowhere to drive him into the ground.

Ryssa covered her mouth with her hands, until her twin rolled over with a groan and started to pick himself up. He climbed to his feet and shook his head, sending grass flying around him. He looked up to see Ryssa and gave her a big smile. Calling for a time out, Reggie tossed the ball to a girl dressed in a Team Firefly uniform and headed across the field to meet her.

"Ryss!" He threw his arms around her and wrapped her in a heartfelt hug. "I was so worried about you."

"Yeah." She hugged back with affection. "I can see that."

"Hey—a watched pot never boils." He pulled back to check her out. Searching her face, his tone turned serious. "You okay?"

"A little headache, but it's starting to go away. I'll be all right."

The rest of Team Phoenix gathered around, expressing delight at her recovery. The members from other Teams stood off on the sidelines, watching and waiting. Ryssa noted the wing straps attached to those who'd been playing.

"Bat wings?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Reggie laughed. "We've sort of tweaked the rules a bit to accommodate natural Fey tendencies." He looked over his shoulder at the Slaugh who had made the aerial tackle. "A couple of _them_ wanted to play, too, but we couldn't get them to understand that they're supposed to keep their feet on the ground." He added in a side whisper, "Actually, they kept trying to cheat, so we adjusted the rules to even it up."

"But _bat_ wings?"

"They hold up better under a full tackle," Reggie grimaced. "Aurelius was pretty sore when we damaged half a dozen of the training sets."

Ryssa laughed.

"You want to play?"

"No, I don't think I'm up to it—but I brought a couple more players."

"Cool."

" _:Are you sure you're okay, Ryss? You still look a little pale. Want to talk about it?:"_

" _:Not yet.:"_ Ryssa shook her head. _":I'm sure—later.:"_

Out loud she said, "I'll just be a sideline spectator for now."

"I'm glad you're up."

"Me, too," Ryssa admitted, but Reggie was already heading over to help Loo fit wings to Taz and Bart.

Ryssa sat down at the edge of the field and watched. Moira waved to her, and she waved back.

"Don't even think about it." From out of the corner of her eye, Ryssa saw Meek edging away. She turned her head to look directly at him. "Sit."

He scowled with a rebellious challenge in his eyes, and she softened her tone.

"Look—just a couple of yes or no questions, okay? I think I deserve that much, don't you?"

Meek looked resentful, but he nodded.

She glanced around to make sure everyone was out of hearing range. "The Green Knight—is that you?"

Meek screwed up his face as though he wanted to say yes, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Okay then—is it some kind of projection of your essence?"

Meek nodded.

"But you have about as little control over it as I do my magic."

Meek nodded with an expression that said _that's-pretty-much-the-size-of-it_.

"So the Black Knight, then—that's some kind of essence projection from your dead twin?"

His face scrunched up again, but he nodded and shrugged at the same time.

"You think so—but don't know for sure?"

Meek nodded, more fully this time.

"All right."

Meek seemed to be waiting for her to ask more, but she didn't. She wasn't sure what else to ask, or what else he could answer. She wasn't even sure what to do with the information she already had. Eventually, she'd sort through it. For now, she settled in with distracted thoughts to watch the others play the New Faery version of football.

## Chapter 23: For the Birds

[back to top]

Reggie was up bright and early the first morning of the competition. He couldn't help it. He had become used to early mornings with the extra magic training he'd been doing with Ryssa. Now that he had the opportunity to sleep in, it just wasn't happening. He dressed quietly, but even so, the other boys were beginning to show signs of waking.

It was a big day for everyone. Anticipation had the entire Team on edge. The competition was scheduled to last three days: the first was for demonstrating proficiency in animal magic, the second for healing magic, and the third for elemental magic. The fourth day was reserved for a trip back to the Lia Fial.

Team Phoenix had more than a fighting chance as far as Reggie was concerned. He and the rest of the Team had been relieved to discover it wasn't going to be like the Zombie Zone Olympics, where judges rated them on performance. There were far too many biases against certain members of the Team, and that didn't equate in his mind to fair and impartial judging and scoring. The Lia Fial had its own criteria—but no one could explain exactly what that was, if they even knew.

Reggie headed into the common room, grabbed a cinnamon roll from the buffet and plopped down on the couch.

An idle thought regarding the prophecy came to mind. He'd have to ask his aunt for access to it some day. If anyone seriously considered him and Ryssa to be the twins of darkness and light, and were concerned about Ryssa's control—well, did the prophecy mention anything about the twins of darkness and light winning the competition, or becoming leaders in Faery?

_It couldn't, right?_ He took an absent-minded bite from the pastry. It sat like sawdust in his mouth. Not because it wasn't good, but more because he wasn't up to eating and the motion was more mechanical than anything else.

He had attempted to speak with Aurelius about the prophecy and the Hall of Futures.

"There is no real comparison," his uncle had insisted. Even though Reggie knew he wasn't true blood-related, he couldn't stop thinking of him as his uncle.

"Don't they both tell, or show, the future?"

"Yes and no. The Hall of Futures shows things that _could_ come to pass. It is a record, more or less, of all the ways to arrive at any number of futures. But that's just it—it shows all of the _possible_ paths and all of the _possible_ futures. With prophecy, the future is a static entity. It's a future that is _already_ written and _will_ come to pass. In the case of a prophecy, all paths chosen lead to a single, pre-determined future."

Reggie had not been happy with the answer—he still wasn't. If the future was already written, and there was no getting around it, then what was the point? Where was the possibility of a happy ending? Weren't all fairy tales supposed to have happy endings?

_Not if you read the_ Brothers Grimm, he realized. _Great. Of all the fairy tales I get thrown into, it has to be the Nightmare on Faery Street. With the Black Knight playing the starring role of the Nightmare King. Doesn't that just figure?_

Jet plopped down on the couch next to him. "So what's got you so twisted up?"

"Prophecies, Faery—" Reggie ticked off his mental checklist. "—the competition, reality versus non-reality, forced future versus free will—want me to continue?"

"Naw. That list holds enough depression to last the whole week." The Phooka twin looked across the room to Moira and Ryssa, who were sitting on the smaller couch, staring at their breakfasts. "How's Ryssa holding up?"

Reggie glanced at his twin, noting the dark smudges under her eyes that hadn't gone away since her time with the storm elders, the lack of enthusiasm she had for anything anymore, and the smiles that never seemed to reach her eyes—

"I'm worried about her, Jet." He rubbed his eyes to take the image away. "She's not herself. Faery has taken so much out of her that I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be better if we lost the first round of the competition. She doesn't do well under pressure—even in school. She can get all 'A' grades on her homework and fail every test she takes. I just want my sister back."

"I know. I've watched her—we all have. If it were Moira, I'd be feeling pretty much the same right now."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid, like sabotaging our chances or anything—" _Although I've thought about it_ , he admitted to himself.

"I know. It's cool." After a moment, Jet turned to Reggie with a grin. "Personally, I don't care one way or another. Making the rules in Faery would be cool, and I'd like to give it a shot. But breaking the rules—that's where the _real_ fun's at."

"How Unseelie of you." Reggie tried to keep a straight face, but failed when Jet waggled his eyebrows at him. Both boys laughed, breaking the tension in the air.

"Jet," Reggie glanced around the common area at the members of Team Phoenix in various stages of waking, "why haven't I seen any kids in New Faery other than the teams? I mean, with a city this size in the Zombie Zone, there'd be at least a couple more around."

"You don't know?" Jet looked at him with surprise. "Wow. Yeah. I mean—we're it, Regg."

"What do you mean, ' _we're it_ '?"

"I mean—we're _it_ , brah. Well, not totally, but we might as well be."

"I don't—"

"Okay. How many kids younger than us have you seen here?"

Reggie thought about it. "None."

"And you won't, either," Jet sighed. "Here's the thing. Everyone talks about the breaking of the magic by Dana as though it were yesterday. They'll even say 'a couple hundred years', or something like that. In reality, it was over two thousand years ago."

"But Aurelius is human. And he was supposed to have been around back then—"

"Earth-link—Aurelius said it himself. The only difference between us and the Zombies in the Zone is the Earth-link. Once you get it, well, it's kind of like being an oak tree. You get your roots in the earth and the older you get, the deeper the roots go and the less likely you'll topple over. Everything else around you, those things with shallow roots, will die—animals, birds, people—but you go on through your link to the Earth."

Reggie had never really given much thought to what it meant to be Faery, much less to seemingly live forever. He was stunned. "But they _do_ die—my mother died, and my father—and so did Woody Landstrider."

"But not of natural causes."

"Yeah," Reggie was staggered. "Wow."

"After Dana gave herself over to the Earth, Faery was a big mess. A whole bunch of weird stuff started happening with the Courts and the magic. Then, just under five hundred years ago, the last kid was born to Faery."

"What about us? None of us are five hundred years old."

"We were born in _New_ Faery. When children stopped being born in Faery, there was a huge separation in the Courts. New Faery is the result of one group breaking away to do things differently. There were actually three groups. I think one is on an island somewhere off the west coast of Africa, and the third is down around Australia. I don't know for sure—there's little contact between us."

"The Fey hold grudges for that long?"

"You have no idea." Jet shook his head. "Anyway, it took the inhabitants of New Faery a couple of hundred years or so to cultivate the land and establish a true bond with it. Once they were able to sort through what needed to be done, and finally got everything _perfect_ as far as they were concerned, a new generation was born to the Sidhe—us. I think your mom had been Ard Ri for about a hundred years at that point. I hear she was real good."

"Uh, thanks." What else could he say? He'd never really known her. "But what about since then?"

"That's just it—there are only about a thousand Faery spread across the island. No more. Our total numbers over the entire world barely top five thousand. Not enough to even qualify as a city in the Zombie Zone. There was one sweep of children born here in New Faery over a ten-year period—and then nothing. Zip. Nada."

"And a bunch died in the fireball thing."

Jet nodded. "Over a hundred children and half again as many full-grown Sidhe. After that, there were only a couple of hundred of us left—"

"And whoever was behind it has been systematically destroying the rest—but why?"

"Don't know. No one does. But if they succeed, Faery will wither and die—there's no new blood, and they can't figure out why."

"And the Wilt isn't helping much either, is it? Sounds like Faery's doomed no matter how you look at it."

"They're putting a lot of hope on the outcome of the competitions."

"Why? How are any of us supposed to figure out what they haven't been able to puzzle through for hundreds of years? It sounds like a whole lot of work for the so-called _winners_ , with little chance for success and heaps of blame when they fail."

"Yeah. But think of it this way—if Faery is doomed, do you really want its last years to be spent with someone like Blaze and his buds in a position of authority?"

"No way." Reggie shook his head. "That's just scary."

"Yup," Jet said. "Which means it's up to us to do our best."

"Nothing like a little pressure."

"You said it."

"Okay, Team. It's time," Aurelius announced from across the room. "Pull yourself together and do what you need to do."

Jet looked at Reggie with a grin, nodding toward Aurelius. The Counselor stood with his hands clasped behind his back while the members of Team Phoenix prepared to leave.

"Rousing pep talk, eh?"

"Yeah," Reggie smiled.

* * *

Team Phoenix arrived at the field set aside for the first competition. It was pretty much the same as all of the other training fields—a wide-open, grassy area larger than most stadiums in the Zombie Zone. It was surrounded on three sides with bleachers and other seating. Reggie wondered whether the stands had always been there, or if the training field had just _rearranged_ itself for the competition—like the Sithin tended to do.

A break in the seating created a corridor for passage into the competition area. Specified seating was set aside for each of the Teams down in front. The fourth side of the field was lined with trees, and in the center of the field was a huge oak that reminded Reggie of the Sithin tree. But this tree was much smaller and had Wilt-covered leaves barely clinging to its twisted branches.

Jet had been right about the numbers of Faery. There appeared to be less than a thousand of them, mostly tall, slender, and ethereal-looking. Only a few strayed from the body type. The seating areas were separated by Houses, as they had been in the Sithin Arena Court. Jet _hadn't_ mentioned the extraordinary numbers of other Fey creatures that resided on the island. Most he recognized, but some were even more alien to him than the ones he had already seen walking the streets of the City.

Queen Medwyn sat opposite of the tree-lined edge of the competition field. Surrounding her were various nobles of both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, ones not necessarily identified by Houses, but rather by the positions they held in New Faery. Reggie saw the elders from the Hall of Futures, the storm elders, and others he couldn't identify.

He sighed. There was so much to learn about this world. He knew he'd get the chance if he wanted it. The question was—would he be learning it from the lower ranks of the Courts, or the upper ones?

The whole competition started with general announcements. Reggie marveled over the magical acoustics that carried the Unseelie Queen's words over the entire field without her having to raise her voice. She covered much of the same topics that she had at the time of the Team selection, minus the original threat.

Then it came down to what they had all been waiting for—what would be expected this day from each of the Teams. _That_ was what had Team Phoenix in a state of anxiety—although Reggie suspected the other Teams weren't feeling any better than they were about it.

Today's competition was to demonstrate each Team's ability to connect with the animals. Team Phoenix felt confident about their chances for success. They had watched Gervais and Glinda during their training—they were both highly skilled in that area. Then the criteria was spelled out. Each Team was to demonstrate their proficiency by calling to the field the creature that represented their Team.

" _No way_ ," Reggie was dismayed at the announcement. "How can we do that? There's no such thing—"

"Oh, there is," Glinda piped up, worriedly biting her lip. "But I've never seen one in New Faery—I think they're all on the motherland in Tir Nan Og."

"They're setting us up. They're _trying_ to make sure we're eliminated." Pyro, Jr. cast a sidelong glance at Reggie and Ryssa. "They want to make sure that we don't have any shot at winning—at all."

"Pyro's right," Jet growled. Reggie had never seen him so angry. "They _are_ setting us up."

"Well, at least Team Dragon won't be able to pull through on this one either," Reggie offered. "There aren't any dragons in New Faery, are there?"

"There is one—but she wouldn't come if the Ard Ri herself rose from the dead and called for her." Jet realized what he said and mumbled an apology. "Sorry—didn't mean anything by that."

Reggie just grunted.

"Well," Moira put in, "at least they'll get to show their failure before we do ours. We're last on the list for today."

"Hey," Jet smiled. "Maybe we can call in one of those annoying little sparrows and have Pyro set it on fire."

"That's not funny!" Glinda snapped.

"I was only kidding."

"Stop. It's just plain cruel."

Team Hedgehog was the first to take the field. They stood in a line, side by side, their wands held pointed toward the wooded area. Reggie watched them only briefly because he couldn't tell what they were doing. He hadn't lived for hundreds of years, so had a long way to go before learning the patience the elders displayed. He turned to his sister.

" _:Mind if I link in?:"_ he asked.

" _:Sure,:"_ Ryssa frowned in concentration _. ":Check it out, Regg. I never thought about doing it that way before.:"_

Now that he was linked to his twin, Reggie could see what Team Hedgehog was doing with their magic. It projected from their wands—the brownish-golden lines clear and crisp. They came together in a woven pattern that connected and then expanded outward like a net.

Jet stuck his head between the two of them. "What's going on? Care to share?"

Reggie explained to him and the rest of the Team, the images of magic he was able to see through Ryssa. As the vision changed, which wasn't often, he would give them an updated description. A short time later, something new happened, something they all could see. A small creature was shambling out of the woods, its eyes blinking from the glare of the light and the fear of the open space before it.

"They're nocturnal," Gervais explained. "And they're afraid of people. They're not indigenous to this side of the world, but some made the trip over— _hey_ —what just happened?"

The hedgehog jumped and then moved forward. It stopped and then jumped and moved forward again, as though it had no choice.

"It's the magic net." Ryssa watched closely. "Every time the poor thing stops, the net touches it from behind—like the shock of a cattle prod or something."

"That's not right," Gervais scowled. "They're not communing with the animal—they're forcing it. That borders on dark magic." He looked at Ryssa. "It's not, is it?"

"It's not what?"

"Dark magic." He frowned. "Look at Celeste—she's nearly in tears. She is definitely not happy about what they're doing."

"I don't know what dark magic necessarily looks like, but it must not be. All of the Faery Court is watching—some of them would be able to tell, and nobody's doing anything about it."

"I still don't think it's right." Gervais crossed his arms and glared at Team Hedgehog.

Team Firefly came next. The group stood in seemingly random points around the field, waving their wands in slow, circular arcs through the air.

"Hey," Pyro leaned forward toward Reggie, "they don't look like they're working as a Team—it's like they're each doing their own thing—are they?"

"Sort of," Reggie said. His sister was closely watching the lines of magic that emanated from their wands, so he, too, could see what the others could not. "But no—the magic is intersecting way above the ground, so I guess it counts. And look—here they come!"

Several hundred insects swarmed from out of the forest. They flew into the woven lines of magic and followed them around the field. Every once in a while, Reggie caught a glint of light coming from the insect path.

"Bet that would've looked really cool at night," Loo said, noting the lights. "They got gypped—it would've made a great light show."

Reggie had to agree.

Once Team Firefly had cleared the field, Team Lizard stepped into place. Their magic lines spread across the ground, and a carpet of golden brown weaves undulated into the forest. It wasn't long before the weaves returned, carrying little lizards that playfully hopped from one magic line to the next.

Team Serpent's approach was similar to that of Team Lizard, which made sense to Reggie since both creatures came from the reptile family. But the snakes that soon appeared from the forest weren't riding the lines like the lizards had. They were weaving in and out of them, following their winding curves to create little threads of color into the brown.

"Hey," Reggie frowned. "What's that kid doing?"

One of the boys from Team Serpent had stepped forward to let a snake climb up his hand and wind itself around his wrist.

"That's Zep," Loo said. "He's from the House of Seacalm. He's known to mess around with water snakes."

A rabbit chose that moment to dart onto the field of squirming snakes. It froze and gave a squeal of fear that disrupted the flows of magic. The snakes scattered. Zep jerked and flung the snake from his arm, grabbing his wrist with his other hand before he swayed and dropped to his knees.

"He's been bit!" Loo jumped up.

Reggie and Jet grabbed Loo to restrain him from running onto the field. Snakes slithered in every direction. Several members from the Beastmaster House hustled onto the field, using their magic to guide the serpents back into the forest.

Luza ran across the open area to Zep, along with several others from both sides of the healing houses. After a few moments, the boy was placed on a stretcher and taken from the field.

"He'll be okay, Loo." Jet patted the shoulder of the worried boy. "Luza's on it—she won't let anything happen to him."

Loo stared at the retreating backs of the healers, biting his lip. He nodded, and Reggie and Jet let go their hold.

"Hey," Reggie said, an idea formulating in his head. "I think I know how we can pull this off—maybe not in the way they expect—but at least in the spirit of it."

Team Phoenix listened to his explanation, each adding input.

"It just might work." Jet nodded thoughtfully. "It's better than giving up."

"Do you think we can do it, Ryss?"

She considered it for a moment. "We've practiced all the steps in various pieces before. We can give it a shot, that is, if no one's afraid of what might happen." She looked at Glinda. "Think you can deal with it?"

"I'll try," Glinda replied, but her eyes held a trace of nervousness.

"Shh," Hammie whispered. "Something's going on."

Team Dragon moved to take the field. Pyro, Sr. and Blaze argued a few steps away from the Team Dragon seating area. After a moment, Blaze and the rest of his Team stomped off to sulk on the sidelines. Pyro, Sr. moved to stand below Queen Medwyn. Again Reggie was impressed by the magical acoustics of the field as Pyro, Sr.'s voice reached everyone's ears.

"Team Dragon respectfully declines testing in this category," he said in a voice tight with anger. "The potential danger that could result from a success in this endeavor is far too great to risk the lives of the Fey present."

"Oh, he's good," Jet said.

"My father, the diplomat." Pyro, Jr. shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Reggie asked.

"There's no real chance Team Dragon could have called the dragon." Jet shrugged. "Although, I'll bet Blaze is angry he won't get a go at it. Pyro, Sr. is just using the danger as an excuse to bow out. By acting like he's oh- _so_ concerned about the risk to everyone, he doesn't lose face."

"Wow." Reggie was disgusted, but couldn't help but be impressed by the maneuver. "I wonder if he thought about that before, or if he only got the idea when the snake bit Zep?"

"Huh. Hadn't thought about that," Jet mused. "My bet would be on after Zep got bit. Blaze looked like he thought he was going to get a shot at it. Pyro really thinks on his feet, doesn't he?"

"That's why he's as high up in the Courts as he is," Pyro, Jr. said. "He does that kind of stuff all the time."

Aurelius came to stand by them. His face held a sad, tired look. "Children, I fear we must also decline. There is not a single phoenix in New Faery. You have no chance to succeed."

"We know, Uncle." Reggie nodded. "And we get what's what. We have a plan, though, if you'll let us give it a try."

Aurelius opened his mouth to speak, but Reggie could see that he didn't want to deny the hope the Team had in their eyes. He gave a nod of reluctant approval.

"We appreciate your trust in us, Uncle," Ryssa said.

"Good luck to you." Aurelius smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Team Phoenix took their places on the field to the low murmurs of those watching. There was no chance the Team could call forward a phoenix. Confusion led to speculation.

Glinda nervously faced the forest, with Moira and Jet on either side. Ryssa stepped into place a few feet behind her, just far enough back that she couldn't physically touch Glinda if her own arms were extended in front of her. She swung her arms a couple of times to check the distance.

The rest of the Team formed a semi-circle behind Ryssa, each making sure there was ample space between them.

Reggie stepped into the twin-bond. _":Ready, Ryss?:"_ Ryssa paused, but nodded, steeling herself. _":Okay then, here goes.:"_

"Get ready," Ryssa called softly to those in front of her. They nodded, signaling the go-ahead.

Behind Ryssa, the others brought out their wands and touched the crystals together as they pointed them at her back.

"All for one," Reggie muttered. He smiled grimly at the swords set into relief on his wand. "And one for all."

The Team called to the power in their wands and let the magic pour into Ryssa. She stiffened with the impact and Reggie worked with her through the bond to bring it to a rhythmic flow.

" _:Okay, Ryss, give it to Glinda.:"_

Ryssa followed his directions and brought her hands up to concentrate the magic toward the Feathernest girl.

" _:Wow, that's really cool.:"_ Loo's voice came unexpectedly through the link, startling the rest of the members of the Team.

Glinda raised her hands and called out with the magic, letting it flow from her hands. It didn't take long before the whisper of wings in the air could be heard.

" _:Split it off, Ryss. Give some to Moira and Jet.:"_ Reggie watched her divide the flows, then helped her guide them toward the Phooka twins.

The sound of wings grew louder. Over the tops of the trees, the first of the birds came, the sparrows that had been so manifest around New Faery. The rest of the swarming flock was behind the lead birds, all making their way across the field.

" _:Show 'em your stuff, Glinda.:"_ Reggie smiled as he sent the message through the link. So far, his plan was working.

Glinda showed them her stuff all right—and with Moira and Jet's help, what stuff it was! The birds responded to the magic of Team Phoenix, directed through the Feathernest girl. In an amazing display of aerobatics, the birds came together in perfect, flowing form, creating a single image as they soared together across the sky—the image of a Phoenix. One side was a bit skewed, but when they saw that the birds would hold the form, Moira and Jet added the finishing touch. A shifting field of flame-colored light sparkled in waves across the birds, following a perfect, synchronistic pattern.

Reggie thought his heart would burst with pride. The gasps of amazement from the stands bolstered the confidence of the Team. The light flared outward from the false phoenix, tinting the sky in flaming colors.

Then the mood of the crowd shifted. He could feel it, and knew the rest of the Team could, too. Cries of dismay came from the edges of the field where the rest of Faery sat. Fear wound its way through the air. Reggie yanked his focus from the link and looked around. Then he saw it. Standing at the edge of the forest was the Black Knight.

The Black Knight started across the field, heading directly toward them. The sparrows reacted before any of the Team could. They circled and then descended—dive-bombing the Team like feathered kamikaze pilots.

" _:Break!:"_ Reggie yelled into the link, and the magic lines recoiled with a snap. The members of Team Phoenix were knocked off their feet, the magic causing a painful backlash as it made contact.

The birds, now free from the control of Team Phoenix, turned as one and flew at the Black Knight. At the last possible instant, the Knight wheeled his horse around and galloped back into the woods, the screeching birds on his tail.

Team Phoenix breathed a collective sigh of relief, even though the magical backlash still ached within their bones. They struggled to their feet, helping each other as they stumbled off the field, numb to the accusatory whispers of the Faery around them.

## Chapter 24: Wilted Future

[back to top]

When they returned to the common area, Team Phoenix scattered, lost in individual states of distress. This was the second time Ryssa had experienced magical repercussions, and she wasn't happy about it. At least this time she had maintained consciousness. That had to count for something. She winced as she shifted her body on the couch. Maybe a day of unconscious reprieve from the pain wouldn't have been so bad. It was obvious that magical overload resulted in longer-lasting damage, while magical backlash, though hopefully temporary, was the more painful of the two—at least in her limited experience.

"Children." The Team turned to their Counselor, waiting dejectedly for his words of criticism.

"That was an incredible display of ingenuity and control. I am proud of you," Aurelius said before disappearing into his quarters.

The children looked at each other in surprise, trying to smile, but found it hurt too much.

Ryssa raised her arms to stretch out the soreness. "I'm going to bed."

"But it's only mid-afternoon," Jet pointed out.

"You guys do what you want." Ryssa eased to her feet. "But we have to do this again tomorrow and the next day. I'm thinking that eating, sleeping, and superior magical performance is the only way we're going to get through this, at least for me."

"It _was_ superior magic." Pyro had a ghost of a smile.

"And wicked cool," Loo added.

"But the phoenix was lopsided." Glinda bit her lip, obviously disappointed.

"It was beautiful." Whisper shook her head in disagreement. "We showed them we're not going to lie down and take it—we're going to give it our best, no matter _what_ they throw at us."

Ryssa smiled. No one talked about the Black Knight. They were too focused on what they had accomplished. She glanced at Meek. He was slipping into the boys' room with a miserable expression on his face. She'd deal with him later. He had to understand that it wasn't his fault. The healing round was tomorrow, and Meek would have to take the lead. He was the only one on the Team with the skill to grasp the complicated Healing magic. For now, Ryssa just wanted to rest—tomorrow would come soon enough.

* * *

The next day's competition didn't beat Team Phoenix up physically, but it did batter them on other levels. There were, however, two redeeming features. One, the Black Knight never made an appearance, and two, the other Teams failed in their performances as miserably as they had.

The reason for the Wilt-covered tree in the competition field had soon become clear. It was the Healing test.

"How could they expect us to heal something they haven't found a cure for in over two thousand years?" Moira was upset.

They had drawn lots for the third slot. But first, third or last, not one of the Teams had had any success.

"Team Lizard at least got the leaves to perk up." Storm gave a grudging grunt of admiration.

"No, they didn't." Jade rolled her eyes. "That was just an old Earth magic trick. Get the leaves to turn over so the veins are exposed and they can easily soak up the rain for nourishment. But there was no rain—so exposing the veins was actually detrimental because of the direct sunlight. Daisy Landstrider knew that. As if the elders couldn't tell the Team was just being desperate."

"The elders aren't judging us." Ryssa frowned. "The Lia Fial is."

"Make no mistake." Pyro slumped sullenly. "The Lia Fial may make the final decision on which Team is eliminated from the competition this year, but _everyone_ in Faery is judging us. It's the nature of the Fey."

"That's not fair."

"No," Jet said. "It's Fair-ree."

"That's Fay-ree, dolt." Moira punched her brother in the arm.

"It sounded better my way." Jet waggled his eyebrows. "You were supposed to laugh."

But no one was laughing. Their thoughts had all turned to one thing—tomorrow's competition and what it might hold.

"So what do you think they'll throw at us this time?" Reggie glanced at the tree in the center of the common area.

Gervais blew out a long breath. "Everything."

"Yes, everything," Pyro confirmed. "They're going to put us through the paces on elemental magic."

"Why aren't they going to test us on any of the Celestial magic?" Ryssa asked. "It's the only one that hasn't been mentioned—and we haven't really done much with it in training either."

"Celestial magic isn't really specific," Moira said. "The Earth-link, that's Celestial magic—and the weaving of the magical energies. Celestial magic is more of a foundation for all of the other magics."

"Oh. I hadn't gotten that."

"Some things with Celestial magic are more specific than others," Jet added. "Like the color transmutation Moira and I did with the phoenix trick. And shapeshifting. But most Celestial magic is either the basic stuff you have to do to perform the other magics—which is demonstrated every time you work with magic at all—or else it's so high level there's no way they could test us on it and expect any results."

"You mean like the Healing the Wilt test?" Reggie raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Yeah," Jet grunted. "So how do we do this tomorrow?"

"I vote we make Ryssa the lookout." Whisper raised a hand. "She'll see what's coming way before the rest of us have a clue."

"That's a given." Jet nodded thoughtfully. "So, what—make her Team Captain and let her call the shots?"

"No way." Ryssa made a face. "You're not putting _me_ in the hot seat."

"You _have_ to be in the hot seat, Ryss," Reggie said. "Literally. You're the best channel we have for pulling all the magic together."

"But you know how to use it better than I do. I'll just mess it up."

"Okay." Jet shrugged. "Co-captains—any problems with that?"

Most of the Team agreed with the idea, but with reservations.

"What if she makes the Black Knight come again?" Gervais said the one thing no one else would, but what everyone was clearly thinking.

"I'm not the—" Ryssa snapped her mouth shut, glaring at Gervais. "I don't call him, he just comes."

Jet held up a hand to stop any further argument. "It's not like he _always_ shows up. After all this is over, we'll try to figure him out. Until then, we'll deal. We've gotten through it every other time—don't get spooked now."

"When this is all over, Reggie and I will be going back home."

"What?" Pyro looked shocked. "I thought—"

"Nope, 'mate," Jet nodded. "She's right. Moira and I—and Hammie, too—will be heading back to the Zombie Zone until next summer."

"Oh, right. I forgot," Pyro said. "I _guess_ I understand with Reggie, Ryssa, and Hammie—their parents are dead. But I figured Reggie and Ryssa would at least be staying with Aurelius now. I never understood it with you and Moira, though. Your mother and father are both alive, even if they don't come to Court."

"Our mother disowned us." Jet's face darkened. "You, of all people, should understand the prejudices of the _perfect_ Seelie Court."

"Yeah," Pyro blushed. "I'm sorry, Jet. I didn't think."

"No sweat."

"Reggie and I actually do have a family to get back to," Ryssa said. The sudden memory of Debra and Terry brought an ache to her heart. She felt guilty that she hadn't thought of them since the storm.

"Yeah." Reggie's voice was thick with emotion and Ryssa could tell the same thing had crossed his mind.

The common area was quiet while the minds of Team Phoenix wandered.

"Hey," Reggie broke the silence. He looked around the room. "Anybody up for some Faery football?"

* * *

Ryssa sat up in a panic. She grabbed at the arms that held her and ripped them away, her chest heaving from the effort. She scrambled back until she could go no further, curling into a ball for protection. How long she stayed that way, she didn't know. No one came to reclaim her.

It took some time for the realization to sink in that the arms had been blankets wound around her body as she thrashed in the throes of a horrific nightmare. Comprehension soon followed. _It had only been a dream._ The thought helped her racing heart slow to a more normal pace. A shudder wracked her body as the final release of tension came. Dream or not, it had been _so_ real and _so_ vivid that her hands still trembled as they let loose of her legs so she could unfold them and sit up.

Ryssa stared around the dark room. At least her traumatic awakening hadn't roused the other girls. She sat quietly for a while, trying to clear her mind so she could go back to sleep. It didn't work. The darkness was stifling, and suddenly the room was too small. She had to get out.

She rose, so rattled that for the first time she didn't marvel at having laid her clothes out by the Brownies. She threw them on. Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed Darkwind and headed for the door. The common area was as still as the girls' bedroom. The Brownie wasn't even there. It made Ryssa wonder what time it was, but only for the brief moment it took for her to cross the room and head up the ramp out of the Sithin.

The open sky made her feel better, but not much. The air was fresh and clean, and Ryssa thought she detected the sweet scent of night-blooming jasmine in the breeze that rustled the leaves overhead. It was one of Debra's favorites, and she realized how much she missed her foster mother. Ryssa's thoughts were as dark and meandering as the streets she walked. She allowed her feet to take the lead, moving her wherever they chose to go. She wasn't in the mood to think about destinations.

Images of the nightmare kept pushing their way to the forefront of her thoughts—images of fire, death, and pain. Her own death, her teammates' deaths, the deaths of all of New Faery—all vied for her attention, but she pushed them back, not wanting to give them form again. She glanced around, suddenly realizing her traitorous feet had to take her to the one place she didn't want to go—the scene of her nightmare.

The competition field was covered in darkness, adding to its sinister element as the stage for her nightmare. A soft glow came from the ground at the base of the tree in the center of the field, a magic glow that added shadowy dimensions to the scene. It cut the darkness of the area, but also highlighted the tree. It was the centerpiece of the fantasy Ryssa was all too afraid would become reality.

She stepped onto the field and walked the edges that took her to the seats where Team Phoenix had been sitting the past two days of the competition. It was where they would be sitting tomorrow. It was where she sat now, staring at the tree, willing it to give her the answers she was trying to find. She didn't want to die tomorrow, but the hopelessness of escaping that future possibility settled over her like a shroud.

_Maybe it would be better_ —she wouldn't have to deal with screwing things up anymore. No one would miss her anyway. But she knew the instant the thought crossed her mind that it was wrong. Reggie would miss her—and most certainly Debra and Terry. Ryssa almost cried at the thought of her foster mother. She couldn't imagine how badly Debra would deteriorate if Ryssa never returned from this so-called summer camp. No, she would never recover. And Reggie—she remembered Knot mourning over the body of his bonded twin. He hadn't been with Team Hedgehog for the competition. There had been rumors—

Ryssa shook her head. How was she going to get through this?

"A dark place for such dark thoughts."

She looked up to see Kyellin Nightfall standing a few feet away. She had been so lost in her worries that she hadn't noticed his arrival.

"Mind if I join you?" Kyellin asked politely, but he didn't step closer.

Ryssa shrugged, watching him warily. His hair was as black as her aunt's, but a brown-black, without the sparkling silver highlights. His eyes were a dark and fathomless brown, and caught the reflection of the full moon above. She hadn't noticed before, but his face had an ethereal quality to it that said _not-quite-human_. But unlike most Faery, his face showed small lines of weariness.

"I didn't think the Faery got wrinkles." She remarked on the telltale signs of wear.

Kyellin sat next to her, accepting her comment as an invitation. His eyes lit with speculative amusement. "Now, I'm fairly certain that _that_ remark was rude, even among mortals."

Ryssa felt her face go hot. "You're right. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"No, I suspect the true problem lies in the fact that you are thinking too much."

Ryssa nodded glumly.

"You are, however, correct." Kyellin sighed. "The people of Faery do not usually get wrinkles. There is an appearance of agelessness amongst the Fey—the Sidhe especially. These will fade in a day or two. I have been working with the storm elders to turn the latest attack that is coming our way. This hurricane is the strongest we've ever seen. We've barely been able to reduce it—and it's headed directly for us."

Ryssa's eyes widened with a trace of panic. Kyellin chuckled.

"No, child. I'm not here to drag you to that lot. They're against the idea as much as you are, I suspect." He politely ignored her shivers. "I thought you'd be interested to know that they now take serious consideration of how their actions affect the mainland. Although that's getting to be a moot point, since they aren't having any luck turning the storm from its path."

"I never thanked you for getting me out of there that day."

"Don't—"

"I won't." Ryssa shook her head. "I don't trust you enough. But I sort of wanted to acknowledge what you did."

Kyellin laughed again. "It's refreshing to find one who is not only honest—because _honesty_ abounds in Faery—but someone who is honest _and_ direct. You're right. You shouldn't trust me. And your _acknowledgement_ was handled superbly."

"So who's doing it, Kyellin?" Ryssa looked at him point blank. "Who is sending the storms to attack Faery?"

He was silent for a long moment. "We have suspicions but no proof. Not that it would do us any good."

"So who do you suspect?"

"I can't answer that."

"Can't—or _won't_?"

"Can't—won't, take your pick."

"Why?" Ryssa locked gazes with him. Kyellin was the first to turn away.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" The annoyance was heavy in his voice. "Knowledge is power. That's true everywhere, but it is especially true in Faery.

"We live in a world that thrives on secrets, Ryssa. Knowledge is a tool here as much as magic is. When you hold it, you can get others to do things they otherwise wouldn't, in the hopes you will share it—or keep it from others."

"They have a name for that where I grew up." Ryssa made a disgusted face. "It's called blackmail."

"Here, too. Nevertheless, it is still power."

"Darkwind once told me that magic isn't dark or light, but how it's used is what makes it dark or light."

Kyellin nodded. "I agree with that, to a point."

"Well, then, if knowledge is power, like magic is, and you use it to force someone to do something, isn't that as bad as using dark magic against them?"

"I suppose you could look at it that way."

"What other way is there to look at it?" She took her gaze away him and focused on the tree in the center of the field.

"Knowledge can be withheld from a person," Kyellin said. "Or fed to them in pieces, if the holder of it feels a person might not be ready to properly understand or assimilate it."

"But what gives them the right to decide whether the person is ready or not? Or is that really just another way of leading someone in a direction you want them to go?"

"Wisdom and experience, for starters, are just two of the things that can be used to decide whether or not the person is ready." Kyellin's face held a trace of arrogance.

"Yeah," Ryssa kicked moodily at the dirt with her toe, "you guys have done a bang-up job with all that wisdom and experience."

"Now you're just being impertinent."

"I didn't ask to be here. Neither did Reggie. But we're here in Faery with the secrets and deaths and whatever else is going on. Everyone wants to put the potentials through their paces, expects them to do the job, and oh yeah— _don't screw this up!_ And, by the way, it's all up to you—no pressure. Well, it's not. It's not up to me or Reggie, or any of the other potentials, because the elders have decided to give us all the angst but none of the information that could clue us in on what we're supposed to do. All because _they've_ decided we're not ready.

"When _will_ we be ready enough, Kyellin? Before or after Faery gives in to the Wilt and the mortals discover you're here? After the attacks on New Faery succeed and the island is destroyed? Or will it be after the potentials are all dead and gone? Who will you all lay the blame on for the destruction of Faery then?"

Kyellin frowned. "I wonder at the wisdom Lord Aurelius was showing when he sent you and your brother into the mortal world."

"It was probably the best thing he could've done. Jet said it was because he wanted us to come back to Faery with a different perspective than we would've had if we'd been raised here."

"A different perspective is one thing." Kyellin shook his head. "But to leave children with so much talent clueless as to what they're getting into—"

"You're doing the same thing."

"So I am," Kyellin replied quietly.

He sounded so unhappy that for a moment Ryssa almost felt sorry for him—but not sorry enough.

"Okay. So you can't tell me about the storms, and you don't know what's happening with the potentials. What _can_ you tell me? How about what you felt Dahlia's story would mean to me if I asked around? A whole bunch of nothing—that's what it means to me. Maybe it gives me a clue about the whole emotional thing. Other than that, it's just an added fear to my growing list of phobias—like maybe I'll go crazy and snap in the middle of the competition and end up killing me and all my teammates."

"What do you mean?"

Ryssa told him about the crystal vision in the Hall of Futures.

"And then there was this nightmare that woke me up. It started in a huge room with a bunch of people I've never seen before. I didn't understand what was going on, but there was a bunch of yelling and _that_ tree." She pointed at the one in the field. Her voice began to rise with a hint of hysteria as the words came faster. "It grew up out of the floor and suddenly everybody was wearing Team Phoenix uniforms—and then the whole thing exploded in fire and everyone died."

She realized she grasped the bench tightly. Kyellin place a steadying hand on her shoulder, and she felt warmth spread through her body. Looking down, she saw the warmth, a magical pattern of silver lines. She watched the pattern fade, not away, but into her body. She looked at Kyellin with wonder.

"What did you just do?"

"I just gave you something to hold over my head." Kyellin took his hand from Ryssa's shoulder and ran it through his hair.

"I don't understand."

"No, you don't," Kyellin sighed. "And that is both your greatest asset and your greatest liability. That was a part of what they call _dark_ magic."

She could tell he expected her to be alarmed. Maybe she should be, but she wasn't. It didn't feel like bad magic—or at the very least, it didn't feel bad.

"It seems to me that there's a lot of difference between what you just did to me and what was done to Woody Landstrider."

"And that's the distinction." Kyellin scowled. "Or at least the one I've been trying to get others to see all these years. The type of magic I just used with you, Ryssa, is what they consider to be the dark side of Celestial magic. What was done to Woody Landstrider was a warped combination of the blackest magics that Faery has to offer."

"Okay. What is the difference between light and dark Celestial magic?"

"Celestial magic is the branch of magic that connects all things together. Almost everyone who works with the Earth-link in Faery works with it to some degree. The Earth-link _is_ Celestial magic."

"I get that." Ryssa nodded. "But how is it separated into light and dark magic?"

"The next step, as you should have found by now, is that once you connect, you have to have control."

"Yeah. That's where I fall apart. I can't control the magic."

"I disagree. You can't control it within the unemotional _Seelie_ constraints. But if you were to use the more emotional, Unseelie parameters, I think you would find a great deal more success."

"But since the Unseelie use of Celestial magic was banned," Ryssa frowned, "I'll never learn control. Is that what you're saying?"

"You're already using it."

"What do you mean?" Ryssa eyed him suspiciously. "I _can't_ be—it's not allowed."

"Haven't you wondered, Ryssa, why everyone fears you so much?"

"Because of the Black Knight," Ryssa said sullenly. "The whole prophecy thing. They think Reggie and I are the twins of darkness and light— _the doom of Faery_ —and that I'm the bad one."

"Not the _bad_ one, child, the _dark_ one. They are afraid of the Black Knight and what he represents—change. I don't know if you noticed this or not," he smiled wryly, "but we Faery aren't very big on change."

Ryssa was quiet, trying to absorb what Kyellin had told her.

"The light side of Celestial magic controls _things_ ," he continued. "It works with the inanimate forces—the elemental magics, connecting to the Earth, weather, gravity, and so on. The dark side of the magic can control the animate——creatures, plants—"

"And people," Ryssa said with unexpected insight.

"And people."

"But what you did—that didn't _feel_ wrong to me. It actually felt good, and it helped—a lot."

"If you hadn't wanted to calm down, and had fought against the magic, I would have stopped. Don't get me wrong—I could have kept going and forced you to calm down. But then I would've crossed the real line here, from dark magic into black magic."

"Oh," she was confused. "But doesn't that mean I crossed the line when I forced the storm elders to feel the emotions of those people on the mainland?"

"No." Kyellin chuckled, and then sobered. "But just barely. You never completed a weave, so they could have pulled out at any time. They wanted to understand what you were doing, so they would have a chance to fight off future attacks. You did something to them that deep inside every member of Faery longs for, but have become so jaded by the longevity of their lives that they have forgotten how to do."

"What's that?"

"You made them _feel_. And not just surface emotions guided by their sense of what they think is necessary. You made them feel at the true, deepest emotional level."

"Oh." Emotions were such a big part of who she was that she had never considered the concept _of not-feeling_.

"Kyellin, if I'm doing dark magic and it's banned, then why haven't they stopped me—like throwing me into Faery jail, or whatever it is they do to someone who breaks the rules here?"

"Because you haven't stepped over the line. Believe me, if you had, we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation right now. They'd have turned you over to the Slaugh."

He nodded to the entrance of the competition field where Ryssa's ever-present guard was standing. She hadn't even noticed he was there. A thought came to her, and she looked at Kyellin with concern.

"Are you supposed to be telling me these things? Aurelius was angry and came down on Queen Medwyn pretty hard, and she didn't even come close to saying this."

"Lord Aurelius isn't happy about it. But his concern, not only for you, but for all of Faery, overrides his Seelie sense of propriety. When Aurelius first came to live with the Sidhe, he was given to the Slaugh for a hundred years of 'reconditioning'. He doesn't want you to face that."

Ryssa shifted her eyes toward creature standing off to the side and shivered. She knew how its eyes could peer so deeply inside of a person. The thought of being at the mercy of the Slaugh for any amount of time—let alone a hundred years—she couldn't comprehend what that would do to anyone.

"You never answered my question," she said. "If I've been using dark Celestial magic, why haven't they stopped me?"

"Very perceptive." Kyellin smiled tightly. "But I'm not sure how to answer that without going beyond the limitations of what Queen Medwyn and Lord Aurelius agreed I could tell you." He thought about it for a moment. "Or, for that matter, what I could say that wouldn't take you in a different direction."

"Lord Kyellin," Ryssa tried the respectful approach, but he shook his head.

"I am a Lord no longer, child. Until the day comes that the House of Nightfall is reinstated, if ever, I will not hold that title. Others from the House of Nightfall have allowed themselves to be reorganized into different Houses, but I refuse."

"And that's what this is really about for you, isn't it? They haven't stopped me because black magic destroyed the balance of Faery, not dark magic. But for whatever reason, they lumped the dark Celestial magic in with the black magic, and they're afraid they may have screwed up."

She paused, considering the thoughts unraveling in her mind. "But why not the dark magics, or the Unseelie magics, of the other Houses? I don't—oh wait—the balance Aurelius talked about. There has to be some sort of balance in the way the magic is used. They're afraid of the dark side of the Celestial magic, because they fear its ability to control them."

Kyellin nodded without looking at her.

"So what's going on here is that I'm the true test of the difference between the dark and black magics, aren't I? If I use it and the Lia Fial eliminates Team Phoenix from the competition, it justifies the dark magic ban. But if the Lia Fial doesn't eliminate us—"

"Then they might have a clue as to where the real upset of the balance may have started," Kyellin finished softly. "And the House of Nightfall has a better chance of being reinstated."

"And if the ban is justified by the Lia Fial eliminating Team Phoenix from the competition?"

"Then they'll turn you over to the Slaugh and wash their hands of the whole thing." Kyellin wouldn't look at her. "Just as they would if you'd stepped over the line into black magic."

"Oh, _that's_ real fair. The rest of my life is in the balance and no one was going to tell me? They were just going to let me wander through this blindly? And what about Reggie? What happens to him?"

"Because the two of you are bonded, he'd experience much of what you would, affecting him deeply. We're not exactly sure how, though. It's never happened before. We didn't tell you because we didn't want it effect how you proceed."

"Of course it would have an effect!" Ryssa snapped, kicking at the ground harder. "The way you people think you can play with other peoples' lives amazes me."

"It's not just your life that's hanging in the balance here," Kyellin shot back. "This has the potential of destroying New Faery!"

"Yeah? Well, forgive me if I show them the same lack of consideration they're giving my twin and me right now. New Faery is already being destroyed. I don't appreciate being a trial drug, hoping it cures Faery so it can pass FDA standards."

"FDA?"

"Federal—Faery Dim-witted, um, Attitudes."

The two glared at each other, but it was Ryssa who looked away first this time. She got up from the bench.

"I'm going back to bed," she said. "I've got a big day tomorrow."

She started walking to the entrance of the field. Kyellin called out softly, the sorrow in his tone carrying to her, but she didn't stop.

"Good luck tomorrow, child."

"Yeah, sure."

As Ryssa walked through the streets of the City, a sudden thought struck her. She closed her eyes and said under her breath, "I wish all the members of Team Phoenix will come out of the competition alive tomorrow."

She opened her eyes and looked around expectantly, waiting for the heavy pressure that never came. Her mood spiraled back into depression. The wish hadn't been accepted. It sent her spiraling into a deep depression that left her awake and wondering what it meant long after she crawled back into her bed.

## Chapter 25: The Promise of Magic

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Team Phoenix walked the streets of New Faery City in silence, following the flow of people who all headed to a single destination—the competition field. The sky was gray and overcast, with clouds skimming along a cyclical path that left periodic gaps of blue. The brief patches of color were becoming fewer and farther between. Reggie knew what that meant—the outer bands of the hurricane were now reaching New Faery.

Others on the streets watched the bands as nervously as he did, although maybe not for all of the same reasons. He knew everyone was concerned about the potential danger to New Faery, and he was too. But he was also concerned that it would thrust his foster mother and brother into the path of the most damaging winds. He was certain that if the storm was as powerful as Ryssa said it was, the house they'd grown up in would not withstand the assault.

Reggie checked out his teammates. Heads hung and feet stumbled along, evidence that their confidence was as low as his was. They walked as though going to their execution. And maybe they were.

Just hours before, Ryssa had explained to them what he and she had seen in the Hall of Futures, and what she had been told by Kyellin. She had adopted a _no-more-secrets_ attitude. The Team had a right to know what they were up against, and maybe she was right, but he still could not shake the feeling that she was holding something back.

When he had suggested that maybe they bow out and just let the Lia Fial eliminate them, she had stopped cold and uttered flat out refusal. The rest of the Team couldn't sway her either. It wasn't an option in her mind, although she had been the first to bring it up in earlier conversations. Something had changed and his twin wasn't talking.

Reggie had exhausted every avenue he could think of to find some answers. He'd flipped through the book that Terry had given him and asked it questions. He'd tried talking to Starsong, Aurelius, and had even tried to get an audience with his aunt. She didn't have the time, and no one else had any answers. He hoped his twin knew what she was doing.

When the Teams of potentials were instructed to take their places around the field where their banners sat, Reggie stared blankly. How fair was that? The Team Phoenix banner was placed near the tree at the center of the field. All of the other Teams were scattered around them. Random choice— _yeah, right_. It was to be a free-for-all elemental magic duel between all of the Teams, and Team Phoenix got to be smack dab in the middle of it all.

The goal of the contest was simple—be the last Team standing. The competition would end when only one Team was still on their feet, or when the sun set, whichever came first. Elemental Healing magic elders from each House stood off to the side of each Team, sort of an _emergency-response-and-circuit-breake_ r unit for the protection of the children. If they had to step in and rescue a Team, then it was over for them.

Reggie maneuvered Team Phoenix to the side of the tree the furthest away from where Team Dragon was stationed on the field.

"They have the highest number of members from Fire Houses," he explained his simple logic. The Team agreed quickly and moved.

The team huddled together, each facing out, Ryssa in the center.

"What kind of shield should we use, Regg?" Jet asked over his shoulder.

"Water, I think. Best chance of us not bursting into flames."

"You're up, Loo," Jet said.

The boy moved into the center of the circle, back to back with Ryssa, waiting for whatever was to come.

They had practiced shield techniques in the past, but the concept of a magical duel was beyond them. It would consist of using more upper level elemental magic, and at best they would only be feeling their way through it. Aurelius had continually stressed their need to connect to the magic, and to each other, to learn how it all worked together. They hadn't used it a lot in the way they would today, so decided to give leads to whoever possessed the strengths they needed at the moment, with Reggie calling the shots.

When the signal was given to begin, it turned out that Team Dragon was the least of their worries. Before Team Phoenix could complete their link to raise a shield, Team Lizard and Team Serpent made their first attacks. It seemed none of the other Teams wanted to deal with the strength of the Fire magic from Team Dragon either.

The earth erupted under Team Dragon's feet and Reggie caught a glimpse of Blaze clinging to his other Teammates, trying to keep his balance. But Team Serpent didn't give them a chance. A wave of water flew from the combined power of their wands and rolled over Team Dragon, knocking them off their feet. The water mingled with the newly turned earth, to make the field a muddy, slippery mess. The elders watching over Team Dragon struggled to help them from the field.

Team Phoenix had not quite managed to seal the weave on their shield of water when a blast of air from Team Firefly shot through the fragmented opening at the top. The weave unraveled, dousing Reggie and his teammates with their own water.

"Wands away," Reggie ordered. Team Phoenix did as they were told. "Spread out and link together around the tree. Ryssa and I will take point."

The fear was evident in Ryssa's face, but she set her back against the tree, opposite of him. Team Phoenix circled them, facing outward from the tree and holding hands. They looked as frightened as Ryssa did. He had placed them right where they didn't want to be.

" _:Link us, Ryss.:"_ She didn't answer, but he could feel the pull when she connected to his essence. He watched her bring the others into the link, one by one. Reggie joined her actions, helping to secure each of the members into the link.

" _:Reggie—:"_ He heard her tentative voice just as he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Team Lizard was maneuvering to unsettle them the same way they had Team Dragon.

"Back up," Reggie called to his Team. They stepped in closer to the tree. "Hold tight."

The lines of magic flowing through the ground were almost upon them _. ":Can you shift those flows, Ryss?:"_

" _:To where?:"_

" _:Send them to Team Serpent.:"_

Ryssa swept the lines around the tree, sending them directly to Team Serpent, who was poised to perform the same double whammy on them that they had on Team Dragon. The wall of water was just forming from the tips of their wands when the earth erupted beneath their feet. Team Serpent lost control of the Water magic and it recoiled, knocking them off their feet to leave them in the same muddy state as Team Dragon.

A small whirlwind was almost on top of Team Phoenix before it occurred to Reggie to look away from their fallen opponents.

" _:Ryss, quick, give the lead to Storm and Whisper.:"_

Almost immediately two smaller whirlwinds sprang out to attack the one that was nearly on top of them. The funnels battled, shoving against each other for dominance, when the next attack came.

The tree in the middle of the field started whipping about, trying to smash its limbs against the children beneath. If Team Phoenix had been standing further from the trunk, it might have worked, but it was difficult for the thick lower branches to bend in order to reach them.

It was only distracting at first, but finally one of the branches managed to slice across Jet's arm. Reggie felt the searing pain through the link. He knew all of the Team could feel it, too.

" _:Don't break!:"_ He could tell that they were ready to. _":Ryss—feed to Meek. He needs to heal Jet.:"_

With Reggie's help, Ryssa directed some of the magical flow to Meek.

Reggie sensed Moira's distraction with her injured twin, and it heightened his concern for Ryssa.

" _:You okay, Ryss?:"_

She didn't answer.

Reggie stepped into the twin-bond as deeply as he could go and suddenly realized what had held her frozen. From the direction of Team Hedgehog, a ball of fire was headed straight for them, and it was gaining in size and strength.

* * *

Ryssa felt paralyzed at the sight of the approaching flames. _This is it_ , the thought squeaked through her fear, and she felt a calm sense of detachment. She saw the lines of fear that bound the fireball, and she knew it was sent, not with the intent of breaking Team Phoenix, but with the intent of destroying them.

Time stood still, or rather, she stepped outside of it. Everything moved slowly. She watched the lines of fear wrap around the fireball and feed it, giving it strength. She traced the lines to the vicinity of Team Hedgehog, but not from the Team itself. Before she could identify the exact source, the lines snapped, setting loose the Fire magic. It was out of control.

" _:Ryss! Give some to Loo!:"_

Ryssa looked around. Some of the lines fed strength into Storm and Whisper who were fighting off the whirlwind attack. Another led to Meek, who was working to heal Jet. Ryssa frowned. There weren't enough.

Abruptly, she remembered the magical lighting under the tree from the night before. Looking to the ground at her feet, she saw the magic, glowing just beneath the surface. Without thought, she touched that magic, pulling it up to blend its flow with the Team Phoenix link.

Ryssa gasped as the warmth of the magic flooded through her body and into the rest of the Team. Letting the flow build, she allowed Reggie to help her feed a line to Loo. The Seacalm boy worked frantically with her twin, but Ryssa could see that they needed an extra set of hands.

" _:Hammie,:"_ she said through the link. The boy stiffened. _":Help them!:"_

Hammie jumped and immediately turned his concentration to work with Reggie and Loo. Reggie was so intent on getting the water shield in place that he didn't have time to watch what was happening around him. Ryssa picked up the slack. And just in time.

Another earth wave erupted, compliments of Team Lizard. Ryssa tapped into Gervais and Glinda, and fed strength to Jade. Jade stiffened at the jolt, but quickly fought back with an earth tremor of her own.

The opposing concentrations of Earth magic struck each other midpoint between the two Teams, causing an eruption of earth that showered the competition field. In that same instant, the fireball struck the water shield and was deflected, but not doused. It snapped the weaves of Water magic, to leave them thrashing about Team Phoenix.

The fireball was sent spiraling in another direction, heading for Team Lizard. Ryssa watched, waiting for them to do something, but the members of Team Lizard seemed frozen in place.

" _:Regg, they can't deflect—they're locked up.:"_

" _:Can you pull it back?:"_

" _:What?:"_

" _:Pull it back—and get ready, Phoenix!:"_

For the first time in her life, Ryssa doubted her brother. But when she saw the terror on Team Lizard's faces she knew there was no time for hesitation. She had been prepared, in that small place inside of her, to die today. They weren't. And she would never be able to live with herself if her life was bought at the cost of others.

Ryssa plunged all of her being into the magic already flowing to them from the Earth. She gasped—not realizing how deep that well of power reached. Whoever had created the magical light at the base of the tree had only tapped into the stronger flows running beneath the Earth and brought a minuscule portion to the surface. It was all interconnected, and she the power surged through her, unlike anything she had ever felt before. She urged the power upward, redirecting it into the Team Phoenix link.

" _:Take it, Regg.:"_ The sound echoed through the link. She saw her twin hesitate. _":Net it, and let's pull it in.:"_

She fed a line to Pyro, Jr., and together he and Reggie worked to build the net, imitating the one Team Hedgehog had used on the first day of the competition, but using Fire magic instead. Fighting Fire with Fire, and just in time, they cast it over the fireball, stopping it from striking Team Lizard. They scattered to the ground like bowling pins.

The fireball tried to advance, but couldn't. The net held it secure. Stopped from forward movement, it started inching upward, above the field, straining against the net of magic holding it. As it moved, Ryssa felt the lines of magic stretch. The ball of flames sucked the magic in, adding to its own size and strength.

" _:Sheesh, Ryss.:"_ Reggie and Pyro struggled to keep the woven net under control. _":Do you see what it's doing?:"_

" _:Pull it in_ now _, Regg.:"_

" _:I can't—it's too strong.:"_

" _:Then we need more power.:"_ Ryssa looked around again.

Her teammates were besieged with the forces of the elements around them. She could see the lines of Healing, Water, Fire, Air, Earth, all in various stages of attack and defense—and the wellspring of raw, primal energy beneath their feet. In the split fraction of a single second she saw it all and in another split fraction, she took it all in.

Ryssa did one thing she hadn't done before. She didn't take control of the magic from the others—she pulled the magic together and let their control feed her own. All of the power was pulled to a single point—to the members of Team Phoenix—and through them, back to her. They were all linked as a single entity of pure magic.

The whirlwinds created by Team Phoenix disappeared, allowing the one that could only have been sent by Team Firefly to move toward them. The Water lines returned, as well as the Earth lines. The Healing lines wrapped into the weave and held. The fireball stopped gaining strength and let go its forward momentum. The Fire net that held it, pulled back by Ryssa, snapped like a rubber band, hurling the ball of flames toward them with increasing speed.

Lines of fear from her teammates lashed at her, but Ryssa reacted with calm. She let that tranquility turn to warmth, and she sent a pattern of soothing Celestial magic to the Team, calming them as Kyellin had done to her.

_Knowledge is power._ Kyellin's words floated through her. But Ryssa had knowledge of only one thing right now—that she didn't want to die. She closed her eyes, and opened herself to the attacks that headed straight for them.

" _:Ryss, what—?:"_

" _:Change, Regg,:"_ she said simply, as though that explained it all. _":We can't_ fight _the future—we have to_ change _it.:"_

The fireball hit Team Phoenix at the same time as the whirlwind. A vibration sang through her body and her spirit soared, carrying the sound of her True Name into the silence of her heart. _Danu_. She didn't fight the magic—she absorbed it.

Pulling the whirlwind to the center, Ryssa let the eye create a void around the Team. The fireball was still wrapped in the net of Fire, but instead of bursting upon impact with the wall of wind, it was caught up in its flows, sending the flames spiraling around them. The Earth was their base, and she pulled from that base to secure the Water lines and bring them upward from the foot of the whirlwind, dousing the flames as they went.

Ryssa fed the lines of Celestial magic that calmed her Team into the circling wall of wind, turning it bright silver and spinning it outward from the tree. She pulled on the Healing lines and funneled their energy with those from the magical reservoir beneath their feet, spiraling it upward into the sky. The calming force of the dark Celestial magic took hold and the winds began to slow.

Amazed at the power and the beauty of the magic surrounding them, Ryssa detached even further and stepped outside of it all. She wanted to make sure there were no further threats. The people around the competition field stood in front of their seats, staring in shock. From their positions, Ryssa could tell it may have _seemed_ like an eternity since Team Phoenix had been caught up in the magic, but only moments had passed outside of their awareness.

Although it was a long way off, she could see the bands of the storm on the horizon intensifying, as though answering an echo of the call of magic that created it. Without thinking, she pulled a burst of raw, primal energy from the earth and sent it skimming across the sky, pushing the storm from the islands south of Florida and directing its path further into the Gulf, away from New Faery and the west coast mainland.

The maelstrom of magic was settling below, and she slipped back into her body. Touching the link, she felt the surge of pleasure that coming from her teammates. Win or lose, the competition no longer mattered. They were alive.

The thought of the elimination loomed over her, she found herself saddened. This time tomorrow, she might be in the hands of the Slaugh. Before, she had unknowingly used dark magic. This time she had used it with full knowledge of what she was doing. _If they were eliminated_ —Ryssa shuddered inwardly.

Blocking her emotions from her twin and her teammates, she called to Glinda through the link, letting the girl see what she had in mind. _":Do your stuff, bird-girl. Let's end this in style.:"_

She felt the pride of Team Phoenix through the link. Glinda reached out and called to the birds, adding the lines of Animal magic to the rest of the mix surrounding them. As before, it didn't take long for the birds to arrive. The flock of sparrows flew out of the forest as though they had been waiting in queue for their entrance.

They flew directly at the spiraling wall of water, forming a line as they swooped in toward the ground. The sparrows called out their birdsong as they soared, climbing the outer wall of the funnel upward, following the path of the spiral. As the last of the birds flew the circular path from the bottom toward the top, Ryssa let go of the magic, letting it dissipate behind the flight path of the birds, slowly revealing Team Phoenix like a curtain being drawn to the sky.

The final lines of magic were let loose, and the birds disappeared into the forest. Ryssa waited for a reaction from the crowd, but was disappointed. She glanced around at the sea of stunned faces, and her heart leaped into her throat. A trickle of fear ran through her as she searched the field for the presence of the Black Knight. Surely that was what held the crowd in their current state of paralysis. But she saw no sign of it.

All eyes were turned their way, the faces behind them staring and silent. Ryssa frowned with annoyance.

The elders who had been closest to Team Phoenix stepped even closer, but slowly, as though uncertain. It took a moment for Ryssa to realize they weren't staring at the Team. They were staring at the tree. She tried to twist around and look up, but she was too close to the trunk, and her teammates had her penned in.

" _:Break, guys,:"_ she tried calling into the link, but then realized the link was gone.

"Break, guys," she said softly, out loud. Only those closest to her dropped their hands—Glinda and Jade.

Soon it followed around the circle and Team Phoenix stepped away from the tree, slightly disoriented. Disorientation turned to confusion, then amazement, as they looked up at what held the rest of the Fey enthralled.

The Wilt was gone. The twisted branches were covered in a full canopy of new growth, creating a dome of vibrant green over the heads of Team Phoenix. The elders nearest them seemed to come to their senses first. They rushed forward to the members of the Team to make sure everyone was all right.

Ryssa recalled mumbling some vague response to an elder's question. A movement to the side caught her eye, and she saw Team Firefly sit down as one, removing themselves from the competition by their actions. She continued to stare at the tree, not really comprehending what she saw, but unable to tear her eyes away. Eventually, she felt a hand slip into hers, and she looked, distracted, into the pride held in her twin's eyes.

"We did it, Ryss."

"We all did it," she replied.

One by one the members of Team Phoenix moved in closer, various states of joy and relief showing in their faces.

" _:I_ told _you I'd get you through everything,:"_ Darkwind's voice whispered across her mind.

Ryssa didn't bother to respond. She felt the numbness evaporate and the emotions overwhelm her. She was alive—they were all alive. The tears started running down her cheeks and didn't stop for a long, long time.

## Chapter 26: Farewell To Faery

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The Team Phoenix common room was a beehive of excitement.

"We really _ruled_ out there." Loo was bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Now I'm sort of wishing we were being judged by Faery instead of the Lia Fial."

"No, you don't," Pyro said harshly.

"Why not?"

"Do you think Lord Aurelius is standing outside the entrance to our quarters just so he can chitchat with the elders about what a wonderful job we did?"

Loo didn't say anything. Reggie could tell from the look of hurt in his eyes that it was exactly what he'd been thinking.

"Well, he's not." Pyro shook his head. "I'll tell you what he's doing. He's standing guard so they don't swarm in here like a bunch of locusts to pick us dry for info on how we did what we did."

"Speaking of that." Storm sat up. "What exactly _did_ we do?"

The Team members glanced at each other, but no one had any answers. Reggie had watched his twin getting quieter by the moment from the time they'd left the competition field. She seemed to be slipping into a serious depression, and he didn't know what to say to pull her back out.

Hammie shrugged. "We won."

"There was no win or lose up there," Gervais growled.

"Wasn't there?" Jet raised his eyebrows. "Answer me this, beast-boy. The Lia Fial is the Stone of Destiny. It is fed information about every move we make, each and every day, courtesy of the elders in the Hall of Futures. Then it is fed information about the possible outcomes for the future based on the moves we've made. Do you honestly believe these series of competitions were designed so the Lia Fial would know which Team to pick over the other?"

Gervais didn't respond.

"They were created to give Faery warm fuzzies about the choices the Lia Fial does make. No one even has a clue as to how it does what it does."

"So on a scale from one to ten on the warm fuzzy meter," Moira smiled. "How do you think the Fey would rate us?"

"With ten being the warmest and fuzziest," Ryssa stared at the ceiling. "I'd bet about negative fifteen—very cold and prickly."

Everyone turned their eyes to her. Those were the first words she had spoken since the competition. Reggie was relieved. At least she was climbing out of her shock.

"How can you say that?" A frown wrinkled Whisper's face. "We cured the Wilt. Or at least the part that was on that tree."

Yeah, sure," Reggie heard the agitation in his twin's voice, "but at the cost of showing a bunch of arrogant, _stuck-in-their-ways_ adults who've been around for—well, almost forever, that they screwed up big time."

"She's right." Jet whistled. "If the Lia Fial doesn't eliminate us, it's going to be a huge shake up for Faery."

"What if it does eliminate us?" Hammie looked worried.

"Maybe it would be for the best." Reggie shrugged. "At least we wouldn't have to deal with this whole thing of jumping through their stupid hoops anymore. Or try and live up to some impossible expectations we know nothing about."

"They'll turn me over to the Slaugh," Ryssa said quietly. The room fell silent.

"W-what do you mean, Ryss?" Reggie wanted to laugh at the idea, but he could see the seriousness in his twin's face. She wasn't kidding.

Ryssa explained what she hadn't had the courage to mention before—the possible consequence for her using dark magic.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Reggie stood up angrily. "We could've come up with something—"

"Why did you choose to move the Team around the tree, Regg?" She jumped to her feet, facing him with just as much anger. "You knew it was the last place we should have been if we wanted to stay away from what we saw in the Hall of Futures—so why did you do it?"

"Oh, so now this is _my_ fault?"

"That's not what I said. Just answer the question. _Why_?"

Reggie's eyebrows drew together. He'd had his reasons—hadn't he? The anger evaporated, leaving him in a state of doubt. Why _had_ he done it?

"I don't know." He blew out the last of his resentment. "It seemed right at the time. It was a better defensive position—we could see anything coming at us."

"You couldn't have stopped yourself even if you had tried. Don't beat yourself up for it. I wasn't blaming you. I needed to make you understand."

"That's what you meant." Reggie stared at her. "When you said we can't stop the future—we have to change it?"

Ryssa nodded.

"When you made the decision to put us around the tree, I knew. Just as I knew we had to bring the fireball on top of us. We didn't stop what was supposed to happen, we just changed the ending a bit."

Reggie saw a frown form on her face. "What is it, Ryss?"

"The night before the competition—" Ryssa bit her lip. "After I left Kyellin and was headed back here, I made a wish."

Moira looked at her with curiosity. "What did you wish for?"

"I wished we would all make it out of the competition alive."

"I knew it!" Jet crowed. "You guys _are_ ringers. You must've remembered and _knew_ we were going to come out of it okay."

"No." Ryssa shook her head. "The wish wasn't accepted—there was nothing."

"Don't you see, Ryss?" Reggie put a hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't accepted because it was already going to happen. The wish didn't matter."

But Team Phoenix was quiet, and Reggie knew what they were thinking. It could just as easily have meant that one—or all—of them was supposed to have died.

* * *

Team Phoenix sat nervously in their seats, fidgeting, as most of the other Teams in the Arena Court were. This was it—judgment day.

Ryssa was probably more on edge than any of them, but she had underestimated the support she'd received from her teammates. Moira and Jet had come up with a plan to get her out of New Faery if the Lia Fial eliminated Team Phoenix, and if the elders decided to turn her over to the Slaugh. The rest of the Team backed them up without hesitation. It was tempting, and the thought of her teammates' support brought tears to her eyes—but she'd refused them, much to Reggie's dismay.

"If what I did _was_ wrong, do you honestly think I could live with myself? Knowing I could seriously screw up and hurt someone?"

Now, looking around the Arena Court at all of Faery, Ryssa knew it had been the right decision. Even so, she felt as though she was on display. The crowd might be staring at the whole Team, but she only felt them staring at her—or blatantly refusing to look in her direction at all.

"I feel like a mutant," she whispered.

Moira squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Maybe they're looking at you like a Homecoming Queen—literally."

"Yeah, right. The Homecoming Queen who shows up to the dance with a big zit on her forehead."

The center of the platform rose. Queen Medwyn was standing upon it as she had before—on the Lia Fial, next to the cauldron, surrounded by the brown-robed elders from the Hall of Futures. The elders stepped off of the Stone of Destiny and took their places at the edge of the platform.

"I could drag this out." Queen Medwyn smiled mockingly to the throngs of Fey that filled the seats around the Arena Court. She stopped the groans starting around the room with a raised hand. "But I won't. I think we are all very curious to see what the outcome of this year's trials has brought us."

Ryssa snorted in disgust. _Curious—now_ that _was an understatement._ She looked over at Kyellin, who nodded coolly. No encouragement there. She scratched the palms of her hands, which had suddenly become itchy and sweaty.

"So, Counselors," Queen Medwyn commanded. "Bring your Teams down and collect the heartstones."

There was murmuring and the sounds of shuffling feet as the Teams rose from their seats and hesitantly moved forward to take their places. One by one the heartstones were turned over to the Counselors. Aurelius took an extra moment in front of Ryssa to squeeze her hand as he took hers. His look of pride gave her the strength to keep standing, although her knees had locked and the room seemed overwhelmingly warm. She couldn't remember being this nervous in her whole life.

The Counselors took their places at the heads of their respective Teams, and Queen Medwyn began the calling.

"Team Firefly."

Skye Windcall stepped forward. Ryssa thought she looked as nervous as her Team. She held out the heartstones of Team Firefly, took a deep breath, and dropped them into the cauldron. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the Lia Fial began to glow. The light was muted at first, but slowly brightened. The heartstones rose from the cauldron, spinning gently around each other while a relieved Skye Windcall plucked them from the air and took them back to her Team. They had made the cut. Team Firefly would go on to the next year's competition.

"Team Lizard," Queen Medwyn announced.

Tree Stoneheart stepped forward as the first Counselor had, and with the same results. Team Lizard was in.

"Team Dragon," the Queen intoned.

Pyro, Sr. looked tense as he walked forward, and Ryssa found herself crossing her fingers, hoping Team Dragon would be the team eliminated this year. But it wasn't. The Lia Fial shone as brightly for them as it had the other Teams. Pyro, Sr.'s apprehension evaporated, and Blaze cast a smug look toward Team Phoenix.

"Team Hedgehog."

Sammiel Lighthand was next. Ryssa didn't like the dark look on his face and remembered with distaste the way his Team had forced the poor little hedgehog onto the competition field that first day. But that obviously didn't matter to the Lia Fial, because Team Hedgehog remained in the running.

Ryssa's heart dropped into her stomach. There were only two Teams left.

Of course, her aunt called the other Team. "Team Serpent."

Ocea Waverider stepped up to the Lia Fial. Ryssa looked over at Taz, who gave her a thumb's up. She tried to smile back at him, but it wouldn't come. Ocea dropped the heartstones into the cauldron and everyone in the room held their breath, waiting. Nothing happened.

A low murmur started around the Arena Court. Ocea looked crestfallen. The heartstones floated up out of the cauldron, but the Lia Fial didn't glow.

Ryssa's heart pounded in her ears. _Did this mean—?_ She looked at Team Serpent and felt sorry for them. Most of them looked stunned and a few dejected. Bart and Taz gave a carefree shrug. It hadn't really mattered to them either way. She could feel the relief rising among her teammates and the smile that was coming to her own face.

"Team Phoenix still needs to be judged," a voice called out firmly and clearly from across the Arena Court.

Ryssa looked at Kyellin Nightfall, standing alone in a section of seats meant for an entire House. She felt stirrings of anger. She wanted to yell at him to sit down and shut up. But the voice of reason crept into her mind. She wanted to tell _it_ to shut up too, but knew she couldn't.

Team Lizard was the one chosen to be removed from the competition. But Kyellin was right. Not for the same reasons, or maybe for some of the same ones. He needed for Team Phoenix to be tested to remove any doubt from the minds of Faery that the dark Celestial magic was not detrimental to the balance of magic. His was a selfish reason.

Ryssa stopped. Was she being any less selfish? She wanted the same thing for herself, not for a whole House. She needed to remove doubt—not from Faery—but from herself. She needed to know she wasn't bad. Okay, so maybe she wanted Faery to know, too. But it was mostly for her own peace of mind.

"You are right, Kyellin." Queen Medwyn nodded without emotion. "Team Phoenix."

Aurelius walked stiffly to the cauldron. He held the heartstones over the opening and paused, taking a moment to stare deliberately around the Arena Court as though meeting the gaze of everyone present. With slow, calculated motion, he unwrapped his fingers from the chains and let them drop.

Not a sound could be heard through the entire Arena. Then whispers trickled across the domed room. The Lia Fial began to glow and the heartstones rose. Team Phoenix had met the approval of the Lia Fial.

Ryssa thought she'd faint from the relief that washed over her. Reggie grabbed her in a big hug and the entire Team bounced with the energy of their excitement. Cries of happiness and victory ran through them. Moira stood in front of Ryssa, holding her shoulders at arms' length, looking at her intently.

"What's wrong?" Ryssa bit her lip.

Moira shook her head. "I don't get it."

"What?"

"Where'd the zit go?" The Phooka girl tried to keep the laughter from her face and failed.

Both girls fell into each other's arms in a fit of giggles.

"Oh, it's still there," Ryssa said between breaths. "An irritating little blackhead just waiting to pop out the next time I don't want it to."

"Then girlfriend," Moira smiled, "we'd best be finding you a good dermatologist."

* * *

Most of the Team quarters had cleared out as the members packed their belongings and said their goodbyes. Reggie and Ryssa were the last two left, waiting for their uncle to make an appearance. He never did. Moira and Jet showed up instead.

"Aurelius is still trying to keep the elders at bay." Jet tilted his head and shrugged. "They're trying to make him force you to stay in New Faery and give them full access to you until the next round of the competition."

Ryssa shuddered, thinking of the storm elders. "No thanks. Been there, done that."

"Yeah." Moira gave her a sympathetic grin. "They're also afraid of leaving you to your own devices in the Zombie Zone."

"I'm thinking I'll be backing off from magic for a bit." Ryssa shook her head. "I'm looking forward to getting back to a touch of normal in my life."

"Aww," Jet teased. "Confess—you'll miss it."

"Maybe after a while." Ryssa shrugged. "But for now, I just want a vacation from my summer vacation. Even school is sounding good right now. Can you imagine the first standard paper for beginning of the year English class: ' _What I did over my summer vacation'?_ "

"Don't, Ryss," Reggie warned with a mock frown.

"Don't what?"

"You'll give mom a heart attack. Getting up early, looking forward to school—"

"Yeah," Jet grinned. "Tests, nasty teenage peer pressure, school lunches, grumpy teachers—"

"Okay." Ryssa made a face. " _Not_ missing it now. Thanks for putting my world back into perspective for me."

Everyone laughed. Reggie looked curiously at Jet and Moira.

"So, what's next?"

"Moira and I are going to sneak you out of the Sithin." He looked up to the miniature tree in the common area and added loudly, "If the darned thing will work with us."

And it did. The Sithin ramp took them directly outside, avoiding the Arena Court. Reggie looked over at the dragonfly landing field and grimaced, his stomach roiling in protest.

"I don't suppose we could borrow a set of the Faery wings? I seem to do better under my own power."

"No can do," Jet said from behind him. "But alternative transportation has been arranged."

Reggie looked back to see two beautiful black horses where the Phooka twins had been. He was skeptical.

"Are you sure, guys?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Jet said, his voice higher pitched than normal. He laughed, a weird mixture of human and horse noises rolling out of his mouth. "I've always wanted to say that."

The Phooka twins knelt in horse form, and Reggie and Ryssa climbed up, securing their packs as best they could.

"Hold on, kidlets!" Jet called out. They galloped through the streets of New Faery City and beyond, faster than any horse Reggie had ever seen. He understood now why the twins had equaled the dragonflies' arrival time to New Faery City when they had first come here. They weren't under the physical constraints of normal horses. Jet and Moira were as much pure magic as the world they were from. Reggie had to admit, he was going to miss them. And as much as Faery was a screwed-up world—he was sort of looking forward to coming back.

* * *

Reggie and Ryssa could barely contain themselves when Mary's car pulled to a stop in front of their home. A single piece of the tin porch roof was leaned up against the house, the only visible sign of damage from the storm that had passed this way. _How long ago had it been?_

Terry flew out the front door, running down the steps. "Mom! They're home!"

Reggie and Ryssa climbed out of the car and ran to meet their brother, who scooped them into his arms, holding them both tight.

"Terry—can't—breathe," Reggie laughed jokingly, but hugged his brother back just as tightly. He glanced up and saw his mother standing in the doorway.

She looked tired, but with a touch of the old Debra Chambly sparkle back in her eyes. Reggie thought she had never looked as beautiful as she did at that moment. She actually _ran_ down the steps and threw herself into the circle of her children's arms.

"It was my birthday wish," Ryssa said into her mother's shoulder. "That we'd come back and everything would be okay."

"Mine too." Reggie looked surprised. The twins gave each other of understanding.

Mary smiled. "I told you they'd return to you, Debra."

"So you did, Mary." Debra's eyes gleamed with emotion. "So you did. Thank you."

"You are most welcome. Before I leave, though, I wanted to tell you that arrangements have been made for some special tutoring for the children."

"I understand," Debra said, but Reggie thought he detected a slight dampening of her spirits. He wasn't looking forward to extra lessons, but he knew better than she did that it was necessary.

"Well, that'll be it, then. I'm off." Mary waved cheerfully. "See you next summer, children."

The Chamblys waved their goodbyes and then got back to their business of being happy to be together again.

* * *

Reggie and Ryssa prepared to head out the door for school. Debra handed them their lunches and gave them each a kiss before sending them off.

The previous night had been tough. They hadn't realized how hard it was going to be to tell their foster mother about _camp_ , but without telling her about Faery. They had managed, but only to keep her from worrying. Football, boat races, craft making—those were things they thought she could handle. Magic, the Slaugh, dead and missing potentials, fireballs, well, they sort of left that stuff out.

The twins stepped out onto the porch to see three familiar faces grinning back at them.

"Hey, brah," Jet laughed, "ready for the first day back to school?"

Ryssa excitedly hugged Moira and Hammie. "What's up? I knew Hammie went to our school, but you two—"

"We go to the high school," Moira said. "Juniors this year. We'll graduate next year when you guys are freshmen."

"Way cool." Reggie happily slapped the porch rail.

" _And_ , we're also your new tutors." Jet waggled his eyebrows. "We're supposed to help you learn more about Faery before next summer."

"Great," Ryssa grumbled.

When she saw the hurt cross Moira's face, Ryssa shook her head. "No—I didn't mean it like that. I meant about double studies—not looking forward to it. Where's the free time?"

"Sorry, no recess for you, star-girl," Jet smiled. "Not until you learn the lessons. Think of it this way—Faery studies should only take a hundred years or so. And you'll live to be _a lot_ older than that. See? Plenty of free time."

Ryssa groaned as they headed down the steps. Reggie frowned. He liked school and liked learning about new stuff. But a hundred years of studying? Immortality suddenly took on a whole new dimension. His groan matched that of his twin as they headed for their first day back at school.

###

## About the Author

[back to top]

Bo Savino uses different pseudonyms to keep her young adult genres separate from her adult ones, which she writes under A. J. Rand.

If you liked this book, the 2nd book in the series, _Reggie & Ryssa and the Scavenger Hunt_ will be out by December 2011, and Book 3, _Reggie & Ryssa and the Faery Corp_ will be coming in 2012!

If you'd like to sign up for updates and keep on top of what's coming out, you can sign up for the e-mail list at on the Contact tab at the top of Bo's website, or the E-mail Sign-up Button on the left at: www.BoSavinoSite.com.

To Friend Bo on Facebook, go to: www.Facebook.com/bosavino.

To Follow Bo on Twitter, go to: www.Twitter.com/bosavino.

Other titles out by Bo Savino as A. J. Rand:

The Yeshua Star Series:

_Broken Wings: Genesis_ (Book 1)

_Broken Wings: Alpha_ (Book 2)

The Nibiran Series:

_Sky Gold_ (Book 1 with co-author Carrassa Sands)

The Tapestry Series:

_Keeper of the Flame_ (Book 1)

