

Enthrall

by Tarynn Kerr

***
Enthrall

Tarynn Kerr

Cover: Betibup33

First edition published 2015

Copyright © 2015 Tarynn Kerr

The author reserves all rights. No form of reproduction may be used, unless prior written permission has been obtained from the publisher, excepting the use of brief quotations within critical reviews or articles. Reproduction encompasses any and all methods, present or future. In addition, no part or parts of this book may be used, unless under the same conditions of prior approval.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and events are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity or resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, or situations is entirely coincidental.

Any scanning, uploading or distribution via the Internet or any other form of technology without the consent of the publisher is protected by law, and will be considered illegal and punishable by law. Please respect these rights and laws by purchasing only authorized electronic or printed editions, and we request that you will not participant in encouraging any form of piracy of copyrighted materials. The author truly appreciates your support of their rights and legacy.

***
Other Books by Tarynn Kerr

Lure

***

### Chapter 1

CEARO

...

I am here.

...

***

### Chapter 2

DAVID

The first thing I did when I woke up was check Cearo's breathing. I watched her for several minutes, unable to decide if it was better or worse. Settling on it being the same, the second thing I did was study the drawing of the man—the man that was also me.

How? Were we really one and the same? We couldn't be. I didn't have any of his memories. But there were other signs pointing to yes. Cearo had drawn him many times, even before she knew me. The man not only looked like me, but he seemed to have a lot of my mannerisms. In one drawing, he held a fish up in victory, and I swear the pose he struck was the same as mine when I'd beaten Eric at our fishing competition. In another drawing, he smiled in his sleep while he was holding onto a woman's hand. It was the exact position Cearo and I had been in two nights ago. I couldn't believe that was only two nights ago.

"Go back to sleep, David," came my brother Eric's voice. He hadn't been sleeping well because of the pain from the burn on his arm. He'd caught me every single time I'd woken up the last couple nights and started the routine of check Cearo, stare at the drawings, check Cearo. I think my tally was up to fourteen now. I closed the book with a sigh and checked Cearo's breathing again. "She's fine, dude. No change anyway," he said.

I believed him, but I was so worried that I'd wake up to find Cearo gone—really gone this time. According to Mom, she shouldn't be alive now. Her elements had left her when she'd thrown their full power all at once at the fairies attacking us. That should have killed her, but here she was, still breathing, however softly. I took her hand again and tried to convince my body to sleep.

My dream started out innocent enough. I was making a giant cookie for a customer at my family's bakery. By giant, I mean this cookie was as big as a person. It was my most awesome creation of all time. I looked up at the customer and that's where it went wrong. The once-faceless man turned into Boden, the evil fairy who'd lured me into his realm. He gave me a vicious smile, and before I could think of what to do, a red-eyed fairy walked into the shop. He came around the counter and lunged for me. His burning hot hand grazed my shoulder, and I woke up with a jolt.

My shoulder stung for a second. Twisting around, I saw an ember from our campfire had landed on me. I brushed it off before beginning my routine of checking Cearo's breathing.

"It's been like an hour. Still no change," Eric said.

I looked over toward him and saw Mom was awake now too. The sun was just starting to rise, and our fire had been reduced mostly to smoldering ashes. "Well, if we're all awake, let's get going," Mom said.

She handed Eric and me some of the charred meat from the unicorn she'd hunted yesterday. At first Eric hadn't believed unicorns could possibly be scary, and when Mom had said she was going to catch one for food, Eric had been against it. Then we'd run into one. It was only a few feet tall, and it's whole body glittered white. It neighed adorably at us. But I didn't fall for it. I had overcome a kelpie's magic and knew what it felt like now. I saw through its trickery, and just in time. It was galloping toward us, mouth open to sink its disproportionately large teeth into us. Mom had used her earth elemental power to trip and capture it with a vine. Eric's trance broke and he no longer argued with Mom about killing it. Good thing, because we were really hungry by then. We wolfed it down like, well, wolves.

This morning, we weren't as starving, so we ate slowly as we walked. We left our campsite without bothering to cover it. We weren't being very careful anymore. If more Seelie were sent out here, they would see the destruction at the gate and know we were in the area anyway. Hopefully, it'd take a while for any more to get here though. It should, since we were several days away from their castle.

We were heading for Cearo's cottage. It was carved into a mountain and virtually undetectable, so we'd be safe there while we recovered. More specifically, we needed to reach the kelpies that were in the lake next to the cabin. The kelpies weren't just horses that lived in water. They had healing powers. They were also intelligent and had bonded with Cearo, and to a lesser extent with me, so I hoped they'd use their healing ability to help us. Mom didn't think it would work, and I think Eric was just going along with me because he knew how important it was to me. It had to work though. It just had to.

We were making good time. It'd originally taken us about two and half days to make it to the gate from the cottage, but going back was easier. We'd already made it through the forest, and now were just passing by the hob colony. Many of the little twig creatures popped their heads up out of their tunnels as we passed, curious as to why were back. When they saw me carrying Cearo, a few decided to follow us to her cottage, hoping to help.

The first time we'd gone to the cottage, the hobs had helped us tunnel there. We didn't travel underground this time. The weather was clear since the Seelie who'd made the storm were all dead now. We went over the rocky hills with the hobs hitching a ride on Eric's shoulders. The climbing became difficult with Cearo's weight, and soon I was slowing. As reluctant as I was to let her out of my grasp for a single moment, Mom and I started taking turns carrying her.

We finally made it to the lake just as night was falling. Mom and Eric collapsed onto the ground a few yards away from the shoreline. I carried Cearo right up to it and waited. The kelpies would know someone's here.

"Please," I whispered, barely audible. I wasn't sure if it actually took several minutes or if the seconds just felt that long. I sighed in premature relief when I saw the water rumble and then a kelpie burst out.

It was the blue kelpie that galloped over to me. The last time we'd met, he'd seemed to be the leader. His huge, glistening, blue body towered over me, but I wasn't worried. He wasn't looking at me as a feast, like the tiny unicorn had. I was a friend, or at least an acquaintance. I held Cearo out to him. He nudged her with his nose and sniffed before looking back at me.

I explained to him how we'd been caught in an ambush and how Cearo had saved us. I told him how by using that much power, she had nothing left to live on. "Is there anything you can do? Can you heal her?" I begged.

He shook his head. My heart nearly failed me. "But...there has to be..." He grunted and nudged her again. He looked back and forth between her and me a few times and sniffed her head. "I don't know what you're trying to tell me," I said. He did it a few more times, but I still shook my head. Cearo would probably know what he was trying to say. If only she was awake to translate.

He let out a breath and seemed to give up. He neighed loudly and another kelpie emerged from the water. The green one I'd ridden last time stopped next to me and gave me a nod hello. The blue one trotted out of the water and over to Mom and Eric. They waited calmly for us to mount them and then carried us across the lake. It was dark now, and Mom fumbled at the door for the handle. When she got it open, she helped me maneuver Cearo in. We were arranging some blankets over her when Eric tapped me on the shoulder.

"Uh..." He pointed at the kelpies, who still hovered by the door, and then at his injured arm. He wasn't comfortable asking the kelpies for help himself.

"Oh, right," I said. I grabbed a small knife from the kitchen and met the kelpies at the door. "Can I have a bit your mane?" I asked the green one. He seemed the safer of the two. He nodded at me and leaned forward so I could trim a bit off. "Thank you." He nodded once more and plunged back into the lake.

The blue kelpie was still there. He was watching Cearo. He moved his head back and forth between Cearo and me. Once again, I had no idea what he was trying to tell me. He dragged a hoof across the water and grunted. He was getting frustrated, but all I could do was shrug. Finally, he shook his head at me and left.

"Any ideas on what he was trying to say?" I asked Eric as I handed him the piece of kelpie mane.

It brought him instant relief. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Maybe you should try talking to her?" he suggested. "He was nudging her ear before, right? Maybe he wants you to talk to her, like how people talk to coma patients."

Better than nothing, I guess. I relaxed next to Cearo. I opened my mouth to start chatting to her, but my mind blanked. I had no idea what to talk about. How do you converse with someone who can't respond? All I managed was "um," and I don't think that counted.

I went in search of a book. She had to keep at least a few here. Upstairs in her bedroom, I found a philosophy book tucked between her mattress and the wall. It was about Jainism. That seemed like an odd choice for an assassin. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a fun read either, but at least it had words to make up for my brain's current lack of them. I took it back downstairs. It had a page folded over, so I started reading to her from there.

As interesting as it was, this wasn't really my thing and I soon started to nod off. I decided to get some sleep if I was finally tired enough. She hadn't responded to the reading anyway. No movement, no change in breathing, nothing. I checked her pulse out of habit before settling in. Still there, still faint. I wondered how long she could survive like this. Maybe we should have taken her to the human world and found a doctor. How would we explain her though? And a human doctor probably couldn't do anything. Mom, Eric, and I would just get thrown in a mental institution if we tried telling a doctor what had actually happened.

I sighed. I wish I had a sign, any sign, that Cearo wasn't dying right before my eyes. Eyes...I missed Cearo's ever-changing eyes. I reached over to gently lift one of her eyelids, hoping to see a yellow iris. I would even settle for red. But I knew I'd be greeted with brown. I realized I'd closed my eyes to prolong the hope. I prepared for the disappointment and slowly opened them.

Blue. I blinked. I was surely seeing things. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Blue. Not her whole iris, most of it was brown. But there was a speck at the bottom right of bright blue.

"Holy shit," I whispered. I sat up and called for Mom.

She rushed downstairs, shaking off sleep. "What? What is it?"

"Her eye is blue."

Mom's mouth dropped open in shock. "They're blue again? Really?"

"Just one, and only part of it. But that's a good sign, right?"

She bent to study Cearo. She didn't say anything until she sat back on her heels. "I have no idea." I could see it in her face that she wasn't lying or trying to prevent me from getting my hopes up. She really didn't have a clue with this one. "It's so rare that an element leaves their fairy in the first place. I don't have any experience with...unusual outcomes."

We were quiet for a while. "The kelpie was trying to tell me something earlier. I think this was it." Now that I thought about it, it made sense. He hadn't been gesturing to her ear like Eric had thought. He'd been gesturing toward her eye. "Water hasn't left her and he knew."

"He felt it, the water elemental," Mom agreed. She nodded to herself, still thinking. "Or at least what's left of it. There's something wrong with it though or her eyes would be all blue."

"Can elementals get hurt?"

Mom shook her head. "Not that I've ever heard. But there might be someone who has." I looked at her and she glanced down at Cearo. "She's seen more than anyone. She may have written something about it."

"We should go to her library," I said.

"Yes—wait, no. I'll go. You and Eric stay here."

"What?"

"You two stay with her. I'll get there faster by myself. We won't have to carry her, and I think Eric should take some time to recover. And you'll be safe here. The kelpies will guard you."

I couldn't really argue her points. I went back and forth between wanting to stick together versus needing to know as fast as possible if there was any information in that library that could help Cearo. Finally, I agreed.

"Okay," Mom said. "I'm going to go back to sleep. I'll leave tomorrow." She went back upstairs, leaving me alone with Cearo again. Now that I had the sign I'd asked for, I could actually sleep. I took Cearo's hand and fell into a dream.

I dreamed I was sitting on a fur blanket by a tree. The afternoon sun was bright and warmed us despite the snow on the ground. Cearo was there. We were throwing berries to each other to try to catch them in our mouths. She tossed one badly and it hit my forehead. I spoke, but it was muffled and I couldn't understand it. It felt playful. I threw a berry back at her, purposely aiming for her forehead. "Cian," she said between laughs. It was a simple dream, but I was happy.

I woke around midday. Eric saw me sit up and came over to give me some food. "Mom said she's leaving at dusk," he said. Mom must have filled him in on the plan.

"Okay. How's your arm?"

"I can't believe this stuff. Look," he said. He pulled off the kelpie mane to reveal smooth, pink skin. "A few more hours and I'll be back to normal."

"Put that back on, Eric," Mom snapped from the kitchen.

Eric rolled his eyes. "I was just showing him the progress. I was going to put it back on."

Mom was shoving food into a bag. When she had it packed as tight as possible, she dropped it by the door and went back upstairs for a nap.

When dusk came, Mom picked up her supplies and hugged us tight while we waited for a kelpie to come pick her up. "You two be safe. Eric, make sure you leave that on long enough," she said, pointing to the kelpie mane. He'd checked his arm half an hour ago and found it was good as new, but he kept it on to reassure Mom.

"Don't get eaten by a hellhound," Eric said.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be back within a week."

"And if not?" I asked quietly.

She looked at me gravely. "Then do _not_ come after me. Do you understand?"

_Not in the slightest_ , I wanted to say but couldn't.

Eric saved me. "If only cell phones worked here. The fairies should really think about investing in cell towers."

After one last hug, Mom climbed onto the waiting kelpie and rode off. We watched until she reached the shore and disappeared over the rocks. I turned to Cearo and watched her shallow breaths. This wait was going to be excruciating.

Eric and I spent the next day jumping from one time-killing activity to the next. I tried reading to Cearo again, cooking, practicing the hob language with one of them patient enough to try to teach me, and even wood carving. The latter only worked for about five minutes before I figured out that I really didn't like it.

Eric was just as restless. "How did Cearo stand this?" he asked, abandoning his sketch.

"It's no wonder she's crazy," I joked.

"Yeah, I think I get that now." He walked over to the window. Both of us had periodically stared out as if we expected to see Mom coming back already. "What the hell?" At that moment, a kelpie let out a loud neigh, followed by a chorus of others. Water splashed, animals grunted, and worst of all, people yelled.

I jumped to my feet, putting myself between the door and Cearo. "What's going on?"

"Shit, shit, shit. It's the Seelie. They found us."

***

### Chapter 3

CEARO

It is dark in my mind. But I can hear them creeping. The thoughts. The memories. They are coming for me.

...Silence...

Attack—

***

### Chapter 4

DAVID

Cearo gasped. I dropped back down next to her. This would be a really great time for her to wake up. The Seelie had found us and we could use the help. Or at least for her to be able to run and hide herself.

"Was that Cearo?" Eric asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "Wake up now, Cearo. Please wake up now," I begged her. But she didn't wake up. Why wasn't she waking up? Her breathing was going back to normal now. That was the only change.

"Is she awake?" Eric said it like a plea.

I shook my head. "I don't know what that was, but I don't think she's waking up. What's happening out there?" I opened her eye. Maybe the iris had gone all blue now. Nope. Damn it. I joined Eric at the window, still watching Cearo from the corner of my eye.

On the other side of the lake, a group of fairies were fighting with our kelpies. We watched as our kelpies attacked them, biting and thrashing. The fairies retreated behind the rocks, but they hadn't given up. One of them launched a few fireballs at the kelpies, forcing them back into the water. It was a stalemate for the moment. The kelpies couldn't come out in case of more fireballs, but the fairies would never get past the lake.

"We need to barricade the place," I said. "Just in case."

We were about to start moving the table, when a familiar form appeared. We rushed back to the window and watched Mom climb over the rocks to the shore. One of the kelpies rushed her, but another one stopped it before it could reach her. Mom had put her arms up to shield herself, and when no attack came, she slowly lowered them to peer at the kelpie leader that now stood half in, half out of the water. She talked to it quietly until it turned like it was waiting for her to mount it. One of the fairies jumped up from behind the rocks and shouted something we were too far away to hear. Mom hesitated but eventually joined him back in the rocks. The kelpie turned away from them and started across the lake.

"What's happening?" Eric said. I had no idea. It looked like the Seelie had captured Mom. That was really bad. But why would she lead them back here? Maybe she thought the kelpies would rip them to shreds. But then why did she stop them from doing just that?

The kelpie was at our door. I slowly cracked the door open. Maybe the fairies wouldn't notice from all the way across the lake that the door moved an inch. "What do they want?" I whispered to the kelpie. I don't know why I whispered. They definitely couldn't hear us.

The kelpie seemed nervous and agitated too. He flicked his head slightly. The fairies wanted us to go over there.

"Do they know we're in here?" He nodded. "Damn Seelie," I muttered. What do we do? The kelpie shook his head. "What? Not Seelie?" He shook his head again.

Eric had joined us, leaning over me to hear. "Then who are they? Defectors?" Head shake. They definitely weren't human, so that left one more option. "UnSeelie?" he asked. The kelpie nodded.

"Well, that's unexpected," I said.

"Maybe it's okay to go then," Eric said. I looked at him like he was nuts. "They're Mom's people, remember?"

"She warned us about them. They don't like humans either," I countered. I asked the kelpie, "Do you know if they're planning to kill us?" He stayed still. He didn't know.

We were all quiet for a few minutes as we thought about it. Finally, Eric said, "Well, what else are we going to do? Wait them out? And pray they let Mom go?"

We didn't have a good choice here. They knew we were here. Mom could confirm it, plus this kelpie had seemingly been conversing with a mountain for ten minutes. We couldn't wait for these fairies to take more drastic measures to get to us. "Fine. Help me with Cearo."

The kelpie took all three of us across the lake, and when we dismounted, he stayed by our side, eyeing the rocks suspiciously. He clearly didn't trust these fairies. I hoped his instincts were wrong.

"Back off, kelpie," a rough voice came from the rocks. The kelpie grunted in response as if offended that a fairy was telling him what to do. He didn't leave us.

Mom's head popped up. "Come over here, boys," she told us. The kelpie shifted uncomfortably. I didn't know who to listen to. Mom could be forced to say that. "They won't hurt you. They just don't trust kelpies."

Eric and I looked at each other and shrugged. We couldn't really blame them for not trusting giant, predatory horses. We shuffled very slowly away from the kelpie and toward Mom, all the while watching for a surprise attack. We made to it the rocks, and Eric squeezed through ahead of me so that Cearo wouldn't be the first thing they could grab. Luckily, no one grabbed him except Mom. She hugged us and did a quick check for injuries.

"We're fine," I assured her quietly. Just a little weirded out, I wanted to add. Make that _a lot_ weirded out. A half dozen fairies were crouching behind the rocks, staring at us. Actually, no, they were staring at Cearo. "What do they want?" I whispered.

Mom took a deep breath before addressing the fairy nearest her. "This is Cearo," she said, gesturing to the unconscious fairy in my arms. I held her tighter. No one was taking her from me.

The fairy Mom had spoken to stood and moved closer to us. He was taller than most fairies I'd seen, maybe a couple of inches taller than me. His eyes were green, like Mom's, but without the warm, friendly vibe. He only looked at me for a second before examining Cearo, but that second was enough to make me feel intimidated. "How do you know this is her?" he asked. This was the rough voice that tried to command the kelpie.

"I won't give away anymore of her locations," Mom said, "but this is her. You'll have to trust me."

He harrumphed. "Trust the runaway princess?"

Mom crossed her arms and glared at him. "Who else would it be? How else could we have gotten to this point?"

He said nothing in response. Instead, he turned to his troop and said, "No harm will come to this fairy. Let's move out."

"And the humans?" one of the other fairies asked.

"No harm will come to them either!" Mom shouted. They all stood still, looking at her and deciding if they had to follow that order. "I am your princess. No harm will come to the humans. That is an order."

They waited until their leader gave a small nod. "Move out," he commanded again. They all filed through the rocks until we were left with the leader and Mom. "After you," he said to me, and I knew he wasn't asking. Eric followed the troop and I carried Cearo along behind him. Mom walked between us and the leader.

Even though we weren't chained, this procession felt very similar to when the Seelie had captured us. The fairies ahead of us would look back and snicker. Sometimes we'd hear their snide remarks that they thought they were saying under their breath. The only difference was Mom wasn't as worried. One of the fairies, the only girl, I noticed, had dropped back to join her, and they chatted on and off about UnSeelie business that I didn't understand. They didn't seem like friends per se, but Mom was comfortable with her. It bothered me that she didn't seem to feel the tension that I did.

When we finally made it out of the rocks and onto even land, I saw a group of horses waiting. Eric averted his eyes immediately. "More kelpies?" he asked me.

I studied them. So far, I hadn't felt any magic, but maybe they were trained. I searched for other tells. Their manes didn't appear wet or matted. There were no small fins on their ankles. "I don't think so..." I told him.

"Regular horses," Mom told us, having heard our exchange. Eric and I both sighed in relief.

"Willa," the leader's voice barked, "you'll take Cearo and the human carrying her on the black stallion. Tova, you take the other human." The girl fairy—that must be Tova—did not look excited at this idea. Her lips pulled down in a cartoon-worthy frown, her eyebrows turned down steeply over her red eyes, and she sighed heavily before grabbing Eric by his shirt and pulling him along to her horse.

Eric shot me a panicked look. "Sucks to be you," I mouthed. I didn't catch the glare he surely gave me because Mom pushed me toward a black horse. When we got on our way, I said as quietly as I could to Mom, "So now can you explain what's happening?"

"They'd been looking for me. I'd just killed a unicorn, so the blood made it obvious someone was nearby. I figured if I showed myself instead of waiting for them to find me, Jarek would be more inclined to help us."

"Jarek?"

She gestured toward the leader. "He's one of my father's advisors."

"How did they even know you were here?"

"Tova said there'd been rumors. Both kingdoms have spies. News travels."

We stopped to camp when it got so dark that the horses couldn't see where they stepped. I made a beeline for Eric and quickly relayed what Mom had told me. I still didn't trust these fairies' intentions. The fact that they'd even asked what to do about us was enough to show me they didn't want us. Eric seemed to agree. When I asked if Tova had said anything, he replied, "Only the occasional order to 'hang on' and 'don't fall off the horse, stupid human.' I asked where we were going, but she only grunted at me." He glanced at her as she got her horse settled for the night. "And I have to hang onto her again tomorrow. This is going to be the most awkward day and half of my life."

She heard the last bit. She'd come up right behind him, and Eric nearly jumped out of his shoes when she said, "Try five days."

Eric's mouth opened and closed a few times, but when nothing came out, he gave up and climbed into our tent. "Five days, huh?" I asked tentatively.

"And I get to guard you the whole time," she said with fake cheer. Then she climbed into the tent too.

I retrieved Cearo from where I'd left her while the camp was being constructed. Mom and I got to the tent at the same time. She settled in quickly and told us, "Get some sleep, boys. It's five long days of riding to the UnSeelie castle."

Well, that confirmed where we were headed. Mom fell asleep quickly. Eric's and my eyes were wide open though. So were Tova's. She looked like she was trying very hard not to get too close to us, like we would infect her with our human-ness. I kept glancing at her between sketches from Cearo's book, but Eric was openly staring. Eventually it got to her and she flung her red-as-her-eyes hair out of her face so she could glare at us. "What?" she hissed. Eric glared back. I turned away to face Cearo. "I'm not going to kill you in your sleep, stupid human. Now sleep or try to stay on a horse when you're exhausted tomorrow." That wasn't very convincing, but eventually I drifted off.

The next day started way too early for my liking. The sun hadn't even fully risen by the time we set off. Tova had been right about one thing: it was not easy to ride a horse when you're tired. Well, I guess she was right about two things. She hadn't killed us in our sleep either.

We rode as fast as we could without injuring the horses. When we stopped briefly for lunch, I asked why. "We want to get out of Seelie land," Jarek answered. "Strictly speaking, we are trespassing, even if they hardly use this part of their land."

"So when we get to the UnSeelie castle do you think you'll be able to help Cearo?" I glanced at her. I always kept her close in case anything changed. After that one gasp though, she'd gone back to her light, regular breathing. I'd told Mom about it, but she didn't have any ideas to offer.

"Not sure," Jarek said. He was staring at Cearo. And it wasn't a look of concern. It was more like hunger. "Nothing like this has happened before. We'll try." He turned away then. Good thing too, because I wanted to punch him for looking at her like that. I shifted so that my body was partially shielding Cearo and took her hand. As I mentally chided myself for being immature, one of the other fairies, one that hadn't spoken a word to me or Eric yet, skipped up to me looking very jolly.

"Have you tried these?" he asked, holding out a handful of berries. They looked like very dark blueberries. When I didn't answer, he said, "They're lyonberries. We eat them as a desert here." I took one and studied it closely. He watched me expectantly. It didn't seem like he was going to leave me alone until I acknowledged the deliciousness of the berry. Just as I lifted it to my mouth, it was slapped out my hand.

"Don't eat that!" Mom yelled at me. Then she turned to the fairy who'd given it to me. "What do you think you're doing?! Those are poisonous!" She yelled at him for a good five minutes.

"It was an honest mistake, Princess," he swore again and again. "They look very similar to lyonberries, and I was excited to have some again. I'm sorry for my mistake, Princess."

Mom wasn't having it. She batted him away from me until Jarek stepped between them. "Princess," Jarek said calmly, "he made an error, but look, there is no harm done. Let's just be on our way and forget this little incident."

Mom was still breathing heavily, but she relented. When she'd gotten her voice under control, she said, "Don't let it happen again."

All of the fairies in the troop had gathered to watch the spectacle, and now they all turned to their horses looking disappointed. Were they sad that the entertainment was over or that their comrade hadn't succeeded in poisoning me?

That night when we made camp, Mom and Tova had us set up the tent away from the others. Tova watched her fellow fairies more than she watched us. I heard Eric ask her, "The berries were no accident, were they?"

She whispered, "I don't know," but her suspicious gaze told us she thought there was a good chance it had been planned.

The next day, I hoped to avoid everyone when we stopped for lunch. We'd come to a river that Tova said separated the kingdoms. Mom was relieved. Eric was hopeful that we'd be able to slow down a little. I didn't care much whose land we were in. I was happy about the river.

I carried Cearo to the edge of the water. I let it wash over her feet. Damn, no response. I'd hoped being in contact with the element still left within her would get some sort of reaction. I tried not to be too disappointed. It was a long shot.

"Are you going to wash off?" Mom said from behind me.

I jumped startled. "What?"

"We don't have to rush as much now that we're on UnSeelie land. Most of the others are bathing while they have the chance."

"Oh." I looked down the river and sure enough, everyone seemed to be stripping down. "Um..." I glanced at Mom and Cearo and then the ground.

"Tova and I will take Cearo," Mom offered.

I nodded, still feeling awkward. When they were out of sight, I stripped and took the fastest bath of my life. Feeling safer once I was back in my clothes, I waited around for Mom to return with Cearo.

Tova came over alone. "They're fine," she said before I could ask. "The princess wanted some privacy while she washed, and we left Cearo half in the water to see if it would help." I nodded. That's what I'd been planning to do, so I tried to stop worrying. A fairy carrying a bow and arrow came out of the forest and jogged over to us then. "Yes, Ivan?"

"We found a herd of ten unicorns and we need a couple more people to take them all down. Can you two help?"

Tova glanced at the river to see if there were any other options, but everyone else was still bathing. "Alright, let's go."

When we'd gotten about fifty feet into the forest, Ivan motioned for us to stop. "They're behind the brush there," he pointed about thirty more feet ahead. "You approach them slowly," he whispered to me. "They'll sense prey and rush to attack you, and we'll be in the trees ready to shoot as soon as that happens. Tova, come on. Adam is already up there."

"He has no weapons," she indicated my empty hands. "I'll stay with him as guard in case any of the unicorns get too close."

"They won't attack then," Ivan argued.

"You said there were ten. That's more than enough for them to feel like they can take two of us."

Ivan weighed his options. "Alright, fine." With that, he disappeared up into the trees.

Tova and I began inching toward the bushes Ivan had indicated. It was silent around us. We didn't hear the unicorns shuffling in the brush. We didn't hear any signals from Ivan or Adam. We didn't even hear any small animals scurrying. I started to think it was odd. We were about halfway to the bushes and still nothing. Tova and I looked at each other with identical expressions of confusion.

Tova's eyes caught something behind me and she tackled me to the ground. Before my grunt could turn into an actual question, she lifted me back to my feet and pulled me behind her as she ran back toward camp. I looked back to see an arrow poking out from the ground right where I'd been standing.

"Jarek!" Tova yelled when we broke through the trees. Jarek swiveled around from where he was watching the river to face us. His expression turned surprised, then disappointed when his eyes landed on me. "Jarek—Ivan tried—he tried," she took a second to catch her breath before saying, "Ivan tried to shoot him."

Jarek was not shocked in the slightest by the news. He was completely calm as Tova told him what happened. She slowed her words until she stopped in the middle of a sentence. "Jarek?" Jarek gave no response. No 'he did what?!' or 'he'll be punished,' nothing. Tova's eyes widened. "You told him to do it," she whispered. "And Adam with the berries too."

He opened his mouth, looking like he was about to explain something very simple to a child, but he was interrupted by a commotion by the river. There was splashing and Mom was storming over, screaming at the fairies on the bank. Roots burst from the ground, wrapped around the fairies, and threw them away from the river. She jumped into the river and came out a few seconds later supporting Eric.

"Did they just try to drown Eric?" I asked no one in particular. I was too focused on my growing rage. My hands clenched into fists. This was the second time Eric had nearly drowned in this goddamn fairy realm. How dare they! I was just about to pummel Jarek into the ground, but Tova grabbed me. She threw me behind her and faced down Jarek herself. Her red eyes blazed, but Jarek wasn't intimidated.

"Jarek! What is the meaning of this?!" Mom yelled when she was close enough to us.

"Jarek has been trying to kill your humans. He had Ivan try to shoot this one," Tova supplied.

Mom made a string of incomprehensible sounds of anger and attempted to throw Jarek with the roots. Jarek was an earth fairy too though, so he was able to fend her off easily.

"Princess Willa, they are humans—" he started.

"I told you not to hurt them!"

"We do not protect humans," he continued over her. "We do not associate with humans. They are not welcome in our world."

"They are my sons!"

"Any human that wanders into our world must die. That is how our world works, how it stays protected from being invaded by them."

"And any UnSeelie who thinks differently, who shows any empathy at all is put to death, right?"

Jarek appeared confused at this turn in the conversation. "Well...yes. I'm glad you are beginning to underst—"

"So are you going to kill me?" Mom cut him off. Jarek sputtered. "I've broken that law in just about the biggest way possible, haven't I? So are you going to kill me?"

"Well, no, you are the princess—"

"And they are my sons."

"They are hum—"

"THEY. ARE. MY. SONS. Which makes them part of the royal family. Are you going to kill royals, Jarek? For that would be the greatest treason of all."

I could see Jarek's mind turning, looking for a new loophole that could allow him to kill us. After a few moments of silence, Mom turned to the rest of the troop that had gathered and said slowly, "Anyone who so much as attempts to injure my sons in any way will be sentenced to immediate execution." Nearly all of them visibly gulped. Even I was scared of Mom right now. I'd never seen her like this, so mad that she could threaten to kill people and be completely serious in that threat. "Now let's get on with our journey."

There was hardly any talking for the rest of the day and the next. We rode in silence, ate in silence, set up camp in silence. It was only broken to give directions or to ask someone to pass a supply. Mom, Eric, and I kept an even bigger distance from the fairies, except for Tova who seemed firmly on our side now. I don't know what changed exactly, but she no longer looked at us like we were the dirt caked on her shoes. On the morning of day four, I actually heard her and Eric talking quietly as if they were just normal friends. Good, I thought, he could use a friend after the last few weeks we've had. I didn't interrupt. I went about my routine of checking on Cearo. Still no change. The water hadn't done anything. I sighed in disappointment.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked me.

"Hm? Oh yeah. I guess I was just hoping being in the river would help her. It doesn't look like it has."

"We're almost to the castle," Tova said. "We may even get there early if we keep up this pace. If anyone can help her, it's the king."

I know she was just trying to be reassuring, but something still bothered me. "Why would they be willing to help her?" She looked confused at my question. I went on, "I mean, surely they have more important things to do than nursing one fairy back to health. A fairy who has shunned them for their entire rule. Why help her? What's in it for them?"

"They will most likely try to enlist her...mercenary services." At least she was honest. But I didn't want that. I didn't want Cearo to be forced onto their side when she'd made her position clear by not choosing a kingdom at all. If either side got hold of her, they'd use her to tip the balance that she has so carefully kept over the centuries. "But if she's anything like the stories, they won't be able to keep her there for long."

Eric nodded at Tova's assertion. "You know how badass Cearo is. We've seen it. No way she'll stay anywhere she doesn't want to be."

They both sounded very confident. But how much of her power would she still have if she woke up? And that was a big 'if.' I decided not to dwell on it. Instead I would try not to let it get to that point at all. I would find a way to heal her myself, and then she wouldn't owe the UnSeelie anything.

We took the fastest lunch break ever that day. Tova had been right about being early. If we rode hard, we'd get there just after nightfall according to Jarek. We all wanted this journey to be over, so ride hard we did.

The sun was beginning to set when he stopped abruptly. Only when we were about to crash into a fairy ahead of us did I realize that the rest of the troop had formed a circle around us and were slowing to a stop as well.

"What are you doing? Why are we stopping?" Mom asked Jarek.

Jarek dismounted and walked to an enormous tree that had a person-sized hole in it at the base of the trunk. "We will not injure your humans," he said carefully. Mom's expression went from annoyed to livid as she realized what was happening. Eric and I didn't get it yet, but it must be bad. "They are free to go." He held his arm out to the hole in the tree.

Oh, I think I got it now. There's a gate to the human world in there, and Jarek wanted us to go through. I shook my head as Mom said in a no-arguments tone, "No. Let's go to the castle. Now."

The troop brought their circle closer. We wouldn't be able to break through. "Princess, understand this. I am doing this for your protection as well. We cannot bring humans to the UnSeelie castle. How do you think the king will react?"

"I will deal with my father. That is not your concern." She turned to address the troop, "Move out."

"Hold your position," Jarek countered. "Princess, I must insist that you send these humans back to their rightful place. We will let them go without harm, which is already more than we've offered any human before."

Mom spent several minutes thinking before whispering to me, "They made it clear before we got you that they won't let me go back to the human world. I doubt they'll let Cearo go either. But you and Eric can leave if you want to. You won't be in danger anymore." After a moment, she added, "And hey, I escaped once. I could do it again."

I'm ashamed to admit I thought about it for half a second. Not so much for my sake, but for Eric's. He's been dragged through this hell of a world for no reason. He has no connections here and no reason to stay for the inevitable danger that would find us here. If he was the only factor, I would be a terrible brother not to take him back to our world. But he wasn't the only factor. I looked down at Cearo in my arms.

"I'll take care of her, figure something out," Mom said.

I felt Mom's eyes on me, waiting for me to make a decision, hoping I'd choose the safe route but also hoping I'd choose to stay together. I kept my eyes on Cearo. I felt her chest rising and falling ever so slightly as it had been for days. I remembered the tiny blue spot in her iris and how I checked it as we left the river to see that it hadn't grown even after she spent time in the water.

Her finger twitched. Right now, I saw it. Her right index finger just twitched. "I'm not leaving," I whispered. Mom nodded almost imperceptibly. Then she whispered instructions to me.

***

### Chapter 5

CEARO

My hands were small. My feet were small. The whole world was up.

I was a only a few summers old. I could hear Father yelling at Sister again, but I could not understand the words because this memory is old and fuzzy.

I hid at the edge of our tent underneath a pelt. I was still completely exposed, but my child mind did not realize it. Fortunately for me, Father was preoccupied with berating Sister for her lack of fire aptitude and her general kindness. The words were unclear, but I knew the main points of the argument. They had it at least once a day.

Father was not always this way. Or so Sister tells me. She said when she was my age he was the hero of our village. He protected it and everyone living within from the monstrous people from the south. He and a few other men fought the invaders and won without a single woman or child lost.

Father took down the leader. Sister said they had both lost their weapons by the time they found each other, so they fought only with their limbs. They seemed evenly matched as they brawled, both struggling to gain the upper hand. Then there was a great flash of red light, and suddenly the invader could no longer bear Father's touch. His skin reddened and blistered. Smoke rose from his body wherever Father's hands were, and the leader of the invaders screamed and screamed for mercy. Father showed none to this monster of a man who had attempted to take what was his. The whole village praised Father when the invaders had been defeated. They ignored his newly red eyes.

Father was the monster from then on. He made things burn. He watched the smoke and flames with rapture. It started with nonliving things. The wood for the village's cooks, items the village no longer needed, items he stole from the villagers to soothe his need for fire. Soon he moved on to living things. Animals that were to be eaten, villagers that needed to be punished for their crimes, his family because they could not object.

He killed Mother soon after I was born. I have no memories of her. Sister looked after me, tried to protect me from him. He was cruel to her because she did not possess the fire like he did, like I did. He was cruel to me because I did not possess the malice he did. He had one child with the potential to be as great as he, and he strove to foster that. Sister strove to shield my eyes, my ears, my mind from his vicious ideas.

The argument was always the same. He wanted me to practice burning things. She demanded he stop corrupting my young mind. He claimed she was weak. She asserted he was evil. They went back and forth until the sun began to fall. He insisted that I belonged to him and he could do with me what he wanted. She begged him to leave me alone.

Father always won. Her arguments could never stop him, only delay him. I was his and so was she, regardless of his evil, so we must obey him. Her efforts were not in vain though. I loved Sister and did not want her to be sad. I resisted Father's teachings as much as I was able because this pleased Sister. I pretended not to have his talent, only making tiny sparks that fizzed out in moments, until he became frustrated and gave up for the day. I pushed the fire down, buried it deep within me, and hoped it would extinguish completely.

This day's argument was not particularly fearsome. Their yelling was not louder than usual, the space between them was not smaller than usual. Father struck Sister once, twice, three times. The last knocked her to the ground. As usual. I saw a tear escape her regular brown eye and fall down her red, blistered cheek as she lay on the floor. That was unusual. Sister never cried. She did not speak or yell anymore as she moved onto her hands and knees and crawled out of the tent.

Father found me in my hiding place and stole my pelt from me. He threw it the other side of the tent, not looking where it landed. He told me to stand. He told me to close my eyes. A hot, burning hand smacked me down. He told me not to cry. He told me to stand up and close my eyes. He shoved me down with his hand of flame again. He asked if I was mad. He told me to be mad instead of sad. He told me if I was mad, then burn this wood he placed in my hands. Burn it, he said, it will make you feel good. I felt the fire inside me. I shoved it down like he had shoved me. _Down, down, die fire, please die_ , I begged it. No flames came from me. Father shoved me down one last time before turning away.

The lesson was done for today. I bolted out of the tent to find Sister. We would sit together and make each other better. I ran through the village on my tiny legs. The other villagers cleared a wide path. They avoided me out of fear of my father's wrath and the possibility of mine.

I called out for Sister, so she knew I was on my way. I knew right where she would be. We did not like the center of the village where the large fire pit was. We spent our time away from Father at the outer edge of the village near the trees. It was cool and quiet there.

I saw Sister swinging from a branch and called out again. She did not answer, which was unusual. Maybe it was part of a new game. I got closer and saw that she had acquired a rope. She was dangling from it, without using her hands. This was a magical game. I shook her foot and asked her how she did it. She only stared down at me.

"Tell me, Sister, how?" I shook her foot again. "Sister, why will you not tell me?" She kept staring down at me, unblinking. "Sister?" I shook her harder. "Sister?!" I did not like this game anymore. I continued to call her and shake her. I started crying because she refused to answer me. "Sister?!"

A woman from the village came up behind me. I heard her gasp. When I turned, she was looking up at Sister, horrified. "Sister won't answer me," I told her between teary, shuddering breaths. She grabbed me and carried me away.

"Sister!" I screamed back at the hanging body.

***

### Chapter 6

DAVID

I made sure Mom had a firm grasp around Cearo before I got off our horse and stepped toward the gate. Eric looked bewildered, but when I motioned for him follow, he did. He wouldn't let me go alone.

Jarek stepped aside to let us past him. As promised, he made no move to hurt us. We stepped through the hole in the tree, and immediately the scenery changed. We stood in a bush. We pushed our way out to the bank of a river. I jogged down to an area where the trees on the side were thicker.

"You want to let me in on what we're doing?" Eric asked. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere in France. Come on, we can hide in here." I sat down behind a tree and started counting.

"Hide from what? Why did we even leave?"

"We're going back. Mom said to give them half an hour. They'll poke their heads through to make sure we're gone, then they'll leave. We'll follow their tracks. Now be quiet so they think we've walked off."

I estimated about ten minutes went by before I heard some shuffling in the direction of the gate. There were a few mumbled words before the shuffling ceased. I waited a few minutes before peeking around the tree. I could see where Eric and I came through the bush, and two new sets of prints mixed in with ours. They stopped and turned back after only a few feet.

"They're gone. We'll wait a little while longer so they can get moving."

"So we're going to follow them to the castle?"

"Yeah," I said without thought.

"And what do we do when we get there? There's going to be hundreds of fairies ready to kill us on sight."

"Mom said to look for Tova. She'll get us in."

"This seems like a flimsy plan to me."

I huffed in frustration. "Well, sorry we couldn't lay out every detail in the two minutes we had."

"I know, I know. Let's just not barge in there, okay? You look like you're ready to sprint after them."

I looked down at myself. He was right. My whole body was tense and positioned to run toward the gate at any second. I knew we couldn't go just yet, but my muscles apparently didn't get that memo. I tried to relax. It was much more difficult that it should have been.

"You hate not checking on Cearo, don't you?"

"Her finger moved." I demonstrated. It was a tiny movement, but I couldn't help but feel like any movement at all was a sign she'd get better. "Right before we left."

"We'll get back to her. Let's just not die before then." He kept talking to distract me for rest of our downtime. He told me some of the things he'd learned about Tova. For starters, she was a lot older than she looked, 39 next month, but that was hardly surprising anymore. Fairies stopped aging when they reached young adulthood, so none of them looked their actual age, not even Mom, who we learned a few weeks ago is 127. Despite being an adult in human terms, Tova's still treated like a teenager by most of the fairies she knows. She's young compared to them, as they remind her frequently. She hates that she isn't taken seriously, which is why she puts so much effort into her army role.

Tova enlisted at only fifteen and trained harder than anyone in her class. She excelled in combat training and quickly became known as the fiercest, and sometimes dirtiest, fighter in her class. Her skills helped her rise through the ranks faster than anyone before her. Jarek's troop is the most prestigious in the army, and Tova is the youngest fairy, and only female, ever to be part of it. "After what happened to us, she's gunning for Jarek's job now."

I chuckled at the thought. She'd get it eventually. I wondered if Jarek would even see it coming. I'd be first in line to congratulate her on taking that bastard down. I glanced at Eric who was grinning at whatever he was thinking about. Okay, maybe I'd be second in line. "When did she start to like you anyway?"

After a pause, he said in obvious wonderment, "I have no idea."

A few minutes later, I asked, "You ready to go back?" He stood up with no hesitation and made his way over to the gate. I was amazed that he really didn't seem to mind.

We stuck our heads through to make sure we were alone. It was silent in the fae world, so we stepped the rest of the way through. The sun had set almost completely, but so many horses are easy to follow.

Unfortunately, it was a lot slower on foot. The castle came into view after several hours that would've been only a couple had we been on horseback. It was much prettier than the Seelie castle. The walls were white and practically glowed in the moonlight. It looked like a fairytale castle, but if anything, that made me more nervous. The nicest looking things in this world always turned out to be the most deadly.

The castle was set in the middle of a massive field. The trees ended abruptly about half a mile out, giving any guards plenty of warning of anyone coming. How were we supposed to signal Tova? I couldn't see her from this far, and no way was I leaving the trees.

"Humans!" an emphatic whisper came out of nowhere.

Eric and I both jumped and tensed for a fight. We put our backs together so he couldn't sneak up on both of us. "Show yourself, fairy." Eric didn't let any fear into his voice. If I wasn't so nervous, I'd be impressed.

A relatively tall, but lanky earth fairy stepped out from behind a tree with his hands raised to show he wasn't a threat. "Tova sent me. I'm Randolph."

"How do we know that?"

"She said to tell you 'David would've won the bake-off if Eric hadn't slipped dirt in with the cinnamon.'"

"What?!" I said louder than I should have.

"Uh—" Eric stammered.

"Is he talking about that contest I was in when I was twelve? You sabotaged me?!" When I was twelve, I'd come up with my own recipe for apple cinnamon empanadas. I entered a baking contest and lost. And I didn't just lose; people were absolutely disgusted. I was crushed at the time.

"I was ten! I just wanted to see the look on people's faces."

"That was my first baking contest! And you ruined it!"

"I didn't mean to. I was just being a kid."

"I didn't enter anymore for two years because I thought I was terrible!"

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry, but can you let this go?"

"It really isn't the best time," Randolph cut in.

He was right. This conversation was far from over though. As soon as we weren't in immediate danger of death, Eric was going to get it. I took a deep breath, then said, "Okay, Randolph, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to take you to the castle via one of the evacuation routes. Follow me." He led us to a small hole in the ground and slipped through. He covered it as soon as we were in. It was pitch black until we turned a corner. There was a dim light ahead, which became a torch when we got close enough to see. The tunnel turned again at the light and then again and again until I felt like we were back under the rocks by Cearo's cottage.

"Why is it so twisted?" I asked.

"It's a maze. If any Seelie find these tunnels, they'll be hopelessly lost," Randolph answered.

"Are we going to be hopelessly lost? Because I'm already a little dizzy."

"Just follow me. I work in the castle, so I know the way." Thankfully, we weren't twisting and turning for hours like we had on our way to Cearo's cottage. Randolph knew exactly where he was going, and we were in—or rather under—the castle in less than an hour I'd say. "Stay here a minute. I'll make sure the coast is clear." He climbed a few steps and walked through a door. A few seconds later, his hand came back through to motion us to follow.

We came out into a hallway that was even narrower than the tunnels. It stretched a few yards to a door on our left, and steps led up to who-knows-where on our right. Randolph chose the steps. "Where are we?" I whispered.

"These are the servants' stairs," he replied. So that's what he did here. We spiraled up the stairs a few flights before he led us through what felt like another maze. Man, servants had to be really good at mazes. Finally, we stopped at a nondescript door and he stood aside for us.

I opened the door only an inch, so I could see what I was walking into. The hinges squeaked, and Mom turned around from the desk she was sitting at. Relieved to see her, I stepped into the room and let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Oh thank God," Mom said as she came over to hug Eric and me. "And thank you, Randolph."

He bowed and replied, "You're welcome, Your Highness." Then he closed the door to the servants' stairs behind him.

There were rooms branching off of this one. I could see beds in both of them. I wanted to collapse onto one at the sight, but I noticed tear tracks on Mom's cheeks. "What happened?" I asked her.

She was silent for a minute, trying to figure out how to say it. "When I got here, I went to speak with my mother and father. I was going to tell them about you two and that you were coming. But when I got there, it was only my father." It didn't quite click in my head what she meant until she took a deep breath and said, "My mother passed away."

"Oh," I said lamely. She was crying softly, and Eric and I both put our arms around her, but I didn't really know what else to do. "I'm sorry, Mom." What else do I say? That definitely wasn't enough. But my brain was giving me nothing.

She brushed me off after a moment. "It's okay...it's okay," she said sounding like she was trying to convince herself. "You boys must be tired. Get some sleep." She pushed us to the bed.

"What about you?"

"I'm just going to finish up this letter and I'll join you." She sat back down at the desk and resumed writing. I wondered what was so important that it could distract her from both her grief and exhaustion. Those thoughts soon melted away though. This was the most comfortable bed I'd ever been in. I stretched out to the max, since the bed was also gigantic. I was asleep in no time.

I didn't remember much from my dream. Only the image of a small girl and a profound sorrow stayed with me. I shook it off as I sat up. Eric was still asleep next to me. I got out of bed carefully to avoid waking him and stretched. I walked into the front room and past the desk and noticed the letter Mom had been writing last night. It was addressed to "Mother." Oh, she'd been writing to her mom. I felt bad that Mom would never get to say whatever she'd put in there. I left it alone on the desk.

I went over to a window and peeked through the curtains. The sun had risen, and it looked to be midmorning. From here, I could see a courtyard set in the middle of the castle, with fairies roaming about. A few of what I guessed to be servants bustled quickly across to perform their duties, while one small group was strolling leisurely through. On the opposite side from me, I noticed a girl looking up at my window. It was Tova. Her hair was a little less crazy, but she was still in uniform. We made eye contact, and she nodded before walking off. I didn't know what that was about, but I left the window in case any of the other fairies decided to look up.

Mom was stirring in her room when I left the window and soon she'd walked into Eric's and mine and was shaking Eric awake as well. "Okay, we can't hide you two in here forever, so it's time you met your grandfather." A knock came at the door, and Mom looked panicked for a second. "Don't make any noise."

She slipped through the door and we heard a muffled conversation. When she came back in, she was dragging a large basin of water into the room. "Well, the servant girls already thought I was crazy, so no harm done, I guess."

"Why do they think you're crazy?"

"Well, before it was because of my constant chatter about humans. Now I won't let them help me bathe and dress. That should be nothing by comparison." She tossed some washcloths at us. "You two clean up. I sent for Tova. She'll be here soon."

A short time later, there was another knock, and Mom opened the door for Tova. "Tova's going to accompany us to the royal quarters," Mom told us. "They're on the other side of the castle, so people are going to see you. Stick close to us so no one tries anything."

She was right. People saw us. And they reacted. Some tried to attack or to alert guards so that they'd attack, but one move from Tova shut them up. Others ran away in fear, and Tova had to silence them before they screamed at the top of their lungs and caused a panic. A few just gaped at us. Tova left those ones alone. Afterall, who could blame them?

When we finally made it to our destination, we could hear yelling inside the next room. "Humans?! In the castle? How?!"

Mom opened the door and silence fell. A guard was leaning away from another man. I assumed this was the king and he'd been the one yelling. "You are dismissed," Mom calmly told the guard, and he walked briskly out, looking relieved.

The king, our grandfather, was looking back and forth between Eric and me, wide-eyed. "What is going on here?"

"This is Eric and David—"

He cut her off, "I knew you liked humans, but I never thought you would have the audacity to actually bring some here!"

"Father—"

"No, this is too far, Willa."

"Father, they are my sons."

His face went white. "S-sons?" The most awkward minute of all time passed.

"Hi," Eric said quickly.

He looked like he was about to faint. Mom went over to him and helped him sit. "I...I don't know what to say...Willa, you...?"

"Yes, and that makes them your grandchildren whether you like it or not."

"Yes, yes, so it does." He still seemed more shocked than upset. I took it as a good sign. At least he wasn't trying to off us already.

"Grant them amnesty."

He looked up at her in confusion. "For what? What have they done?"

She answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and I thought it kind of was in this world. "They've existed here. Most of the other fae want to or have been trying to kill them. Grant them amnesty."

"Oh, right, done. I will announce it at today's court meeting." He did it without much thought because he was still processing everything. He ran his hands over his face and then got up to pace. "First Cearo and now humans," he muttered to himself.

A few hours later, we were brought into a room dominated by a circular table. "Is this where the Knights of the Round Table held their meetings?" I asked. Mom shushed me and pushed me into a seat.

The court meeting didn't start off that well. It was mostly a debate as to whether or not Eric and I should be killed immediately. We, of course, couldn't say a word as they decided our fate right in front of us. When they found out we'd already been granted amnesty, they raged.

"That is lunacy! We can't let humans stay here!"

"They deserve to die and should be made an example!"

"King Nerian, with all due respect, this is a much too dangerous move."

"Kill them now before word even gets out!"

"No, word has already gotten out. Kill them in a public execution to reassure the people."

"They could bring an army of humans here to destroy us, Your Highness. Do you recall why we're in this world in the first place?"

The last remark finally prompted a response from him. "Of course I do," he said harshly. "No one knows better than I. My own father fought them, told me everything he saw. Willa, how likely are these two to cause the humans to invade?"

"The human world has changed these past centuries. Humans don't even believe we're real anymore. David and Eric have no desire to go to war with this world,"—well, I'd consider destroying the Seelie if I could, but I didn't say that—"but even if they did, the humans would consider them mentally unstable for even suggesting it."

"However unlikely, it's still possible. History has shown us what humans can do."

"Yes, why take the risk?"

And the debate turned back to killing us. Soon Mom had had enough. "Quiet, quiet! I won't debate this anymore. There is another reason we have to keep them alive, a reason you'll want to keep them alive," she added, since the fact that we're her family and she loves us clearly held no importance to them. When they finally settled down, she dropped a bomb on them.

"The water elementals have shown themselves to David."

***

### Chapter 7

CEARO

The village held a funeral pyre for Sister that night. Father set her aflame. I would have done it if he had let me. I would have done it for her. His flames had no right to touch her anymore. When the embers had gone out, he swept her up in a pot and carried her to the tomb where she could finally rest.

The villagers all showed me sympathy that night. They patted my head and whispered their condolences. But it was short-lived.

I was Sister's age now. None of the villagers had spoken to me in years. They were too afraid. Father had only gotten more vicious, burning anyone who looked at him wrong. Everyone did their best to avoid his notice. Which meant they also avoided me. They stepped aside when I walked by. They did not make eye contact. Their eyes burned holes in my back once I had passed by.

Children caught on quickly. No one played with me. I watched their games until they noticed and moved away. Father tried to use this to motivate me. He said I should burn the other children if they were not nice to me. I did not see how that would help. I did not want to be nice to Father when he burned me.

I still resisted his lessons. Or at least resisted what he was expecting me to learn. Sometimes I even thought I had succeeded in putting out the fire within me for good. But I did learn in these lessons. I learned control. I learned how to shield myself from his words, from the emotions they brought forth, from the fire that threatened to rise. I no longer reacted to anything he said or did to me. Nothing could penetrate me.

Today, after another failed attempt to get me to set our neighbor's tent, the blanket I held, a piece of wood, anything on fire, I walked away calmly, not even bothering to look at him when he kicked me to the ground. I got back to my feet as if he was not even there.

I climbed a tree at the edge of the field where the other children played. They did not notice me up here as much. The wind blew around me, the coolness comforting to my always-healing burns. It blew my long hair back before changing direction. Now it blew ahead, and my hair tickled my back before it was swept past my shoulders. It changed again and again, and I made a game of trying to catch it. I leapt from branch to branch trying to keep up with its new direction. And I was laughing. I only ever laughed when I played with the wind.

A child yelled from down below. I paused to see the cause. One of the larger boys was picking on a smaller boy. I recognized them. The large one was the son of one of the few men in the village that my father did not hate. It was mostly because he enjoyed the entertainment my father provided when he hurt people. The small boy was the son of a woman my father attacked quite frequently. I did not know what she did to offend him.

The small boy held a scrap of meat. He was not doing anything interesting with it, so I did not understand the fuss. He was just trying to eat it. It was probably the only food he had had all day.

Just let him eat his food.

The large boy lunged for him, and he ran off. I heard him ask the large boy to stop. The large boy did not stop. They ran in circles down below, and my eyes followed until I grew bored. Then the wind started blowing in circles around me again, so I resumed trying to catch it.

Before my attention completely left them, I saw that none of the other children were caught in the same whirlwind that I was. I had noticed it before and occasionally wondered why. But then the wind would snatch me up in its game again and I would forget to care. And so it did today.

A few minutes later I was laughing again. The wind had me spiraling down the tree at the moment. When I reached the lowest branch, I knew it would start going back up. I was preparing myself. I would merely tap the lowest branch before I began climbing again. I would finally catch it this time.

But on the lowest branch, I slipped. I fell to the ground and landed on something sort of soft and lumpy. It had not hurt so I was still laughing and ready to climb again. But then I was heaved backward. I landed on the actual ground this time. The large boy that I had been watching earlier stood over me and glared at me, furious.

Oh, he must have been the soft, lumpy thing. Oh well.

I got to my feet, but he pushed me down again. I did not speak, but I stood again. He was about to push me again, when a girl came up to him and whispered in his ear. He still looked angry, but there was a tinge of fear too, and he walked away.

I was about to climb my tree when I heard someone shuffling closer. It was the small boy with the meat. It now had a bite in it. The small boy watched me, silently but not with the revulsion I was used to. I cocked my head at him in question. He said nothing in answer. He tore off a piece of the meat and threw the unbitten piece to me. Then he turned around and ran toward the village.

I looked down at the scrap of meat. It had landed near my feet. I picked it up and wiped off the dirt. It was perfectly good.

_Why had he given this to me?_ He had given it to me, I was almost sure. I thought about what I had watched earlier. The large boy chasing him, how it had most likely continued even when I went back to my game. Then I fell and landed on the large boy. I stopped him from chasing the small boy. Not only that, but afterward the large boy had left the field entirely.

The small boy must think I did it on purpose. He thinks I defended him.

I stared at the gift in my hands. I had no intention to defend him or involve myself at all. But now I wanted to deserve this scrap.

I took a bite as I started toward the village. I turned a corner and saw Father with the small boy's mother. She was cowering from him, though he was not doing anything particularly violent this time. One of his hands was clutching her dress, singeing it, but not her skin. He tugged her closer, but she leaned farther away.

Suddenly the small boy ran in between them. He tried to push Father away with his tiny hands. Obviously it did nothing to physically harm Father, but it angered him nonetheless. He hit the small boy so hard that he fell to the ground. Father was winding up to kick him, but now it was my turn to run between them. I crossed my arms in front of me, ready to take the kick. It did not come right away.

I glanced up at Father. He was staring at me in shock. "What are you doing? Move aside."

I hesitated. I looked back at the small boy and his mother. They looked just as surprised as Father. The small boy still held what was left of his own scrap. I held mine. I shook my head at Father.

He picked me up and draped me over his shoulder. Then he kicked the small boy. Over and over. I kicked and punched and yelled, but I was tiny and it did no good. I was stuck in his grasp and could do nothing as I heard the soft, pained cries of who could have been my only friend.

When Father finished, he turned around to carry me to our tent. I saw the small boy crying and bleeding on the ground, his skin already blistering in places. I dropped my scrap.

Inside our tent, Father beat me as hard as the small boy. The small boy would not know though.

***

### Chapter 8

DAVID

Utter silence. That's what met Mom's announcement. Everyone was gaping at us. King Nerian was the first to speak. "The elementals...they've shown themselves?"

Mom nodded. "To David. Twice." She glanced at me for confirmation, and I was quick to nod with her.

"Did anyone else witness it?"

"The three of us and Cearo all saw them the first time. Only David, Cearo, and a kelpie were there the second time."

One of the other fairies chimed in, "How do we know you aren't lying to protect him? Does he even know what he saw?"

"And of course, we can't ask Cearo," another joined in.

"They were there," Mom stated. "If you need further proof of his connection with water, just look at the kelpies. Jarek and his whole troop witnessed how the lake kelpies defended him. How else would you explain that?"

"Willa is right," King Nerian called out over the other muttering voices. "There's no way a regular human could survive, let alone gain the loyalty of, a kelpie." He paused to think. "I believe the water elementals want this boy. He may be human for now, but I think he will be fae soon enough. We cannot interfere. If they've shown themselves because of him, he may be able to reconcile us with the elementals."

This made the others come around, some more reluctantly than others. "What about the other human?" one of them asked.

King Nerian didn't let it turn into another debate. "He stays as well. He may form a connection with the elementals too. I will not do anything to alienate them." After that, he dismissed the others. Mom, Eric, and I all breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone. "They will inform the staff of this decision. It will spread to the people at large as well. Still, I caution you both to stay within the castle in case of any unhappiness that arises."

"I wanted to request Tova as our personal guard," Mom said.

"Granted."

When we left the room, Tova was already outside the door waiting for us. "Since they're not dead, I assume it went well?"

"As well as expected," Mom answered. "You are to accompany them anytime they leave my quarters."

"Understood."

"Boys, you understand that too, right?"

Eric looked like he wanted to protest having a babysitter, but I elbowed him in the ribs before he could say so. Honestly, we were probably going to need Tova around. "Yes," we said together.

When we reached a quiet hall, I asked the question I'd been dying to ask since we arrived at the castle. "Mom, where's Cearo?"

"They took her to a private guest chamber until we know what to do to help her. She's guarded around the clock, so don't worry."

"Can I see her?"

"You can go later. First, I want to show you something." She stopped at a tall, heavy door. She pushed it open to reveal the largest library I'd ever seen. Well, it might have been, but I couldn't accurately compare it to Cearo's, since I couldn't tell the full depths of hers. "This is the royal library. The texts go back to ancient times. Besides Cearo's own collections, this is where we're most likely to find something to help her."

I looked around in awe. There had to be an answer in here. And I would find it. "Where's the oldest section?" I asked. I thought that was the most likely place to find record of a similar event, since everyone claimed this had rarely, if ever, happened. That only meant it hadn't happened recently enough to be remembered.

Mom pointed me to the left wall, the shelves farthest back. "Good, I'm glad you're getting right to it. I'm not sure what our long-term plan is going to be, but it looks like we're going to be here for a while anyway, so I was hoping you'd both spend your time on this."

"Yes," I answered immediately.

"Sure, why not," came Eric's reply. Not quite as enthusiastic, but what else was he going to do? He followed me to the old section to get started.

Hours later, the sun was no longer streaming through the windows, giving us light, and I decided to call it a day. We'd skimmed through about twenty books and hadn't found anything useful. We'd stuck mostly to medical texts, but I was thinking tomorrow I might try looking for information on how the elementals work. What is their life cycle with and without fairies? How and why do they choose to live inside fairies? And since Cearo lost hers, how could I get them back for her?

I met Tova at the door to the library. Eric was already there chatting with her. "Finally," she said when she saw me. "This has got to be the most boring job of all time, watching you two read." She started leading us away, looking excited whenever another fairy passed us and she got to intimidate them.

Randolph came around a corner and saw her scaring away a fairy that'd been staring at us fearfully, and said, "Do you enjoy having a reputation for being foul and generally unpleasant?"

"I don't hate it," she replied.

"Oh, good, because you're really doing nothing to change it."

"What do you want, Randolph?"

"To pass by unscathed by your malicious glare."

"Sorry, but this is the first action I've had all day, so no one's exempt." She walked past him, glare in place. He backed away from her.

I started to recognize where we were. We were heading straight back to Mom's rooms. "Tova? Can we go by Cearo's room? Mom said I could see her later."

She stopped and turned to me. "Can we do it tomorrow? I'd really like to be off human duty." I didn't say anything, but she saw the disappointment in my face. She sighed. "Randolph!" she called.

He came running around the corner. "How may I be of service, Your Maliciousness?"

"Cut it out. I assume you overheard the dilemma while you were lurking over there?"

"I don't know what you're talk—"

"Great, take David to Cearo."

"I thought you were to accompany them around the castle?" he asked.

She looked very annoyed. "Do you ever stop eavesdropping?" He just smiled.

Eric offered, "He can come with me back to the room. It's not much farther. I think."

"No!" Tova said quickly. I looked at Randolph to find him smirking. I wondered what that was about. "Randolph, just go with David. It'll be fine. The wing they've got Cearo in is mostly deserted anyway. You know where it is, right?"

"Yes, Your Foulness. I will see it to it that David arrives there and back safely." She rolled her eyes at him before tugging Eric along toward Mom's rooms. Randolph turned down a new hallway. "Follow me."

I chose not to comment on his smug look. I was tired and just wanted to see for myself that Cearo was alright before I crashed for the night. Tova had been right about this part of the castle being deserted. We didn't run into anyone until we got to a hall that dead-ended at a door, flanked on each side by a guard.

Randolph addressed them, "David is here to see Cearo. I will wait here." He motioned for me to go ahead, but when I took a step closer, the guards moved to block my path.

"No one is to enter by order of King Nerian," one of the guards said.

I looked back at Randolph who shrugged at me. "But she's my..." I started. What was she though? She wasn't my girlfriend. That sounded too trivial to describe our connection. But, nothing had actually happened between us yet, so 'girlfriend' was also too significant at the same time. "I know her personally," I finally said. "I helped bring her here."

"We cannot let anyone enter."

"But—"

"It's orders. Now leave the area or we will move you."

I wanted to protest more, but the guard who'd spoken put his hand on the hilt of his sword. I looked to Randolph again in a last-ditch attempt. "Can't you do anything?"

"Sorry, but I don't have the power to override their orders. I don't have much power at all."

I didn't want to just walk away, but I could feel the guards getting ready to pick us up and carry us away, and Randolph was starting to look nervous. "Fine," I huffed. "Let's go."

I stomped all the way to Mom's rooms. I didn't say a word because I knew if I did, I'd yell them. This was ridiculous. I wasn't allowed to see her? I was allowed to see my own...my own.... Well, she was my something! And I should be allowed to see her and make sure she's okay! These UnSeelie were driving me insane.

I nearly ran over Tova while I was lost in my pissed off thoughts. She looked to be in deep thought as well, but more pleasant ones. We both jolted back to reality an inch away from crashing into each other. She noticed my scowl and her eyebrows dropped into the glare I was used to. "What's wrong?" she asked as she scanned for threats. Randolph put his hands up in innocence.

"They wouldn't let me see Cearo," I said.

"Who?"

"The guards posted at her door."

"They said they had orders from the king not to allow anyone in," Randolph said.

"Oh." She relaxed from her defensive position. "Look, David, it was probably a misunderstanding. I'll go with you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," I answered sullenly. I made it the remaining twenty feet to the room without either of the babysitters. When I got there, Mom wasn't around for me to complain to. I threw myself onto the bed without a word, and Eric thankfully didn't prod me.

After more dreams of the sad little girl, I hopped out of bed, more anxious than ever to see Cearo. There was no way the girl in my dreams was Cearo, but she did look like a mini, fire fairy version of her. I couldn't help but feel like my subconscious was trying to tell me something in these dreams.

I opened the door and found Tova already waiting there. I walked in the direction of Cearo's room without even bothering to ask her to come along. I didn't need to. I heard her footsteps following me.

I was hoping there'd be different guards this morning. I was immensely disappointed when I recognized the same two as yesterday. "You're still not allowed in," the first guard said.

Tova stopped me from replying. "This is David, Princess Willa's son," she told them. "He has the right to enter."

"No exceptions, King Nerian's orders."

"You don't get it. He is the king's grandson."

"And he's still not allowed in."

Tova's red eyes were flashing in anger. "Let's try it this way. He's also Cearo's primary caretaker. He needs to check on her."

"That's an even weaker reason. What care could he possibly provide?"

"Look, you idiots," Tova snarled, putting her most intimidating face on. "You're going to let him in right now or the princess will be hearing about this. She'll, of course, take it to the the king and guess who'll be out of a job? Now open the damn door."

"You little—"

"Stop, stop, stop," the second guard interjected. He had his hands up between his partner and Tova, and he was looking at me sympathetically. It was the first time he'd spoken, and already he didn't seem half as rude as the first guard. "I'm sorry, kid, but King Nerian came around this morning, and I asked him about you because of last night and all. He specifically said that you are not allowed inside. I'm sorry."

I was dumbfounded. He banned me? On purpose? "Why?"

The nice guard sighed. "I don't know. But we can't break orders." He looked like he wanted to say something else after that, but he glanced at his partner and decided against it.

I didn't know what else to do, so I turned on my heel and muttered to Tova, "Let's go to the library."

I went back every morning and every evening for a week, praying that the rules had changed or at least the guards. I was never allowed in though and it was always the same two—did they ever sleep? The first would always tell me to get lost while the second watched sadly. I kept trying to bring it up with Mom to see if she would talk to King Nerian, but I hardly saw her. It seemed like she was constantly dealing with one court issue after another, like she'd never left her role as Princess.

I was becoming insanely frustrated and a bit depressed. The dreams of the little Cearo look-alike hadn't stopped and were getting increasingly vivid. Last night I watched her be beaten and burned by a fire fairy man while he yelled at her in a language I couldn't understand. I was disturbed that my mind could come up with this stuff. It had to mean something was wrong.

I spent all of my waking time—minus the time pestering the guards—obsessively researching. I realized that when Cearo had been taken from me, I also lost access to her book. It didn't really matter, since it was almost all drawings, but it still would've made me feel better to have it.

Instead I had this massive collection to page through for information that may not even exist. I'd found a few other accounts of elementals leaving a fairy, and even one where the fairy lived for two days after the incident, but they weren't filling me with much hope. Most fairies died within minutes of losing their elementals as Mom had said in the beginning. The one who'd held on for two days had been on a slow path toward death for months beforehand, and losing his elemental only served to accelerate the process.

I also read up on how elementals came to be within fairies in the first place. It looked like it could happen one of two ways: a new elemental would be born within a fairy when the fairy was born, or a free elemental would decide it liked a particular human and just sort of combine with them. I was still unclear on exactly how that combining worked, but a few accounts described it as feeling like a second soul entered your body. All of them described it as a very good, if not euphoric, feeling, but it kind of freaked me out. These accounts were few and far between though. Being born with your elemental was far more common and was actually the only way fairies had been created in nearly a thousand years by some estimates.

Nevertheless, I studied what I could. There were stories of humans that tried to entice the elementals into choosing them. The practices could be as extreme as ritual sacrifices where a victim would be killed by drowning or fire, or live burial, to honor the element. Other times it would be simpler, like a swimming race or proving your bravery. None of these really worked. It seemed that the elementals looked for a someone with an underlying personality to match the elemental rather than a person actively trying to prove themselves worthy. Cearo had that personality though. Afterall, all four kinds of elementals had eventually chosen her. I thought about how I could get them to do it again.

I finished reading a story of a man that had been chosen by a fire elemental after single-handedly defeating an army of invaders that were trying to destroy his village. It was far from a first-hand account. The story was more of a legend it was so old, so I doubted it was accurate. It sounded like it worked though. Even if the story was exaggerated, his bravery must have earned him the fire elemental or it wouldn't be remembered at all.

Cearo was in no state to fight a battle right now, but that was alright. I didn't really want her fire elemental back anyway. I mean, maybe as a last resort, but she didn't seem to like that one much before, and neither did I. But the story gave me hope that the elementals could be enticed under the right circumstances. I was brainstorming ways I could convince an air elemental to choose her again or bring what was left of her water elemental back to the surface. Elementals couldn't die, so I think it's just hiding inside her somewhere, afraid of being severed from her, like the rest. I wondered if I could coax it out.

I was still deep in thought by the time I got to Cearo's room for my nightly round with the guards. The mean guard was getting more and more exasperated with each attempt. He sighed as soon as I came into view. Tonight I didn't have much energy, so I ignored him and looked at the nice guard who shook his head at me. I turned around without saying anything. Just before I was out of earshot, I heard the mean guard grumble, "I hear the human in the dungeons is just as irritating. Dumb humans."

I stopped in my tracks and looked at Tova. She had stopped too, and her eyes widened while staying focused straight ahead. She was trying very hard not to look at me. She knew something. "Tova, what is he talking about? What human in the dungeons?"

"It is not your concern."

"I thought you UnSeelie didn't capture humans. Why is there one in the dungeons?"

"It's not important."

"It is important! Tell me now."

She rolled her eyes like it was no big deal, but I could tell she was nervous about how I'd react. "We found him when we were looking for Princess Willa. He was wandering around Seelie land, calling your names. At the time, we were only cared that he seemed to know Willa, and we thought he'd have information on her whereabouts. He ended up being totally useless in finding her, but he was able to warn us about the two humans, David and Eric, that'd she likely be with. A couple of the others in the troop brought him back here when we realized he had no idea where Willa was. At first they held him for information, found out what he knew about Willa and where she's been and the existence of you two, but now I think they're saving him as a potential bargaining chip."

My mouth was hanging open when she finished. This can't be happening. No way. "This human, did he tell you his name?"

"Sid."

***

### Chapter 9

CEARO

The small boy never became my friend. But even as he grew into a bigger, but still relatively small man, I continued to try to deserve his gift from years before. This day would be my final attempt. The memory is crystal clear. I could never forget the day. No matter how much I wanted to.

Father had been experimenting over the last few years. No longer content with burning people's outsides, he had found a way to burn their insides. He merely had to touch a fingertip to their heads and fire would be sent through their bodies. I could not tell if he actually burned them or if he had just found a way to make them feel so. Either way, their screams were horrifying. Their hearts stopped beating if it lasted more than a minute.

Father had not practiced his new technique in a few moons, and that meant we were due. Everyone in the village was on edge. I could feel the tension in the air even from inside our tent. Father was giving me another lesson. I had not improved over the years, but he was stubborn. As long as my eyes were red, he would try to bring the fire out of me. Today he had lit a small flame on a log, and all I had to do was enlarge it. I pretended I could not do it.

He slapped me, but I remained upright. A breeze drifted through the opened flap of our tent, cooling my heated cheek. I took a deep breath and stared back at Father over the flame between us. I did nothing as the breeze flitted back the way it had come and blew out the flame along the way.

That was enough for today. He threw the log at me in frustration, but it was no longer even warm. I let it drop to the ground before leaving the tent to get food.

Everyone I passed avoided my eyes. That was nothing new, but today they seemed more scared than usual. I watched one woman as her eyes moved carefully around me, and then her head dropped to the ground at the sight of something behind me. I looked back to find Father following me. It was strange as he never accompanies me to mealtime.

He is probably only going so he can pick out his next victim. Today's failed lesson was one too many.

His ire was going to be triggered soon enough. I decided not to feel guilty. I was going to take my food and ignore whatever happened with him.

The small boy—man—passed me in a rush, carrying a pot nearly as big as he was. He did not see Father in time. I do not think they actually collided, but they would have if he had not swerved to avoid Father and dropped his pot in the process. It shattered, and a small shard landed in Father's foot. The cut was tiny. It would heal by the end of the day. But Father had chosen his victim.

Father grabbed him by the arm and dragged him past me. He dragged him past the village center until I could no longer see them. I knew where they were going. Father had a special place on the edge of the village where he tortured people. That way if they died, he could leave their bodies there without it stinking up the village center.

I was frozen in place. I did not want to be involved.

_Pick anyone else,_ I urged Father in my mind. But he would not.

What do I do, what do I do, anyone but him, anyone at all but him.

I forced my feet to move. As soon as I got them started, they carried me at a sprint. Father came into view. He shoved Small Boy to the ground. He raised a finger, just about to touch it to Small Boy's head.

The self-preserving part of my mind made a last-ditch effort to stop me. It was useless.

I tackled Father. He threw me off before he even knew it was me. I picked myself up and put myself between him and the cowering Small Boy.

When he looked at me, I thought flames would materialize from his gaze. "Get out of my way." His voice was low and dangerous. I tried to tell myself I had heard it all before, but this was a new level. I shook my head anyway.

He flung me to the side. I moved back in between them. He punched and flung me to the side. I moved back in between them. He punched and kicked me several times. I fell in front of him but stood back up moments later. He punched and kicked more. I stood again. I had only made it to my knees when he started again. When that round was over, I pushed myself onto all fours, getting ready to stand. He kicked me down. I moved my arms beneath me again. I had not lifted myself at all when he began kicking again.

I felt a rib crack. And then a second. Then my nose. And another rib. He did not let up even though I could no longer move. I coughed and felt a wetness on my lips.

"Get out of the way," he said when he finally took a break. I was lying on the ground with my face turned to the side. I could see his feet. So slightly that I did not know if anyone would be able to tell, I shook my head.

He roared with rage. Small boy must have run away at some point because Father picked me up and slammed me down onto my back in the place he had been. Father's finger neared my forehead.

Contact.

PAIN.

The most terrible, dire, harrowing PAIN.

I felt only fire in my body. It burned in every inch of me. I was made of fire. I was made of PAIN. There was nothing else. In me, in the whole world.

Eons or possibly seconds later, it ended. Just like that.

I felt no burning. I still felt pain, but only the pain that had been there from the beating. I could feel Father still standing there. My eyes had closed, and I left them that way. I did not want to see any part of him. I struggled to suck in air. A breeze danced around me, but it was not enough.

"Are you ready to get out of the way now?" Father asked.

I wanted to say yes, I give up, do not bring the PAIN back. But I could not move. Father interpreted my silence as no.

The PAIN. It was back. It was consuming me again.

But then not.

There was a flash of yellow light. I did not know if it was outside or only in my mind. But flash and then I felt...different.

The PAIN was still there, but I was not made of it. I burned everywhere, but I retained thought. I knew of a concept of not burning.

I heard Father speak. "You should have listened to me. You have stood against me too many times. It's time I end your worthless life."

Wrong. His words were wrong. The burning had not ceased, yet I had not ended. I was still here. I existed in my mind and in the world. My eyes snapped open and focused on him. I heard gasps from onlookers, and shock even registered on Father's face. Through teeth clenched against the PAIN, I told him, "I will stand again."

Father watched in disbelief. I saw fear in his red eyes. Suddenly, the burning, the PAIN stopped as quickly as the first time. Faster than I had ever seen someone move, Father picked me up and threw my broken body as far as he could.

I landed hard on the ground and the back of my head slammed against a rock. My arms and legs flopped uselessly to the ground beside me. I ached from head to toe. I was covered in countless bruises, several bones were cracked and shattered, and the memory of the PAIN lingered.

But I could breathe in the air.

My head lolled to the side. The villagers watched me in horror for one more moment. Then they left me.

I lay there, where I should have ended, all day and night.

I did not end. At dawn, I stood again. Air danced in me.

***

### Chapter 10

DAVID

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Sid. In the dungeon. Here. In the fae world. My thoughts were nothing more than a series of exclamation points. I made nonsensical sounds until my brain remembered how to use words. "Take me there now."

My tone left no room for argument, so Tova didn't bother with one. She turned and led me through a maze of hallways and staircases that I didn't pay much attention to. When we got to the entrance to the dungeons, the guards there let us pass without a word of protest. Why was security around Cearo so tight when this was practically nothing? Whatever, no time for that.

Tova stopped and pointed. And there he was. Sid was lying on a thin cot on his back with his head toward the bars, legs crossed and propped against the far wall. " _Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Nobody knows my sorrow_ ," he sang.

"Holy shit, they must have really broken you if your song choice actually makes sense," I said.

He jerked up and nearly fell off the cot. "David?!" He ran to the bars to meet me. "Holy shit! You're here! Why are you here?! Where the hell are we?! Tell me what's happening!"

He had reached through the bars to grab my shirt and shake me. I lowered his hands from me. "Whoa, calm down. Let's take this one thing at a time."

He was nodding as he tried to calm himself. "Okay, okay, one thing at a time.... Are we in Wonderland?"

I almost laughed. "Not exactly, but good guess." Then I told him the whole story. How fairies led us to their world and captured us, how Cearo helped us escape, how we nearly died several times in our trek to a gate back to the human world, and how Cearo was hurt when we finally made it to one. I told him how we ended up here in the other kingdom and how I wasn't allowed to see Cearo anymore. I didn't leave anything out, from the elementals to the kelpies to the hellhounds.

He seemed most upset by the unicorn anecdotes. "So unicorns aren't awesome?"

I shook my head sadly. "No, they're assholes when they're alive, messing with your mind and stuff. But their meat is pretty tasty." He almost threw up. I did laugh that time. "But how did you get here?"

"Do you realize how long you've been gone?" he asked. Damn, now that I thought about it, it probably seems like we disappeared off the face of the earth. Well, we kind of did. "When you didn't come back from Yosemite, people started to worry. We made search parties. We thought we'd find your bodies somewhere." He still sounded worried, like part of him still expected me to be dead even though I was sitting right in front of him. "Now there's probably search parties for me too. We've got to get out of here."

"I don't know if we'll be able to make it back to the human world anytime soon. But dude, I'm gonna get you out of this stupid dungeon. Did I mention my mom is pretty important around here? Don't worry, man."

"Thank God. I've been here for weeks. I'm dirty and smelly and dude, my iPod ran out of battery on day one!"

"They let you keep your iPod?"

He shrugged. "They didn't know what it was. I tried to explain it to them, but they thought it was magic. How about that?"

I snorted. "Yeah, really. Anyway, hang tight. I'll have you out in no time."

The first thing Tova said when I met her at the dungeon entrance was, "We can't let him out, you know."

"Why not? He's not a danger to anyone, and his magic iPod doesn't even work anymore."

She focused her signature glare on me. "Very funny. I, for one, know it's not magic. I don't know how it works, but the idea of magic is stupid."

"You have magic," I countered.

"No, I have a fire elemental. See, you're doing the same thing the other idiots did when they saw the...whatever you called it. You don't understand it, so you think it's magic. Anyway, that's not the point. He's human. We can't let him out."

"I'm human. I'm out."

"You know why you're different."

"So what? Mom knows him too. He's practically a third son. She can vouch for him."

"Then talk to her about it. Even if I agreed with you, which I don't, I can't help you."

I sighed. That was going to be difficult. I hardly saw Mom these days. But I'd track her down. I couldn't leave Sid in there. It was dirty, and Sid didn't do dirt.

When I got back to the bedroom, tracking Mom down turned out to be easier than expected. Mom was there, pacing around the room. She whipped around when she heard me in the hall. "Where have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Oops. The detour to the dungeons had been unplanned and had lasted well into the night. I thought my best friend being held prisoner was a pretty good excuse though, and since I needed to tell her anyway, two birds one stone. "Sid is in the dungeon."

She looked at me as if those words made no sense together in a sentence. "Come again?"

"Sid. My best friend. He is locked in the dungeon," I said slowly, pointing back at the general direction we'd come from.

"How...?"

"He said there's search parties in Yosemite looking for us. He managed to wander here."

Mom looked at Tova, maybe thinking I was crazy. Tova said, "Well, actually he wandered into Seelie territory. We picked him up there."

"Sid is.... Are there more humans?"

"He was alone. He claimed he broke off from his group earlier that day. I assume that was before he crossed over, as we haven't found any others."

Mom was visibly relieved. "Thank goodness. Hopefully no more come through." She went back inside her room.

"Mom," I said, following her in, "aren't you going to do something?"

"What do you want me to do at 3 a.m.?" Oh, right. "Did he look like he was starving?"

"No."

"Then I'll bring it up in tomorrow's meeting. Now get some sleep."

I tried to be reasonable. Despite his song choice, Sid didn't seem to be going insane, and they weren't torturing him like the Seelie would have been. I just hated all this waiting. First for Cearo, now Sid. It took me until nearly dawn to fall asleep.

I woke up later than usual the next day. Mom was already gone. I realized so was Eric, when I looked around. He probably hadn't wanted to wait for my lazy ass and went down to the library already. When I opened the door to head there myself, Randolph was immediately in my path.

"Good morning, sir."

"Where's Tova?"

"She is with Eric as she still will not leave him alone with me."

I pushed past him. "Why is that anyway?"

"Oh, it is a very entertaining story." He didn't go on to tell the story though. I rolled my eyes. He was a strange one.

He followed me to Cearo's room, waited through my routine of failing to get in, and walked with me to the library. Eric and Tova were nowhere to be found. "Where are they?"

He took a seat and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Word is, Eric talked his way into the court meeting so he can petition for the release of the human in the dungeon." My eyebrows raised, but I didn't say anything. He continued, "Tova told me to go wait for you, but I snuck over to the conference room for a few minutes to listen."

"You really do eavesdrop on everything, don't you?"

"Yes, and it's fascinating," he said, totally unashamed. "Ever since Princess Willa was found, it's like the whole kingdom has been turned upside down."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, first two humans are allowed to live, then we are to treat them like fae—granted these are special humans, sons of the Princess and connected with the elementals—but now they are considering a third, a human that is completely unremarkable. Fascinating," he said in wonder.

I didn't find it that interesting. We were only asking them to honor basic human rights. The UnSeelie didn't seem to understand that humans were beings with the same level of consciousness and intelligence as them. Randolph needed to see the world, get a better perspective. Or since he couldn't to do that, at lease find a better hobby that was actually interesting. "You need to find a girlfriend or something else to occupy all this time you seem to have," I said. That brought a reminiscent smile to his face that I didn't ask about. I headed for the far shelves again. "Are you going to help me?"

"No," he said simply. He really was annoying. I got to work and ignored him the rest of the day.

The sun had started to set when Eric and Tova finally walked into the library. I watched over the edge of my current book as Eric strode confidently toward me. "So?" I said when he was close enough.

"I think it went well."

"They're letting Sid out?"

"Not yet, but I'm wearing them down."

I deflated. Nothing had been accomplished today. "That doesn't sound as great as you're making it out to be."

"Don't worry, they're coming around."

"I want to help, but I still have a lot to go through," I said gesturing to the books looming over us. This was not a one person job. Or even a two person job. This needed like twenty, but I didn't have access to twenty people.

"Well, I was thinking. You keep doing your thing here, trying to find a way to wake Cearo up and all. I'll focus on Sid and working the court in favor of us humans. It's kind of interesting actually, and I think I'll be able to make things happen. It's a win-win."

I didn't like that he wanted to leave me here to do all this research by myself, but I wanted Sid out too. I couldn't really argue at this point. "Fine, but please come back if you have time, okay?"

"No problem, bro. Oh, and since Tova is going to have to go with me and Mom to the meetings, Randolph is going to be coming here with you. He can help you too."

I didn't bother telling him that wasn't going to happen. He went to leave while I put my book back on the shelf. I caught Randolph lurking in some nearby stacks. He saw me looking and whispered, "Fascinating."

The dreams I had that night and for the next week were the worst ones yet. The girl was getting older and she was really starting to look like Cearo. On top of the ones about Mini Cearo, I was also having ones about Scary Cearo. In those ones, she would be brutally destroying cities and people using all of the different elements. A volcano eruption here, a hurricane there. The terrified screams of the people were consistent in all of them. I stayed later and later in the library just to avoid going to sleep.

The extra research time wasn't even helping though. I hadn't found much more that could be useful. I missed Cearo's book even more. There may not have been many words, but all of those drawings were of moments in her life. There could be a clue in there. Other accounts of air elementals choosing people seemed particularly few and far between compared to other elements. Come to think of it, I don't think I'd even met another air fairy besides Cearo.

"Randolph," I called.

"What?" he yelled back from his seat on the other side of the room. He spent everyday lounging around in what appeared to be a politics section. I didn't really understand his aspirations considering the current king had been in power since the kingdom's inception and no one was aging.

"Come over here and make yourself useful."

He slowly sauntered over. "What can I do for you? I must warn you that this section is largely unfamiliar to me."

"How many air fairies are there? Less, more, about the same as the other types?"

He thought it over before answering, "They have always been the least common. Legend says Air is fickle and it takes a very strong connection to get one to stick around."

"What would someone have to do to get an air elemental's attention?"

"I do not know." He considered me for a moment. "It's interesting that you're concerned with impressing air elementals rather the the water elementals that have already shown interest in you."

I didn't bother responding since his answer hadn't been any help. Damn it, I was so lost with all this. I wasn't getting anywhere. Who knew how long Cearo had or if she was even still breathing since I couldn't see for myself. I buried my head in my arms, wanting to scream or cry or something, anything that would get this frustration out.

"Will that be all then?" Randolph asked.

Or punch Randolph. That would get the frustration out.

Where did that thought come from? I was stressed for sure, but I'd never been this touchy before. I really needed some good news.

My prayers were answered not five seconds later.

" _If this room was burning, I wouldn't even notice!_ " My head jerked up fast enough to give me whiplash. " _'Cause you've been takin' up my mind with your, Little white lies, Little white lies!_ "

"One Direction, seriously?"

"Don't hate!" Sid said as he bounded up to me.

"At least you're back to choosing songs completely wrong for the situation." We both smiled wide and man-hugged.

"That was a dark time," he said with faux seriousness. "You think the I've-done-time thing will make me seem badass to chicks?"

I laughed at my ridiculously awesome best friend. "Totally. Just don't mention you were taken in by fairies."

***

### Chapter 11

CEARO

'Stood' may not have been accurate. I crawled into the forest next to the village, where I collapsed again. It was worth it. For one, I had made it to a fruit tree. Some of the fruits had fallen to the ground, allowing me to eat without much effort. Secondly, I could still see the place where I was left to die and the scout Father had sent out in the morning to check that it was so. He peered around nervously when my body was not there. He could not see me in the forest. He took a few steps around the area, but his circle was not wide enough to see anything new. He was afraid. He did not want to find me.

I watched him run back to the village and briefly wondered if Father would care that I am not dead, if being gone was close enough. Because I was not going back. I stayed under my tree for several days, the wind blowing the branches until they cracked and released more fruit whenever I ran out. My bones stitched back together until I was able to move again. And then I did truly stand.

I hobbled deeper into the forest. I did not know where I was headed except that it was away. I followed the wind, my faithful friend. It led me on easy paths while I regained my strength. When my wounds had finally healed, it led me over streams and hills and rocks. It never told me where we were going, but I trusted it.

I watched two moon cycles come and pass and was now in the middle of a third. I did not miss the village. I occasionally missed the ease with which I obtained food there, but I was getting much better on my own. With my strength renewed I could climb for fruit again, but the season was changing, and without all the fruit, I had to start eating meat too. I always had help from my friend. I learned I could ask the air to move in specific places and directions. I could ask it to make wind to blow so that I was upwind from animals allowing me to sneak up on them. With small ones, I could even blow them over to disorient them.

They were still hard to catch though. Today I was getting creative. The trees had begun shedding their leaves. I was going to use them. I was stalking a unicorn that had been separated from its herd. It was foraging, not suspecting a thing. I waited for it to sniff a particularly large pile of leaves, and then I asked the wind to kick them up. The unicorn was startled, but I had the wind forming a whirlwind around it. It was disoriented and stumbling, but the whirlwind followed it. Soon enough it was running in circles. I pounced on it.

It squirmed in my hands, but my grip was as strong as the wind's had been. I snapped its neck with one quick twist. There could not be more than a moment's pain. I never burned the animals to death. In fact, I did not even cook them with my fire. I started fires the way I had seen the village cooks do when they had not known I was watching.

I was thirsty when I finished. I waited for a breeze that I could follow. It picked up in a matter of moments and led me to a lake. I had never seen water so still before. The closest water to our village was a river, so it was constantly moving. There were some small lakes and ponds as well, but those always had fish and birds moving about. This lake lacked even a single ripple. It perfectly reflected the sky above it so that it appeared as if a piece of the sky had broken off and fallen.

I approached the water slowly. I dipped my cupped hands in and cringed at the new ripples. I did not want to disturb it. Thankfully, they evened out quickly. I studied the water that was also the sky as it stilled again. I leaned over for a better look. A girl with yellow eyes looked up at me, and I jumped back, startled.

A breeze circled me, comforted me. _Is that girl me? It could not be. Everyone says I have red eyes._ I had never seen my reflection before. But I was sure I had red eyes to match Father's. I had heard people whisper as they pointed. My eyes were the reason they were frightened of me.

I approached again with even more caution. The yellow-eyed girl met me again. She followed all my movements. She must be me.

_How...?_ The wind grew stronger and blew my hair in my face. Then it clicked in my mind. _Oh. Air?_ In answer, the air slowed back to a gentle breeze and danced around me in slow, happy circles.

I knew Father had red eyes because of his fire. But I had only heard rumors of others with strange eyes. Once a man had passed through to trade with our village and told us of a man far away who could make the earth quake and trees move. He had green eyes. Not the normal light green usually mixed with brown that a few people had, but a green as deep as a forest.

_So this is Air._ I felt it try to pull me along. I took one last look at my yellow eyes and followed. It took me up a tall tree where we played our old game. I laughed for the first time since Father tortured me. Air felt much better than Fire.

I spent the next several moon cycles practicing, testing what I could do with Air. I could make it move in patterns, change its speed with only a thought. My favorite thing to do was to send Air zooming across a field or lake, lifting the flowers or water up into cyclones. I would stop it suddenly, leaving the petals or droplets suspended for a moment before they drifted back down.

I was still wandering this whole time. Snow had begun falling. It was fun to play with the flurries, but warmth was getting harder to come by. I had passed a couple of villages in my journey, but I had not been interested in entering them. I may not have a choice anymore. I saw smoke rising a short distance away. I caught two extra rabbits to offer in exchange for a fur blanket.

I peered around the tree I stood behind and watched people moving about. They looked ordinary enough. I saw no one with red eyes. I walked slowly to the edge of the village. No one noticed me, so I stepped over the boundary. I walked between the tents, heading in the direction I thought would lead to the center of the village where I would find a cook to trade with.

At first no one paid me any mind until I almost ran into a woman carrying a pile of furs. I helped her pick up a few that were knocked to the ground. She gave me a quick apology for running into me and a thanks for helping, but then looked at me closer when she failed to recognize me. I held up the rabbits and asked her if she would be interested in a trade for the last fur I still held.

She dropped her entire pile and screamed. I took a step back. It did not seem to help at all. I held out her fur, but she did not take it. Others came running. A man got to us, and she grabbed onto him. He pushed her behind him and drew a knife. I could not form words. I held out the fur and the rabbits again, but it seemed futile.

"Go away!" the man yelled at me. I sputtered, but still no words. "Back where you came from! Leave!"

More men came. Most were also brandishing knives. One carried a lit torch. _Oh, no, do not burn me, please._

I turned and ran. I heard one of the men yell, "Kill it! Kill the yellow-eyed demon!" I ran faster and I heard footsteps chasing me.

What did I do? Why are they chasing me? Will everyone I meet look at me with terror?

They were gaining on me. I was fast, but I was small. One step for those large men meant two for me. I looked back. Four men were after me and they would be on me soon. "Demon!" they yelled.

Where do I go? How do I get away?

Air swooped up in answer. I scrambled up the next tree I came to. I climbed as high as I could without breaking branches. The heavy men could not catch me here.

"Come down and face death, demon!" They stood around the base of the tree. They thrust their weapons up at me even though they had no chance of touching me from here. And they kept calling me 'demon.'

I am not a demon. Why do they think I am a demon?

I always thought my village feared me because they assumed I was like my father. But I was not. I would not burn anyone. I did not even look like him anymore. My eyes were no longer red. Air brushed across me slowly. It felt like an apology.

"Your tornadoes will not destroy our village!"

My eyes widened. _Air is evil too? But it does not feel evil. Not like Fire._ I never used Air to destroy. Someone else must have though. The men would not leave without my head.

I stayed trapped in the tree for a night. I had gotten one thing I wanted: the fur blanket. I had still held it when they began chasing me, and I had thrown it over my shoulder when I climbed. I wrapped it around myself now. The rabbits I had dropped at the base of the tree. I saw the men start a small fire to cook and eat them. It was alright. I had intended to pay them anyway.

They had not left by dawn. I was getting hungry. I needed to find a way out. I climbed slowly down, doing my best not to make noise. I settled at a level that was high enough that the men could not reach, but low enough that the branches could hold my weight when I bounced on them. The men had all gone to sleep. I thought one of them was supposed to be awake, standing guard, but he was slouched forward, breathing evenly.

I wondered briefly if I could simply climb all the way down and run away without them noticing. The answer was no. I knew they would sense me and wake up. I could not last through another ground chase.

Air tugged me along the branch, away from the trunk. I thought I knew what it had in mind. It was crazy. I would fall to my death and the men would have their dead demon. But still it tugged at me, adamant that it would work.

_Do not let me fall,_ I begged Air. I slid carefully to the tip of the branch. I took a deep breath. I aimed. I leapt.

I felt wind pick up around me, helping to push me that final bit. I landed roughly on a branch of the next tree. My landing made the branch crack slightly and shook the last of the dead leaves from it. The sound woke the men. They were confused for a moment, and they spent enough time looking for me in the first tree that I was able to scramble up the new one, out onto another branch, and leap to a third. This landing was not so great either, but I picked myself up faster this time.

The men had caught on. They followed me. They called out 'demon.' But I got faster and smoother with every leap. They had no hope of catching me now. I left them and their village behind. I would not risk going near one again.

***

### Chapter 12

DAVID

"So what's the plan?" Sid asked.

"Plan?"

"You mentioned your girlfriend is in a coma or something. Is that still going on? I assume you have a plan by now."

"Uh, well, not much of one," I said quietly. I sat back down and wouldn't look at him. I was failing miserably at this task I'd been working on for weeks now.

"Tell me anyway. I'll tell you how hopeless you should be." He took the seat next to me and grabbed my latest book out of my hands.

"Cearo's favorite element was air. I want to get it back for her...somehow."

"I thought you said she still had water?"

"She does, but it's not responding. I think an air elemental would actually help her, but I don't know how to get its attention." I ran my hands through my hair before pushing my stack of books away. "There's nothing in here."

I wasn't expecting a response, so I was surprised when Sid said, "Well, it's obvious, right?"

I looked over at him. "Huh?"

"Dude, if you want to communicate with these air element things, you need do go out into the air." He really did make it sound obvious. "You're sitting here in this stuffy room when you should be trying to find one of them."

"But where do I look?" It wasn't that easy. It couldn't be or everyone would do it.

Sid thought about it for a minute. "Where can we get closest to the sky?" To my blank stare, he said, "The sky's all air, isn't it?"

We power-walked out of the library and down a couple flights of stairs. I didn't actually know where the front door was since I hadn't come in that way, but all ground-floor paths would lead there. When we did find it, Randolph skipped up behind me and said, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" He didn't explain. He smiled mischievously. This guy was the embodiment of every cliché about trickster fairies. I reached for the handle.

"You really shouldn't go out there."

"If you're not going to give me a reason, then I'm just going to assume you're full of crap." I gave him two seconds to respond and he didn't, so I opened the door. Mistake. A very angry sounding crowd was outside. I couldn't understand what they were yelling about, but I wanted no part of it.

"Told you," Randolph said.

"I gave you a chance to warn me."

"And I did. I said 'I don't think that's a good idea' and 'You really shouldn't go out there.' Two warnings for the price of one."

Sid was staring at him, one eyebrow raised. "He's technically right," he said to me.

Randolph beamed and said, "I may give this human a chance."

"Do you know what they're rioting about?" Sid asked.

Randolph actually answered him. "On the way here, I overheard two maids gossiping about the new policies about the treatment of humans. It would seem that letting you out of the dungeon has caused quite a ruckus among the people."

"You heard that in the five minutes it took to get down here?" I asked. He nodded and grinned, very pleased with himself.

Sid turned to me and said, "I can tell you don't like him, but you've got to admit he's useful."

"Yes, I do like this particular human," Randolph said. "I will not join in the protest."

At that moment, King Nerian, Mom, Eric, and Tova came through the door. "What are you guys doing here?" Eric said quickly. From the look on King Nerian's face, I thought Eric was probably trying to prevent a more scathing remark from him about our presence.

"Um," I said brilliantly. I remembered then that I wasn't supposed to leave the castle. Things had been so quiet in the library that I sort of forgot that most of the fairies probably still wanted me dead.

Eric rescued me. He grabbed Sid and me by the arms and pulled us toward another room. "Don't worry, I'll handle them. We're just going to get some snacks," he called over his shoulder to the others.

King Nerian and Mom left, while Randolph and Tova followed us to what turned out to be a giant kitchen. There was a huge brick oven in the corner, and I watched as a baker pulled perfect golden-brown bread from it. I hadn't baked in so long. I wanted to try it. Sid evidently had the same idea. "Dude, you've got to make pizza in that thing. Pizza is definitely what this place is missing."

"Guys, focus," Eric said.

I realized he'd asked us a question, but I hadn't paid attention. "What did you say?"

"I asked what you guys were doing out there. If you were trying to leave the castle, then don't. People are pissed right now."

"I tried to stop them," Randolph interjected.

Eric barely noticed him. I told him lamely, "We were, uh, going to go to the forest and climb trees." My words got more mumbled as they went on. That sounded like the stupidest reason of all time to face a mob.

Eric was looking at me like I was the biggest idiot on the planet. "You were leaving to climb trees?" he repeated slowly.

Sid said, "It was my idea." It wasn't really, but I was glad he was trying to help.

I explained, "I've been looking for a way to get Cearo an air elemental. Sid figured we should go outside where the air can move. And where was Cearo always the most comfortable?"

"Up in the trees," Eric answered.

"Exactly. It's breezy and there's nothing to get in Air's way above the trees."

Eric seemed to get it, but he clearly didn't think it was the greatest plan. "Okay, but how would you two climbing up there help?"

"It's not the worst idea," Tova offered. Eric turned to her and waited for her to say more. "You told me about him and Cearo. They're bonded somehow. The air elementals might listen to him even though it's not his element. You know, for her sake." She shrugged as she said it, like it was unlikely to work, but I was willing to latch on to any hope.

Eric sighed. "Look, guys, I'm doing the best I can with the courts, but you can't just go waltzing out the front door. The people aren't ready for it. I want Cearo to have her air elemental back, but this isn't a solid enough plan that I could convince the courts to guard you while you tried it."

"Ahem." Randolph interjected again, "I think you are forgetting the way you got here."

"What?"

"I took you through secret passages, remember? They work in the other direction as well," he said drily.

"This place has secret passages too?" Sid asked excitedly. "This is going to be the best story ever!"

"You can't tell anyone about any of this when you get back to L.A.," Eric told him.

"Fine," Sid said, but we all knew he didn't take that to heart.

"Let them do it," Tova said.

"Are you sure?" Eric asked her.

"Why not? Randolph may be an idiot in all other aspects, but he's an expert at sneaking."

"Alright. Do it at night, okay?"

"Deal," I said.

"I'm coming too, right?" Sid asked. "Please, please, please? I've been stuck in a dungeon for weeks. I need to stretch my legs." He gave us comical puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, the nice human can come," Randolph said.

Eric looked at him strangely but only nodded in response. We decided we'd go the next night after we'd rested up. Eric and Tova left after that, but Sid, Randolph, and I stayed in the kitchen. They demanded that I make pizza. Sid wanted his first out-of-jail meal, and Randolph was dying to know what this creation could possibly be that his favored human was so thrilled about.

"I don't even know what I'll have to work with," I told them. I knew I'd be able to make dough obviously, but was there cheese here? Or tomatoes? What would I top it with?

Sid explained the concept of modern pizza to Randolph, who then shrugged and said, "Hmm, I was expecting it to sound more interesting. Nevertheless..." He trailed off and went to find the ingredients for dough.

"So what's up with Eric and the scary girl?" Sid asked when Randolph was gone.

"Tova? I think her scariness is just a front. She's alright actually."

"Eric seems to think she's more than alright."

He was grinning at the idea, but I gave him a look to tell him he was being ridiculous. "They've been stuck together ever since we were picked up by the UnSeelie. Nothing's happening. They've just gotten used to each other by now."

Randolph came back carrying everything I needed to start and snorted in laughter, no doubt having heard at least part of our conversation even though Sid hadn't intended it to be.

"What's funny?" I asked. "And are you ever going to tell me what's going on between you and Tova? I know there's something."

"I prefer _listening_ to gossip," he said.

"What's the point in having all of this information if you won't regale us with one of the tales?" I asked.

He mulled it over. "Fine, but not that one. Have you heard the one about Cearo and the goat herder?" I stared at him dumbly. Cearo and the goat herder? What was he talking about?

Taking our silence as a no, Randolph launched into the story. "Long ago, Cearo was traveling. No one knew where her destination was, but they knew she was coming. Everyone had heard about the girl with the changing eyes, and no one wanted to run into her. Rumor had it that you couldn't even find a trace of the last village she'd set foot in. She'd burned it to the ground or washed it into the ocean or maybe just blew it all into the sky. No one knew for sure which catastrophe had taken out that last village because it could've been any; she'd done it all before.

"Now, word of her whereabouts reached a small village near a volcano. She was coming their way. Most of the villagers evacuated, but a there was a goat herder who didn't want to leave. He didn't want to lose his goats, and he couldn't move them all fast enough. So he decided he would stay and fight her. Normally this would be completely insane—what mortal man could take on the mighty, feared Cearo?—but this herder had an advantage." Randolph paused for effect. Sid appeared to be on the edge of his seat, but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the rest of the story. I had a feeling about where this was going. He continued, "An air elemental.

"The goat herder was an air fairy, though he was new and inexperienced. Still, he had made the wind blow, quite fiercely at times, and thought with the help of his elemental power, he'd be able to rid his village of Cearo and the doom she was bound to bring.

"So he waited for her. And when she arrived, appearing calm and unsuspecting, he attacked. He hurled his knife at her, a gust of his wind pushing it faster. Cearo would be dead before she even knew he was there.

"But right before it struck, the wind reversed. It became so strong that he had to plant his feet to avoid being blown away. He should have allowed himself to be blown away though, because the knife was on its way back to him. In barely a moment, it buried itself deep in his gut. Cearo watched him remove it, watched as his intestines spilled out of him. He bled out agonizingly slowly. Before he could die, she told him that as punishment for trying to kill her, she would destroy his entire village.

"Cearo raised her arms and while her eyes blazed red, the volcano exploded. There was no stopping the fire and ash that rained down. Unless of course, you were Cearo. None of the falling sparks dared touch her. But they poured over the herder and his village, setting everything aflame. In a final desperate attempt to spare his home, the herder tried to use the wind to blow the sparks elsewhere, but it only caused the sparks to spread to other nearby villages.

"When the herder finally died and the ground cooled, Cearo left as calmly as she arrived, leaving all of the villages around buried beneath her ash." Randolph finished his tale looking very pleased with his storytelling skills.

I sat there dumbfounded. I was trembling and I couldn't breathe because... "You get those dreams too?" I said.

Randolph looked at me, confused. "Dreams?"

***

### Chapter 13

CEARO

Villages were off-limits now. Anytime I saw the slightest hint of human presence, I chose a new direction to travel. Air seemed to understand and it helped me. It carried the scent of smoke to me in warning, long before it would have arrived naturally. As the snowy winter turned into blooming spring, I realized that at some point Air had begun favoring one particular path frequented by traveling merchants who spoke of things I did not understand, such as 'ocean.' Anytime I turned another way—usually to hide from these travelers—it would eventually put me on the path again. I wondered where it led.

_What is at the end that you so desperately wish me to see?_ Air did not answer, but I felt its excitement. It took three more moons for me to finally know.

Water. So much water. I had never seen so much in one place. It stretched to the horizon and beyond. And it moved. It reached toward the sky and came crashing back down on the shore. I looked all around for a person who could be controlling it the way that I control Air. But there was no one. It reached and crashed all on its own.

I wanted to drink this magical water. I cupped my hands and brought some to my mouth. Then I immediately spit it out. It tasted of...salt? I did not know water could be so full of salt. Perhaps that was the source of its magic.

_This is very interesting, Air. But why all this way for salty water?_ It tugged me along the shoreline. Eventually we came to an inhabited area. I could see man-made things strewn about. Baskets, clothing, weapons. I tried to turn back. I did not want conflict. I did not want to be chased with knives and torches. I did not want to hear their calls of 'demon' again. But Air would not let me run away. It kept on tugging me toward the items.

I crouched as I got closer, but there was no point in it. There was nowhere to hide in this open land. There did not seem to be any people around right now though. I followed Air quickly, hoping to finish whatever it was it wanted me to do so I could leave this place before anyone came back.

It finally stopped when I was in front of a large, carved out log. It was sitting at the edge of the water, half in, half out. Interestingly, the water that lapped around it did not penetrate it and furthermore, occasionally made the half in the water bob up and down. I vaguely recalled hearing of these devices before. Travelers had mentioned them in my village, but we had no use for them, since we did not have any bodies of water large enough to benefit from them.

I pushed it out until it was fully in the water to confirm its function. It floated. It started bobbing slowly away from the shore and me. Air tugged me toward it. I bunched up the blanket I had been wearing as a cape and went after the boat. I caught it, but it was very difficult to keep still as I got inside. It took several tries, but I finally made it in.

I admired the vessel and my success at boarding it, and when I looked back up I saw that I had drifted quite far from the shore. There were two people there now. They were yelling and waving at me. I had stolen their boat. I debated going back, but settled on not for two reasons. I did not want to face their anger and murderous desires when they realized a demon had taken their boat. Also, I did not know how to direct it back. I ignored them as I drifted farther away.

_How far does this water go on?_ Air reached down and fluttered my blanket. I picked it up and held it in my hands. Air gusted forward and caught the blanket. The wind pulled the blanket taught between my hands. The boat moved faster, pulled along by the wind. Soon, I lost sight of the shore entirely.

I was slightly worried about being stuck in the middle of this turbulent water. At times, the boat nearly tipped over. But I trusted Air, and it never wavered. When the sun had completed a cycle in the sky, I saw land ahead. It rose out of the water to incredible heights. I wanted to be up there.

The wind moved slightly to the side, keeping me away from the cliffs and instead carrying me toward a flat shore. I exited the boat and let it drift back out in the water. Maybe it would be carried back to its owners. Meanwhile, I stared up at the cliffs, deciding how best to climb them.

Air led me up a twisting path that took all day to climb. When I finally reached the top, I looked out over the moving water far below, felt the wind blow strong against my back, and I smiled. Perhaps this would be the beginning of a glorious time in a glorious place.

I turned to look at the land. The trees were sparser here. There was more open land. I could not stay on the cliffs forever as there was not much to eat besides the occasional bird, so I started toward the trees.

I stayed within the woods as much as possible over the next several moons, even climbing up when the trees were large and close enough to take my weight as I jumped between them. The trees often ended abruptly at fields where people worked the plants. I thought I would dislike it, but avoiding the fields and people became a game. The land was maze-like, and I practiced moving quickly and silently through it so as not to alert them to the demon among them.

I was an expert at sneaking by the time I reached an area with denser forests interrupted more by large lakes and rivers than by fields. The trees still had thinner branches than I was used to, but Air helped keep me up. It even slowed my falls when they occurred so that I landed softly. It was extra useful now that the ground was once again covered in crunchy leaves.

I was chasing a raven when I saw the smoke. Humans here meant it was time to change direction. It was too bad because I had been enjoying myself here. I waved goodbye to the raven and swung around on the branch.

Something caught my eye. A short distance away, there was a person. I scrambled behind the trunk, hoping I had not been seen. I waited for the sound of footsteps to come toward me or a call for me to show myself, but none came. I should leave. I had not been seen, so I should leave before that changed. But instead of carrying me away, my feet inched back around the trunk, so I could watch him.

He was a young man with long tangled hair and skin darker than you would expect. The sun did not break through the clouds often here, so one would have to be outside on a near constant basis to acquire a tan. He must come here often. He stood at the edge of a small river, with sunlight blanketing his back as he bent down to watch the water.

More intriguing though, was what was next to him. Floating just to the side of him was a blue light. It had no form and did not appear to be solid.

_What is it?_ Air whirled around me. Its power filled me, making me recall when it first melded with me. I remembered the flash of yellow light. _It is like you. Only it is Water._ Air only whirled again, but I knew it meant yes.

I watched the water elemental and the young man. He was either oblivious to it or used to its presence. The elemental had no face, but I sensed it was watching him too. Occasionally it would help him as he fished. It would slow down the flow of the water so that the young man could more easily spear the fish.

Its interest in him reminded me of the way Air would play with me before it had become part of me. I had never seen anything like this before. At least not with anyone other than myself. I decided I would stay and observe him.

_Is he a demon like everyone believes I am?_ He seemed quite average. Well, above average in fishing, but I saw no harm in that for anything other than the fish. He had completely filled a basket with his catches. It was enough to feed a village. That was probably what he was going to do. _But would his village fear him like mine feared me?_

He grasped his basket and straightened. Before he turned toward his village, his eyes flicked in the direction of my tree and I caught a glimpse of them. They were dark brown. Definitely not the bright blue of the elemental. _So he is not like me._ To further prove it, the elemental followed him for only a few steps before letting him walk away alone.

I tried fishing that night. I was not good at it. The fish were too fast for me. Anytime I managed to simply touch one, they were too slick to keep hold of. Granted I did not have a spear like he did. Or the help of a water elemental. But clearly I also lacked his skill.

He came back the next day. So did the elemental. I had decided he did not know it was there. It came up behind him, and he never acknowledged it. It helped fill another basket of fish, and then let him leave on his own.

The third day began the same. He arrived at the river. He approached it slowly, wielding the spear. He stood very still until the right moment came to spear a fish. The elemental joined him. He had filled his basket half way when suddenly he lowered his spear and stepped out of the water. The elemental disappeared before he could see it.

He set his spear on the ground next to his basket. Then completely unexpectedly, he splashed his way across the river. He was probably scaring all of the fish away. I wondered what he was doing.

He got to the other side, my side, walked straight to my tree and looked up at me, and said in a strange but understandable accent, "Would you like to learn to fish?"

***

### Chapter 14

DAVID

"The story of Cearo and the goat herder is a folktale here," Randolph informed me.

No, he didn't understand. I'd dreamed that story. Right down to the goat skeletons that he hadn't mentioned but I knew had been there. What was going on? How did I know that story? Sid put a hand on my shoulder and forced me to sit. I realized I was hyperventilating.

"In that story," I said slowly, "you mentioned there were already rumors of Cearo washing entire villages into the ocean. Is there a folktale about that?" Randolph nodded and opened his mouth to start telling it. I cut him off first. "Wait, no, let me tell it. A village hears about Cearo. The women and children evacuate while the men light torches and go out hunting for her. They find her in a grassy field and light a circle of fire around her. They think they've won until they hear a distant roar. A tsunami had risen up fifty feet high and crushed the village. It surged up into the field and put the fire out. When it receded, it swept the men into the sea, but let Cearo off gently at the shore."

"Someone has been reading their fae folklore," Randolph said.

"I didn't read it, Randolph."

At first he looked like he didn't believe me. Slowly he realized I wasn't joking and his expression changed to disturbed. "You really dreamed it?"

I nodded. Sid asked, "What could it mean? I take it this isn't normal?"

Randolph shook his head. "No, not even slightly normal."

"How long has it been happening?" Sid asked.

"Since we got to the castle."

Sid looked to Randolph as if this information would help, but he only shook his head again. "I will look into it if you would like." Then to change the subject, he asked, "So are we still going to get to sample this human confection of pizza?"

I took a deep breath, then got back to work. Kneading the dough actually did help calm me a little. The pizza ended up being very weird though, and not what I would even call a pizza. For one thing, the fae didn't have tomatoes. They didn't have mozzarella either. We ended up with a sauceless pizza covered with a cheese that tasted similar to feta. We topped it with mushrooms and spinach, since those were only things we recognized that would normally go on a pizza. Even though it wasn't the best representation of human pizza, it tasted pretty good. Randolph seemed to enjoy it despite the fact it wasn't groundbreaking. Sid promised to get him an actual pizza at some point.

We left the kitchen soon after we finished. Lying in bed, I was fresh out of distractions. I could only wonder which folktale I'd dream about tonight. I tried to push the thoughts and the dreams out of my head.

I woke up thankful. If I had dreamed about Scary Cearo, I didn't remember it. I only recalled bobbing along on the ocean. Hopefully the calm dream meant things were looking up.

I took it easy that day, saving my energy for our mission tonight. Sid and I spent most of the day chatting. He updated me on what had gone down at his eighteenth birthday/graduation party and admonished me for not being there. Then he let me off the hook, since I'd been stuck here being chased by the Seelie and various other creatures.

Finally, night fell and we were ready to go. Eric came by when Sid and I were waiting for Randolph and shooed us out through the servant passages. "I figure it's better if Mom doesn't know about this," he said. Now that he mentioned it, I agreed. "Don't worry, I'll cover for you."

Randolph came around the corner right as Eric closed us in. He turned straight back around, knowing we'd follow. Constantly curious, Sid couldn't resist asking, "Do these passages lead everywhere in the castle?"

"There are a few rooms that don't have access. King Nerian's innermost chamber, for example." I bet Cearo's was off-limits too or he would've snuck us in by now. Guess I'd have to keep wearing down the guards. Not that I was really wearing them down. The only other thing I'd done today is go by there, and they were as unbending as ever.

We made it to the entry I remembered from when we arrived. We climbed through to the underground maze that surrounded the castle. "There's no one down here, so we don't have to be as quiet," Randolph said. "Do you think you can jog it?"

"Sure," I said. I didn't love being underground and jogging meant we'd get to go back up sooner. We kept a steady pace. Randolph always gave us plenty of warning to turn. It was over before I got too uncomfortable. He opened up the ground above us, and I could see the tree canopy reaching to the sky.

"So are you both climbing?" Randolph asked when were above ground again.

I looked to Sid, and he gave me a thumbs up. "Guess so. Are you?"

"I'd prefer staying down here if that's alright. I will keep a lookout."

"Fine by me." I looked around for the highest tree. I pointed out my choice, and Sid and I got to climbing. All the practice with Cearo had paid off. It took a while to get to a decent height, but I never slipped. I had to grab onto Sid a couple times, and he eventually settled on a branch just below me.

"What now?" he asked.

Truth was, I wasn't sure. We were pretty high up. Not the tip of this particular tree, but high enough that we were above most of the other treetops. I felt a light breeze up here. I tried the direct approach. "Any air elementals out there?" I called. "My friend needs your help. I think you already know her. Her name is Cearo."

Nothing happened. The breeze continued to blow across my face without changing. "Hello?" Sid tried. "We just want to talk. Maybe reunite you with Cearo." He paused for a second and looked up at me. "Being reunited with her would be good for the elemental too, right?"

I shrugged. "I think so. I mean, why choose to be with them in the first place if they didn't like it?"

Sid gave a sharp nod and called out again, "See, good for you too! So let us take you to Cearo."

Still nothing. "Are any of you out there? I think you've got to be or there wouldn't be any wind. Please come to us," I said.

"Don't you miss her?" Sid asked.

"Yeah, she was your friend too." Not even a pause in the breeze. I felt stupid being up here, thinking this would work. The air elementals didn't owe me any loyalty.

"Quiet!" Randolph suddenly hissed from the ground. Sid and I froze. What could be happening? Randolph's order had been urgent, and it didn't sound like he was messing with us.

Then in the distance, I heard a shout. Looking toward it, I could just barely make out a group of people on the edge of the forest. It was too dark to tell how many there were. Crap, had we been caught? But they didn't come toward us. Instead, I watched as something grew out of their backs. What the hell? It looked like...grass? Then they bent over and began crawling toward the castle. Only the grass was high enough to be seen, but it blended perfectly in with the field.

Randolph hissed up at us, "Come down, now!" We obeyed without question and climbed down as silently as possible.

"What was that?" I whispered when I was on the ground again.

"They're Seelie. It's a new technique they've been using to sneak into our village since they can't tunnel. They cover their backs with dirt and grow grasses out of it as camouflage."

"They do this often?"

"Every once in a while. They might have figured out we're harboring you. Come on, we have to go back and warn everyone."

We dropped into the tunnel and dashed through the maze as fast as possible. Unfortunately, with all the twists and turns our path was much longer than the invading Seelie's. I didn't know if we'd make it in time to do anything.

When we got to the castle, we decided to forego the servant stairs and went through the door on the other side of the hallway. It led out to the kitchen. We ran through, Randolph yelling, "Seelie near the village!"

Everyone looked alarmed, but no one sprung into action. When we finally reached some guards, they reacted. Two left the castle, following Randolph's directions to where he assumed the Seelie were headed. Another two split off to gather reinforcements. Sid and I started up the stairs. I wanted to be out of the way, and when this news inevitably reached Mom, it'd be good if she knew I wasn't dead.

We were half way there when we heard the first screams from the village. We hadn't been in time to stop them. Sid skidded to a halt to look out a window. "Whoa," he said.

I went back for him. Out the window, we could see civilians running away from the fighting. There were bursts of light from fire and rain as the fairies fought with their elements. We could also hear the clang of swords.

I tried to pull Sid away from the window. "Come on, let's—" I was cut off when Eric barreled around the corner and ran into me. Mom and Tova were right behind.

"You're okay," Mom sighed in relief. Then she did a complete one-eighty. "Where were you? How'd you end up out here? I thought they'd gone to bed." The last was directed at Eric, who'd told her that when he was covering for us I assumed.

He stuttered for a second, and then recovered with, "Weren't we going somewhere?"

"Right, everyone, follow me," Mom said. "We're going to the king's wing. It's the most secure."

"Are we going to cross the balcony over the foyer?" Sid randomly asked.

"Yes, why?" Mom said distractedly.

"We might not want to do that." Sid was still looking out the window, but his attention had turned away from the main action toward an area just below us. I followed his gaze. Two fairies were slinking along the wall of the castle toward the door. They weren't running away from the fight like civilians. They were trying to get to the castle without notice.

"They've got to be Seelie," I said at the same time Eric said, "Definitely Seelie."

Mom rushed us along anyway, in the hope we'd get past before they got in. That didn't happen though. The guards were preoccupied with the fight, and the few that were left inside were guarding the king.

The two Seelie opened the door right before we made it across the balcony. They saw us immediately. One, a fire fairy, threw a ball of flame at us. It incinerated the railing that it hit, and the impact shook the balcony. We had to get our balance back before we could keep going, and they used our brief pause to send a second fire ball at us. It took out more of the railing and a piece of the floor closest to Eric, grazing his toes.

Tova sent a fire ball back at them. They dodged it. They'd identified Tova as the main threat now. They sent a fire ball straight for her this time. She was almost fast enough. It didn't hit her directly, but it destroyed the floor where she'd been standing, and she fell through the hole. The other Seelie was a water fairy. He created a tiny rainstorm over the balcony that made the floor slick. Sid and I were closest to her. We ran over and grabbed on before she lost her grasp.

We were tugging back up, and I heard Eric mutter something angry under his breath. The fire Seelie threw another fire ball at Tova's dangling form, but she swung to avoid it. Eric's angry mutters got faster and he started throwing debris at them. I glanced between him and the Seelie to make sure he was okay. They weren't paying much attention to him. They probably weren't too concerned by a human. I'd never seen Eric so pissed off though. He looked like he would rip them to pieces if they were within reach.

When we'd gotten Tova up onto the balcony, Eric pushed us behind him and toward the corridor on the other side of the balcony. Mom was already there reaching for us. The Seelie didn't send any more fire balls. It was probably too wet for them to work now. We made it off the balcony and Mom started guiding us again at a run.

Everything started to shake. Great, now they had an earth fairy to join them. I ducked down and covered my head to avoid falling objects. Luckily, we were from L.A., so I was used to earthquakes. The ground kept shaking, and I looked around to make sure everyone was alright. Eric wasn't here. Where was—he was still by the balcony. I called for him to get away. That balcony had already taken a lot of damage. It would collapse. He didn't react. I was about to go grab him and force him away when the shaking finally ceased.

He hadn't fallen, but I wasn't taking any chances. I ran over and grabbed his arm. But I stopped when I saw what was below us. The Seelie were gone. There was a wide crack in the ground where they'd been. It looked like a hole had swallowed them and then it had been covered back up. "What happened to them?" I asked.

Eric was gaping at the cracked floor. I gaped at him. His eyes had changed to green.

***

### Chapter 15

CEARO

I darted behind the trunk of the tree. _How did he know I was here? What is he going to do to me? Run, run, RUN._

He walked casually over to my side of the trunk and looked up at me smiling. He waited, presumably for me to answer. _What was his question?_ It did not matter. I should run.

My feet would not move. _Run._ They did not listen. I stayed frozen in the tree, staring down at the young man, completely bewildered by his smile.

"Well?" he prompted. I said nothing. Still frozen, still staring, still terrified. He waited patiently.

After a while, I think he realized he was scaring me. He backed away and returned to the river to fish. _Now is my chance. RUN._

Air blew lightly through my hair. It blew toward him and tossed his slightly. The water elemental returned. My feet still refused to move me. I stayed in my tree to watch him.

At the end of the day, he came to the tree again. He looked up to see if I would speak, but I did not. "At least eat this," he said as he set down a fish at the base of the tree. With one last glance, he walked toward his village. I made a small fire and cooked the fish after he was long gone.

The following day, he came to my tree before he even began fishing. He asked the same question, "Would you like to learn to fish?" He waited and waited. "Still not talking to me?" More waiting. "Alright then." He smiled at me before he went to begin his fishing. He left one for me again at the end of the day. _Why is he kind to me?_

The fourth day he asked again if I would like to learn to fish. Then he asked, "Why do you not speak? Are you afraid?"

_Yes, of course I am afraid. Why are you not afraid?_ I still did not say anything aloud.

"I won't hurt you."

Why not? I am a demon. That is what everyone else thinks.

He sighed. "Will you at least tell me your name?"

No...

"I'm going to have to call you something if this friendship is going to have any chance of progressing." He grinned at me with only the right side of his mouth.

_Friendship?_ I felt my eyes widen. Then I felt myself frown as I recalled my last attempt at gaining a friend.

"You look very sad." His words brought me back to the present. I saw that the grin had vanished. I must have done something wrong. "Whatever it is you were remembering, I promise I will not do that to you, Cearo."

Cearo?

I did not come down from my tree that day. Or for many days after. The weather grew cold, and he began leaving me blankets and warmer clothing along with the fish. Everyday he spoke to me. Sometimes about important things, like how his village was run or his theories of where I came from. Other days he talked of nothing of significance, like animals he encountered or amusing dreams he had had. And even though I never answered him, he always asked my thoughts. "What should I do, Cearo?" "Has that ever happened to you, Cearo?"

One day in the middle of winter, he came bearing two perfectly ripe fruits. He held one out to me with his one-sided grin.

_How?_ I looked at it warily. Ripe fruit this time of year, it could be some kind of trick. _Has he finally decided to kill the demon with poison?_ He bit into his own and waved mine at me. I snatched it and sniffed suspiciously.

He took another bite and then told me, "There's a man in the next village that can make fruit grow no matter the time of year."

A man that can make fruit grow... What color are his eyes?

"His eyes are bright, like yours, only green."

But does he also make the earth shake violently? Then again, I do not make tornadoes.

"We trade with him when we can. I actually need to start fishing right away so we can pay him." He finished off the last of his fruit quickly. He looked up at me and asked, "Would you like to learn to fish? I could use the help today."

I was gaping at him in shock at the news of the green-eyed man. Figuring that, as usual, I would not say anything, he headed for the river to begin his work.

I climbed down my tree. I was nervous when my feet touched the ground. But I was not terrified. Not of him. I caught up just before he reached the water, and I touched his arm.

He turned to me and grinned. "Hello, Cearo."

"You never told me your name."

"Cian."

***

### Chapter 16

DAVID

"I did that," Eric said in awe. "I think. Did I?" I couldn't form words, I was so amazed. I kept looking back and forth between the ruined floor and Eric's newly green eyes. He turned around to face the others, and Mom, who'd been on her way over to grab us, stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" Eric asked.

"Dude, your eyes are green," Sid blurted.

Eric's hands went to his face like he'd be able to feel the difference. "What? How? Mom?"

It took her a minute to process what she was seeing. Then she said, "Come on, we need to get to my father." She studied Eric for one more moment before pulling us along.

There was a wall of guards in front of the king's chambers. They let us through and closed rank faster than I could blink. This Seelie attack must be serious. King Nerian was talking with someone when we arrived. He waved the man off when he saw us. "Can no one give me a detailed report of the current status?" he asked no one in particular. I noticed Randolph standing off to the side, holding a tray of water. He rocked back and forth on his heels. Listening in on events was his specialty, but apparently not his actual job. Too bad, because he'd be perfect for it.

"I can update you on the castle breach," Mom said. King Nerian looked up to pay attention.

"They got in?"

"Yes. There were two offenders. Both presumed dead now."

"How? Are you certain they're dead?"

"They have been buried alive. Neither was an earth fairy, so they are dead or will be shortly. My son is responsible." She stepped aside so he could see. At first he looked at me. I guess since the elementals had been interested in me before, he assumed Mom meant me, but I shook my head. His eyes landed on Eric, and I could see the exact moment that the green eyes registered.

"He was chosen? An earth elemental showed itself?" he asked in amazement.

"I didn't see an elemental," Mom said. "Did anyone else? Or a green flash of light at least?" I hadn't. Nothing out of the ordinary had appeared around Eric, which was why I assumed the earth fairy had been a Seelie at first. All of us were shaking our heads no. There'd been no earth elemental.

"Then how did it happen?" King Nerian asked.

Mom shrugged, not able to come up with any good theories. "Eric, did you feel anything?"

Eric took a moment to try to find a way to describe it. "Well, I was angry. Really angry. I just kept thinking of how I wished the ground would just...open and get rid of them. Then it did. I guess I felt energized when it happened. But I thought that was just my emotions."

"Permission to speak, Your Highness," Tova said.

"Granted," King Nerian answered.

"Perhaps Eric has always had an earth elemental within him. It has just been undeveloped and unused until now." Tova was as bewildered as the rest of us about this turn of events, but she also looked very happy.

"Why would it have been dormant until now?" Mom asked. "I swear I looked for any sign when they were growing up, and there was nothing."

"Maybe he needed to be around other fae. More than just one, I mean," Tova suggested.

"Well?" Mom looked to King Nerian.

"I don't even know what's possible or impossible at this point," he said.

The same man from earlier rushed in and interrupted the conversation. They whispered, the king angrily and the man timidly, for a few minutes. Eric took a small step closer and listened intently. Then he turned to us and asked so quietly that no one would hear and get Sid and me in trouble, "Did you guys see how the Seelie got here when you were outside?"

"They had grass on their backs so they could bend over and blend in," I told him.

"Grass? How'd they get it to stand upright? We would have seen flat mats of dead grass coming toward us."

"Randolph said they cover themselves with a layer of dirt and then earth fairies make the grass actually grow out of it."

"Ohh," he said as if that wasn't totally weird.

King Nerian's harsh whisper grew into a yell. "No, I want them captured! They musn't get away!"

"Sir—I mean, Your Highness," Eric said. "I have an idea." King Nerian twisted to face Eric. He didn't look like he believed Eric had a real idea, but he was so frustrated, he'd listen to anyone besides the man he was arguing with. Eric asked him, "Do you have a group of powerful fire fairies?"

Eric and King Nerian talked fast. Basically the plan was to have the fire fairies burn the field. They'd start at the outer edges and work in. The Seelie would be forced back to us or burn to death. They gathered a group of fire fairies, including Tova, and put it into action right away. The report was that the Seelie were already retreating, so they could be half way across the field by now.

We watched it from a window. Walls of flame ate up the entire field. The townspeople sealed their doors tight against the smoke. Soon enough, we could see distant figures sprinting back toward the castle away from the flames. It was working. By the time the fire nearly reached the outermost edge of the village, the guards had captured four Seelie. We had seen a fifth burn.

The flames continued to smolder in a ring around us. They grew smaller, but very slowly. "Are they able to stop the burning by themselves?" Eric asked, pointing to the fire fairies.

"Eventually," King Nerian answered. "It's in their nature to start fires rather than stop them, so it could take a while. Let's gather some water fae to help them along." He left the window to go give the order.

Eric looked at me. "Do you want to try?" he asked.

"Try what?"

"Making it rain. Maybe you have a water elemental we don't know about. That could be why they like you. You should try." I concentrated on the thought of rain, willed it to form. Nothing. "Maybe you need to be outside," he suggested. He ran over to a side door that opened up onto an outdoor balcony. I went over to join him, somewhat reluctantly.

Outside, I tried again, but still nothing happened. Had the water elementals abandoned me? I felt as ridiculous and useless as I had trying to talk to the air elementals. "It's no use," I said.

Rain started pouring a moment later, and Eric's face brightened for a second. Then he realized it was the group of water fairies that had been charged with putting out the fire. "Damn," he said. He kicked the ground while he tried to think of what he wanted to say. "I thought this would happen to you, not me." He looked sorry about it.

"It's cool," I said. I shrugged and tried to look like I wasn't disappointed. I hadn't realized I cared, but now that the elementals had seemingly lost interest in me, I was actually sad. I thought I'd be able to rely on that connection when I needed it. But I guess not. "So what does it feel like?" I asked.

Eric smiled. "Pretty awesome. Now that I know it's there, I think I can feel it. It's like this ball of energy inside me that I want to let out."

"Alright, but no apocalyptic earthquakes, okay? We don't want the whole castle to come tumbling down."

He laughed. "No worries. I'll keep them to magnitude four and below."

We went back inside and a few minutes later, King Nerian returned and asked Eric and Mom to join him for an emergency court meeting. Sid and I stood around, not sure if we were allowed to leave now.

"No blue eyes for you then?" Sid said. I shook my head. "It's no big deal. Blue eyes are overrated anyway."

"You have blue eyes," I noted.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. The ladies love me. Too bad for you, man." I punched his shoulder lightly.

"Ahem." Randolph set down his tray and came over to us. "It would not make sense for David to suddenly come into water elemental power in the same way that Eric came into his earth elemental power."

He waited for us to ask him to explain. I gave in. "And why is that?"

"You are a child of an earth fairy, not a water fairy. If you do have some underlying elemental power, it would be earth, same as Eric."

"But I thought his connection was with water?" Sid said.

"Yes, and maybe the water elementals are attracted to him as they were to the first fairies. Nonetheless, if he is ever to possess water power, a water elemental will have to choose him. It will not simply surface."

I figured he was right, but it didn't make me feel any better. I was already failing at getting one kind of elemental's attention. Now I had to worry about two? I turned away from them and let out my frustration in a huff.

"Hey, dude," Sid said, sounding unusually serious, "important question."

I looked back at him. "What?"

"Do you want a water elemental?" I hesitated. He continued, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think you cared either way."

"I didn't think so either," I said. "I guess it just seems like it would help...even though I don't see how it would exactly." I paused to gather my thoughts. "Eric is actually accomplishing things. I'm stuck."

"Okay, but forget Eric for a minute. What's your goal?"

I knew what he was getting at. "To wake up Cearo."

"Right, so focus on that."

I nodded. Cearo was a completely different issue than what Eric was dealing with. His success had nothing to do with my failure. I shouldn't be envious of it. I needed to just keep working on Cearo. "But what do I do now? Tonight was kind of a bust." Sid had nothing for that.

Randolph sighed loudly. "Has your single-minded determination deserted you? That's unexpected. And far less exciting to watch, to be honest." I looked at my feet sheepishly. Was I really going to be lectured by Randolph? I took a deep breath. When I looked back up at him, he met my gaze. "Try again. Of course they didn't respond to you on your first try. They've been silent to us for centuries. But you have a better chance than anyone at getting them to communicate. So try again. Maybe approach it from a different angle."

Yep, I'd just been lectured by Randolph. And he made good points. "Okay, okay... Any suggestions for that angle?"

"Hmm... In the stories of Cearo—"

"Those stories are wrong," I cut him off.

"Are they? There's a reason those stories have become our folklore. And haven't you seen them yourself in your dreams?"

"I don't care." I had decided. Those dreams were just stress related. They couldn't be real. Cearo had killed people before, but only when there was a reason. She wouldn't take out entire villages just for the hell of it. "Cearo is not evil. Whoever started telling those stories is wrong."

"Fine," Randolph said, but anyone could see he didn't believe it. "But there has to be some basis for them—however small," he added quickly before I could argue with him again. "In many of the stories, Cearo is traveling in the direction of the wind." He stopped there. I waited for him to make that statement relevant. He sighed in exasperation. "Instead of sitting around waiting for an air elemental to stop and listen, why don't you follow the wind? They're there."

Ohhh.

Sid said, "Well, since David isn't going to say it, I will: you're brilliant." Randolph smiled proudly.

"So tomorrow night?" I asked them.

"For sure."

"Yes, sir."

In the morning, Eric walked through the door to our room—it felt like ours now—looking exhausted. I realized I hadn't seen him at all since he went to the court meeting. "Did that meeting go on all night?" I asked.

He nodded tiredly. "Yeah, lots of stuff to talk about. We got four Seelie. From reports from witnesses, we think there were nine total in the group. Two that I buried, one that died in the fire, plus the four that we caught means two got away. They were probably water or fire fairies that could fend off the flames." He yawned and collapsed onto the bed. "Not perfect, but not bad either. Anyway, we're going to repair the field later today once we've all had a chance to sleep. It's going to be my intro to the people as a fairy too. It's so weird that I'm one of them now," he mused. "Anyway, you and Sid should come. We think it'll be good for the image we want to convey, you know, new fairy teamed up with humans, show society an example."

"Okay, sure," I said, but I didn't really think he was listening. Eric fell asleep imagining the coming evening with a smile on his face.

Later on, everyone gathered at the edge of the village to watch King Nerian, Mom, and Eric, along with a group of important earth fairies from the court, regrow the field. Randolph had said that it was important for the royal family to do it to show strength after the Seelie attack. The prisoners were being questioned as to their goal, which was to capture us as Randolph had predicted. I asked what would happen when the questioning was done, but Randolph wouldn't say. I guess I didn't really want to know the details. Besides, this stuff seemed to be Eric's thing now. I'd let him deal with it.

The field regrowing event seemed to go as well as Eric expected. He really enjoyed his new power and caught on quickly. The grass springing up and the flowers blooming was an impressive and beautiful sight. The public was no longer rioting either. I was amazed that their attitude changed so fast, but now that he was a fairy, they were treating him like a prince. He technically was, but so was I, and I wasn't getting any of that. The people mostly ignored me now. I didn't mind. It was better than screaming in terror or trying to murder me. I figured it was more useful to be invisible, also, since we were still planning on sneaking out tonight.

I had tried to let Eric know this morning, but as soon as he woke up, he was bustled out by Tova for important political business. I tried to get his attention on the way back to the castle now, but he brushed me off to talk to the others. I rolled my eyes, but tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. This was all new and exciting for him. He's just going to bask in it for a little while and then he'll be back to normal. He hadn't been helping me much with Cearo anyway for these past couple of weeks, so maybe it wasn't necessary to fill him in on the plan after all.

We left through the tunnels pretty much immediately after getting back to the castle. No one noticed us go. When we got to the forest, I waited for a breeze to pick up and asked Randolph, "So just follow it?" He nodded and raised his hand to say 'after you.'

We followed the direction of the breeze for about an hour. It took us to a small stream. I thought it might take us across or downstream, but as soon as we got to the edge, the breeze started swirling so that it wasn't going in any clear direction. "What is it doing?" I asked.

"I don't know. It's stopped for us," Randolph said.

"What?" I looked back at them. Sure enough, the air around them was still. It was only my hair being ruffled.

"Perhaps it wants you to see something here." Randolph smiled encouragingly.

Could this be counted as communication with an air elemental? It hadn't shown itself, but maybe it was preparing to. I turned back to the stream and waited. After a while, I thought I saw light on the other side of the stream. I got excited. It came out into the open...and it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't an air elemental. It was a water elemental.

The breeze cut off abruptly at the sight of the water elemental. My mind ran through a million possible options for what was about to happen. Would the water elemental choose me, giving me the power Eric was hoping I'd have? Would it come with me to help Cearo and wake up the one inside her? We watched each other over the flowing water of the stream. Then it turned away and left.

"What—where are you going? Come back!" I crossed the stream to go after it. "Please, I need help!" It was gone, dissipated into nothing. Of all the possibilities I'd considered as we studied each other, rejection hadn't been one of them. The water elementals had really abandoned me.

I joined Randolph and Sid back on the other side. Sid was staring at the place where the elemental had been with a look of pure amazement. Randolph was smiling as if that had gone great. "What are you two so excited about? It rejected me."

"I could be very wrong here," Randolph said, "but I don't think that was a rejection."

"It left me."

"Yes, but it came. It had to come here in the first place in order to leave. What an incredible sight it was."

That may be, but at the end of the day, these small acts weren't doing anything to help Cearo. I wasn't feeling nearly as optimistic as he was. We went back to the castle, and I told them we were going to try again tomorrow night. I'd go again and again until the elementals gave me something more than a glimpse of themselves.

So that's what we did. Every night for a month we went out in search of elementals. We followed the wind when there was a breeze. We followed that stream when their wasn't one. Some nights we walked in silence, others Sid and I called out to them. But they never seemed to listen.

After one night of feeling particularly frustrated with them, I stormed into the castle and found myself standing right alongside a group of court fairies. I vaguely recognized some of them from the day the field was regrown, and even one from the first meeting we'd been to when they were deciding if they should kill Eric and me. They were all laughing now at some joke I hadn't heard. I saw Eric in the group, laughing right along with them like they were the best of friends. None of them realized I was there.

As the laughter died down and conversation resumed, I watched Eric whisper something to Tova who stood behind him, always on guard. She nodded slightly, and they left the group. I followed them. I didn't know what I was going to do or say, but I wanted to talk to Eric. I'd hardly seen him in weeks, and while I was here working my ass off and failing miserably at finding an elemental, he seemed to be having the time of his life as a new fairy.

Eric and Tova darted down a hall, and I ran to catch up. I went around a corner to find it empty. Where had they gone? I started randomly opening doors. They had to be here somewhere and when I found them I was going to say—

Found them. They leapt away from each other at the speed of light. I'd seen it though. We were in an office. They'd been pressed up against a bookcase passionately making out. I didn't want to think about what else they'd have done passionately had I not barged in. We were all staring at each other in shock. "Uh—" I uttered before running away.

I couldn't believe I'd just seen that. Had I really just seen that? There was no way—

I stumbled into Randolph. "You look much more disappointed than I expected, but just as shocked," he said.

"What?"

"About them."

My brain took a minute to catch up. "Wait, you knew?"

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"Since it began."

"Which was?"

"Exactly one week before the Seelie attack. Of course, I suspected it would happen long before then. Even before I met you both. Tova had acted strangely from the moment she asked for my assistance in retrieving you."

I pushed past him. I needed some air immediately. I went straight back into the tunnels, not knowing or caring if Randolph was following because I had memorized the path by now. Turns out he was following, because when I got to the exit point, the ground opened up above me. I climbed out without thanking him.

There was a strong breeze right now, and I chased after it. "Air! Come talk to me! Please," I begged. "Cearo needs you. She really needs you, and don't you want to help her?" I ran to the stream and beyond it. The breeze changed directions, but I never let it get away. "Come on, Air!" I'd been running hard. I was wheezing now. On top of that, I was ready to break down and cry. "Why won't you help her?" I yelled. "She's your friend! Don't you care?!"

The wind died suddenly. I turned every which way to find it's new direction, but it didn't have one. It was gone entirely. Then to the side of me, a tiny whirlwind of dirt and twigs and leaves formed. I'd seen Cearo create these on occasion, usually when she was stressed and trying to calm herself down.

I faced it. It spun faster and faster and grew to about a foot in height. Then everything dropped to the ground, leaving a glowing, formless yellow light in its place.

***

### Chapter 17

CEARO

My memories of Cian are some of my clearest, yet I always wish they were clearer. There were less than four moon cycles between my first words to him and my departure from his land, but they were the greatest of my life.

For the first few days, I said little. I gave one word answers when he asked me questions. I mostly watched him fish and tried to copy his movements. He said I caught on quickly.

Eventually I gained the courage to ask him about the man he mentioned. "The man that can make fruit grow..."

"Yes?"

"You do not fear him?"

He looked at me curiously. "We do not fear the fae."

"Fae?"

"That's one of the things we call people like him and you."

"But he can do things...things that could harm your people." Growing fruit may be innocuous, but I was convinced that was not the full extent of his abilities.

"He will not. There is no reason to fear the Good Folk."

The Good Folk. That was a strange name for us. Everyone else is convinced of the opposite. And there was plenty reason to fear us. I did not want to tell him of my father though.

"Have you always been fae?" he asked.

"I was born with Fire. Air was acquired recently."

He brightened as he looked at me with this new information. "You have two? That's amazing. We did not know that was possible. Nature must love you dearly."

I looked down at my feet. I did not feel loved by nature. Fire was an unwanted occupant within me. Air is my friend, but it still contributed to people's fear of me. "I do not use Fire," I told him.

"Why not?"

"Fire is evil. It hurts and destroys."

"I disagree," he said simply.

_How can he disagree? I have seen what it does._ "Others think me a demon."

He paused what he was doing and made me look at him. "You are not a demon, Cearo. Whoever told you that is wrong."

I looked into his eyes and saw nothing but honesty. _He truly believes what he says._ I retreated into myself to consider his words.

He brought me back to the present with a lighter tone. "I bet you do use it and don't realize it."

I turned to him, bewildered. _No, I am careful. I would never burn anyone, not even by accident._

He touched a fingertip to my nose, and I jerked away. He laughed at me. "Your nose is warm," he said.

"So?"

He grabbed my hand and touched my fingers to his nose. It was cold. "It is the middle of winter. Only a person with Fire could have a warm nose in this chill."

Maybe he was right. Then again, maybe he was wrong. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Still don't believe me?"

"Fire feels evil."

"It's kept you alive out here. I'd wondered how you did it with only the blankets I could spare and no shelter." He smiled at me, but I would not meet his eyes. "It can't be evil. Maybe just don't poke it too hard."

I finally glanced up at him. "Like you poked me?"

"Yes, Fire just isn't as affable as you." He laughed again. I liked his laugh.

Soon after that, Cian suggested I come to the village with him. He would introduce me and I could stay there instead of in my tree. I said no before he even finished asking. He may be different than others I had met, but that was no guarantee that the rest of his people would be. The last thing I wanted right now was to be chased away.

"Alright, but it's a standing offer," he said.

"Does that mean you are going to ask me every day until I relent?"

"Most likely," he admitted easily.

That was exactly what he did. Everyday after we fished, he asked me to come to the village with him. Everyday I bid him goodbye. And so did someone else.

The water elemental still came to him most days. It did not seem perturbed by my presence, though it never helped me the way it did him. It did not disappear when I glanced at it, unless Cian tried to follow my gaze. He had caught me looking at it several times now and always asked me what was distracting me. I was not sure if I should tell him. Clearly it liked him or it would not help him. But it was also clear that it did not want to be seen by him. I thought it was curious. I kept its secret for the time being.

One day, Cian came to the river with a furrow in his brow. It was strange. I had never seen him in anything other than a happy mood. "Where is your smile?" I asked him when we met at the water's edge.

"It is my mother," he said. "She's unwell."

He did not look like he was finished, but he did not go on either. "Oh..." I said awkwardly. _What else do I say?_ Air offered no help. It was not used to talking with people either.

I am not sure he noticed. His mind was preoccupied. Eventually he continued without me prompting him. "She has difficulty breathing. Her breath rattles, and her coughs sound wet. It has made her too weak to stand. I worry before long, she will be too weak to sit up, and then..."

The look on his face was tragic. I wanted to do something to comfort him, but what? I had no experience with comfort. I put a hand on his shoulder as a few people had briefly done to me when Sister died. It helped for only a brief moment. He placed his hand over mine and tried to smile at me. But then his hand dropped and his smile faded much too quickly for my liking.

At the end of the day, he told me he may not be back for a while. "I need to take care of Mother. I'll leave a spear for you, so you can still catch food for yourself." He paused and appeared like he was not sure if he wanted to say the next thing. "Also...I will miss you if you choose to move on."

_Move on?_ It was true that I had learned enough that our fishing lessons could have been over quite some time ago. He knew I was only staying for him. _And now he would be away for who knew how long... Should I go?_

"Unless you want to come to the village?" he asked.

_Do I want that?_ The truth was...no. I shook my head. I was still afraid of his people. "But I will be here when she is well again."

He did not look entirely convinced that I would stay. I was in no way convinced she would even be well again. And if she failed to get well, I had a feeling he would not return. I would wait though. I would wait until there was no hope at all.

He did something strange then. He pulled me close to him and held me. I reciprocated because if I remembered correctly, that is what one is supposed to do. I had not been hugged since Sister. He let go after a moment and said goodbye. The water elemental appeared beside me and we watched him go together. My breeze followed him until he was out of sight.

Late that night, he came running to my tree. I was startled, nearly falling out before Air caught me. "Cearo!" he called up.

I made my way down carefully. It was dark out, but I could see his teeth shining in the moonlight. He was smiling. _Had his mother recovered already?_ I hoped fiercely that that was his news.

"I had an idea. Please say you will help me," he said.

"Of course I will help you," I answered with no hesitation.

"I felt a breeze come through the door of our hut, and the idea struck me." He was getting excited now. "Mother is having troubled getting air inside her. You could use Air to help her!"

He looked ready to jump for joy. I did not react quite the same. I cocked my head at him in question. _Could I even do that?_ Even Air seemed unsure.

"Please, Cearo. Please, help her," he asked while trying very hard not to let his happiness at his idea slip.

"I do not know if it is possible," I told him truthfully.

"Sure it is. It must be. You can direct Air. Just direct it into her." He said it so surely, but his smile was slowly falling. "Please, Cearo, try?"

I had to try. I would do anything for him. I nodded.

His smile returned instantly. He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the village. My feet dug in instinctually. "Now?" I asked.

"Yes, the sooner we start, the sooner she will be better. Come on, I will take you to her."

I did my best to overcome my anxiety and follow him at a steady pace. I forced us to stop at the edge of the village though. He could see the fear in my eyes when he faced me. He hugged me again, my second hug that day. I was quicker to respond that time. He whispered to me, "It's alright. We will walk the rest of the way quietly, so no one will know you're here."

I had learned how to move silently after all my time in this land. Cian had never really picked up on that skill. I cringed every time he stepped on a twig or knocked over a pot. Somehow we managed to make it to the middle of the village, where his hut stood, without being noticed, but it took a while with all my freezing and waiting for things to settle again.

We crept inside. His mother was a barely discernible black shape in the darkness. I could tell she was there though, by her breathing. It rattled, just as Cian said.

"She's asleep," he whispered to me. He moved to the side and left me near the open doorway. Air flowed in and out of the hut. "Go ahead," he said.

I took a deep breath. I still was not sure if this would work. I tried to think of a way to push a breeze into her specifically, but all it did was blow over her skin. I decided to simply ask Air if it could do this. _Flow into her and fill her chest._

To Air's credit, it tried. I felt Air flow past me, toward her, and I heard her take in a long breath. On the way out, it caused her to cough violently though. I tried one more time in case what was inside her had now been expelled. But she coughed again on the next exhale. It was a deep, wet cough. I had heard a few people from my village cough like this, and they rarely survived. I wanted to stop before I caused any more damage.

"Try one more time," Cian asked me. His eyes shined in the moonlight coming in from outside. I nodded.

This time I did it differently. _Attempt to keep the outward flow steady._ I focused on her exhale. Air still flowed in, but it released itself slowly. She kept coughing, but it was less violent.

"It's working," Cian whispered gleefully.

I would not say 'working.' Her breath was a bit steadier, but it was shallower as well. The real problem was water inside her. It was filling her chest, leaving little room for the air she needed.

I stayed for a while longer, helping to keep the pattern going. Then Cian said, "See if you can gradually stop and if she stays like this." Very slowly, I tapered off my commands to Air. It came back to me, leaving her on her own. She seemed capable of keeping the regular breathing pattern now that she had had it for a while. Satisfied, Cian turned to me, smiling widely, and thanked me.

"Do you want to stay here tonight or go back to your tree?" he asked. I was reluctant to answer because I did not want him to think I wanted to be away from him. "I know you're uncomfortable here. Come on, I'll walk you back."

When we arrived at my tree, he moved closer to me. I expected another hug. But instead, his lips came down on mine. I froze. This was new. But he stayed there a few moments, and I realized I liked it. His lips were soft, and his hair was brushing my cheek. When he broke the contact, I hoped there would be more soon. "Thank you, Cearo. I will see you tomorrow."

I watched him go home with the biggest smile I had ever worn firmly in place. When I could no longer see him, I turned to climb my tree. I jerked back a step. The water elemental hovered right there. It had probably been watching the whole time. "Hello, Water. You know, you could help too. Then maybe Cian would thank you as well." It stayed hovering in front of me. Usually it would have disappeared by now, so I took its continued presence to mean it wanted to know more. "There is water trapped in his mother's chest. Air can only do so much when there is not enough room for it. If you could drain the water from where it should not be..."

I could not tell if it was considering it, but it did not escape my notice that it stayed hovering there the rest of the night. I climbed my tree to sleep for what remained of the night, while it stayed right underneath me, seeming to wait for his return.

Even though he said he would be here, I was still relieved when he came to my tree the next day. He said his mother was not back to normal yet, but he thought she would get there shortly. We spent the day talking as we usually did, and when time came for him to leave, he kissed me again. I nearly forgot that the treatment I gave his mother the night before was probably a temporary fix.

I was reminded when he came running to my tree for the second night in a row. "Cearo! Come down!" When I landed he said, "She is back to the way she was last night before you came. I don't know what went wrong... Can you help her again?"

I knew it would not cure her, just like it had not cured her the first time. But I said yes anyway. As he took off, I glanced back at Water who was watching us again. _Now is your chance,_ I thought at it.

We made it to his hut unnoticed again. He watched his mother intently as I used Air to help regulate her breathing once more. At first it appeared to be as effective as it was last night, in other words, helpful, but only to a point. Then something changed. Her coughs became less violent, less wet, and less frequent. Her breaths became deeper as if Air had enough room. Like there was less water filling her chest.

Cian was focused on his mother, so I flicked my gaze behind me. There was a blue light shining by the doorway. It was as if it was peeking in from the side. Water had done it. It had drained his mother's lungs as I had suggested. Her breathing slowly improved until it was back to what I would call normal. This time it might actually last. I could tell Cian did not want to get as excited this time around in case he was disappointed again, but he still thanked me profusely and held me tight in a hug.

The following day, he came running, but this time it out of happiness instead of worry. "She is better, Cearo! You did it! She woke up this morning, and she could stand again and walk and all of the other things she needs to do."

I climbed down, already smiling from his excitement. As soon as my feet touched the ground, he swept me up and kissed me. It was a deeper kiss, another newness that I found I enjoyed.

"I never asked you," he said, "is this alright?" In answer, I pulled him to me for more.

We spent nearly two full moon cycles together this way. Life was mundane by most standards, but it was beyond thrilling to me. He had taught me how to be comfortable speaking to someone, and now he taught me how to be comfortable touching someone. Soon, he felt like a part of me.

He started spending some nights with me. It began when he would be in the middle of a story and did not want to leave at the end of the day without finishing. So we would sit under my tree, and he would finish. They were not important stories. They were usually about the antics of the wild cat that had recently adopted him. It sometimes fished with us and followed him home diligently. I knew many of the stories without him having to tell me because I had taken to following him home at times too, just to be near him longer, and I had seen them for myself. But I let him tell them because they made him laugh and give me those one-sided grins. Sometimes he would still be talking late into the night, even after he ran out of story.

He would stay with me then, saying it was too late to go home anyway. He would hold me close to him until the sun rose. I asked him if it was too cold, but he said my Fire kept him warm. I did not feel myself use it, but I went along with it.

Water was still hiding from him. I did not understand why. I went along with that too, until one day Cian came to the river juggling berries. He had a small basket of them, all perfectly ripe. "The man from the next village came through again," he said.

We made both breakfast and a game of the berries. We tossed them to each other and tried to catch them in our mouths. It was fun and delicious when we succeeded. It was fun and hilarious when we missed. We fell over from laughing several times.

Before leaving that day, he said, "You know, everyone likes the man from the next village. They would like you too."

He had not given up in his attempt to get me to join his village. He was trying to assure me that my kind were welcome. I was still unsure, but that day something in me shifted. I almost said yes.

He took my silence as a no, but when he had gone, I turned to Water, always watching lately, and promised it, "I will if you will."

I waited with nervous anticipation for the next day to come. We would go to his village together. And he would have Water. The other villagers would be more likely to accept me if one of their own was like me. _Right?_ Air blew around me, happy that I was happy. Water watched me, hopefully agreeing. I was dizzy with joy.

It was too bad that it was short-lived.

***

### Chapter 18

DAVID

I stood there staring at the air elemental for who knew how long. I think I was in shock. It had actually worked. It had finally listened to me. "Hello," I said. It didn't move. "Will you come with me to Cearo?" I didn't think it had the ability to answer me in words, so I slowly stepped in the direction I'd come from and hoped it followed. I nearly cried out in relief when it did.

The farther along we got, the more assured I was that it was going to follow the whole way. I sped up until I was jogging. I only stopped when I entered the underground tunnels and realized the elemental was no longer right behind me. It better not have left. I popped my head back up. There it was. "Come on, we're almost there." It didn't come.

"I don't think it wants to go underground," Randolph said.

I jumped. I'd forgotten he was there. "Please?" I asked the elemental. "You'll be out before you know it."

"Technically, it will be inside the castle then," Randolph corrected.

I turned to him, frustrated. "So?"

Calmly, he asked me, "So if you were Air, would you want to be trapped underground or between walls where you can't flow freely?"

I rubbed my hands over my face. I was so close to getting help for Cearo. This couldn't be the one thing to hold me back. I asked Randolph, "If we walk to the castle through the field, will we be attacked by the guards?"

"I don't think so. They know who you are now. They may wonder what you were doing out here, but that will be for the Princess to deal with." As an afterthought, he added, "Oh and if the air elemental stays visible, they wouldn't dream of attacking those that brought it."

I looked back up at the elemental who still hadn't moved. "Fine, we're going through the field. If I get in trouble, it's on you," I said pointing to the floating yellow light.

Randolph merrily skipped ahead of us. Flowers grew behind him, reminding me of when Mom ran through the field back in UnSeelie territory. I think it was the first display of his power I'd seen besides opening the tunnel entrance. I walked behind, with the elemental keeping pace beside me. I wished I could ask it things, but when I tried out a few yes or no questions, it couldn't—or maybe wouldn't—signal an answer even to those.

The village was quiet when we reached the edge. It was the middle of the night, so everyone was asleep. We tiptoed through silently to avoid waking anyone. Randolph led us around to a door off the kitchen. There might be a guard, but he said if so, we wouldn't be detained long like we would be at the main doors. There turned out to be no guard other than a cook who was clearly annoyed at being woken. He barred us from entering initially, but only until one of his equally irritated colleagues came over to verify our identities. Then he let us pass, but I stopped short when I realized the air elemental wasn't following again.

"Come on, please? We're so close. She's just upstairs," I begged. It remained outside.

"I told you it wouldn't want to go inside," Randolph said.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Randolph shrugged at me. I guess he was through being helpful. I searched for an idea, anything that would get this elemental inside. I paused when I was looking up. That was it. I turned to the elemental and asked, "Would you settle for a window?" It had no way of answering, so I told Randolph to stay with it, then bounded off to the stairs.

I just had to figure out where Cearo's window would be. The elemental could fly up to meet her. He would only have to enter the building a few feet. Surely it would be willing to do that much. I went up to Cearo's room, paying attention to how I got there in relation to the outside of the building. I said a quick hello to the guards that still wouldn't let me in, and then made my way back down.

"Okay, I think I have it," I said approaching Randolph and the elemental that thankfully hadn't left. I walked outside and along the building, following the trail to Cearo's room in my head. About halfway along the wall, I pointed up. "That should be hers. Can you get up there?" I asked the elemental.

It flew up to the window I'd indicated. It hovered there for a moment before rearing back. "What's wrong?" I had to make a conscious effort to whisper instead of yell.

Randolph came up behind me. "I don't think that's Cearo's window."

"Are you sure? I could have sworn."

"Yes, I believe that is Madame Beaumont's room. A most interesting sight occurred there last week when I passed by. She opened her door to accept the breakfast that a servant girl had brought and one of the stable boys ran out of the room. Sir Beaumont is in for a surprise."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I told you, it was most interesting. Besides, you should be happy about his misfortune. He was one of your most vocal naysayers when you first arrived."

I rolled my eyes. "Focus. If that isn't Cearo's window, then which one is?" I had the elemental check the nearest ones to it, but with no luck. I didn't think I'd be that far off. The elemental drifted back down. "Okay, wait here again. I'll be right back."

I ran upstairs, but not to Cearo's room this time. I crept into my room. It was dark, and I heard Eric breathing deeply on the bed, fast asleep. The dark shape that was Sid sat up on the cot we'd got him. Hoping he'd be able to see, I motioned for him to stay quiet and follow me.

"Dude, where have you been?" he whispered when we got back to the hall.

"I went back out to look for an elemental. Why weren't you asleep?"

"You looked pissed when you left. I was worried."

"Oh, well don't worry. Actually, get pumped. I found an air elemental."

"What?!" he said louder than he should have. He covered his mouth when he realized it. "What?!" he then whispered.

"Yeah it's outside. It won't come in though, so I'm trying to figure out where Cearo's window is."

"Did the guards finally let you in there?"

"No. That's why I need your help. I'm going to go outside. You walk by Cearo's room and find the closest window. Whichever one is next to you should be hers. Just wave to me outside so I can see you."

"Gotcha."

We were near the hall that led to Cearo's room, so I left him there to explore and went back outside. A few minutes later, Sid was hanging out a window, flailing, trying to get our attention. "I think it's three down from here," he yelled, pointing to his right. He shouldn't have yelled, but we were so far away from him he really didn't have a choice. "I think they heard that," he said presumably about the guards. "Gotta go." He ducked back inside, hopefully to lead the guards on a wild goose chase so they wouldn't look out here and find us.

I kept my eye on the window Sid had pointed to. The one I had pegged was close by. The air elemental was already rising up to it, but it didn't stay up there more than a second before drifting back down. "That's not it either? Randolph? Any insight?"

"I'm actually not sure what room that is." His brows quirked in confusion. Great. If Randolph didn't know, no one did. "I think this leaves one possible solution."

"What's that?"

"You need to get into the room."

"The guards won't let me."

"They're likely chasing your friend right now. Are you going to let this opportunity go to waste?"

I raced back up to Cearo's room. Along the way, I nearly collided with Sid who was, sure enough, being chased by one of the guards. "Go, go, that way!" he whispered, pushing me down a random hallway before taking off in another direction. I heard the guard yell "Get back here, human!" after him. He sounded really mad. "Randolph, can you go make sure that when that guard catches Sid, he doesn't kill him?"

"Yes, sir." He darted after them.

When I made it to Cearo's room, one guard was still there. Luckily, it was the nice one. I prayed he still felt some sympathy for me. He spoke before I could. "Was this planned?"

"Not exactly."

"Didn't think so. You would've gotten here sooner."

He didn't seem mad about it. This was going better than it could have. I said my next statement carefully. I didn't want to come off like an ass when he might help me, but I needed him to understand that I was done asking too. "I am going to see Cearo."

He didn't say anything for a moment, and I let him have that time, as precious as it was. I could tell he was coming around. He started nodding. "Alright. I wanted to let you in sooner but my partner..."

"I know."

"How long do you think your friend will keep him busy?" he asked while unlocking the door.

I thought about Sid's lack of stamina. He wasn't the most physically fit person. But then I thought of how Randolph was with him. He liked Sid. He may use a few tricks to keep him from getting caught sooner. "A few minutes at least."

"Then that's how long you've got. And don't tell anyone I'm letting you do this, obviously."

"No problem."

The door swung open. I entered. Finally! Finally I was in. But my triumph quickly faded. There was Cearo, looking pretty much the same as I had when I left her. Breathing shallowly, eyes closed to the world. The only thing different was her face appearing tense. I wondered what was going on in her mind.

That was just the beginning of the bad. This room was tiny. There was just enough room for her to lie and for me to stand next to her. The walls were too close together, and I was feeling claustrophobic already. Cearo was prone to it too. She wouldn't like this room. And worst of all, there were no windows. No wonder we couldn't find one. This room was completely cut off from the outside. Air could never find its way into this place.

Why would they do this to her? Their stories must have made it clear that she'd been closest to Air. If they wanted her to recover, they should've made sure she had access to that element. And that's when it hit me. This wasn't a recovery room.

This was a tomb.

***

### Chapter 19

CEARO

The day I planned to join Cian in the village was the day my happiness was destroyed. I had not known at the time, of course, so the day began normally. We were laughing at the latest hijinks caused by the cat that had permanently inserted itself into his life and home.

My eyes flicked behind me for a moment and caught on the water elemental. I decided then to finally tell him about it. I hoped it would show itself to him and become part of him like I knew it wanted to be.

"What are you looking at, Cearo?" he asked, noticing my wandering eyes.

_Now is the time. Water will thank me later. It will be happy with him like Air is happy with me._ "There is a water elemental watching you." I motioned to it. It hid, but I thought it was still there.

"Really? Where?"

I pointed to where it had been. It did not come back out. "I think it is shy. It has been watching you this whole time though, probably longer."

"All morning?" He looked amazed at just the prospect of having its attention for a few hours.

I laughed at him. "No, I mean since I first arrived at my tree."

He gaped at me. "That long? Are you sure? I've never seen it."

"I am sure. That was the reason I stayed to watch you."

His face fell slightly at that. "Oh..."

"What?"

He shrugged. "I thought you stayed because you liked me."

_I do like you!_ The words piled up behind my tongue, and then tumbled out all at once. "I do—that is not what I meant—that was my initial reason, but now—I do like you—I lo—I—"

He looked almost as shocked now as he had when I told him the water elemental was here. This was probably the most words I had ever gotten out in such little time. "Calm down, calm down." He took my hands and pulled me closer to him. He bent to kiss me and said, "I love you too."

Air may have lifted me up off the ground. At least it felt that way, I was so happy. "I wanted to tell you something."

"Yes?"

I glanced over to the water elemental. It was peeking around a tree. "Look now!" I told Cian.

His head snapped to the side. "I don't see anything." It had hidden again. I sighed. It better come around. We had a deal. "Was that it?"

"Oh, no. I was going to tell you that I decided—" deep breath "—that I will go with you to your village."

His face lit up instantly. He picked me up and twirled me. "Yes! This is wonderful. You will love it and everyone will love you and we will be together always." He talked fast, telling me all about the people I would meet. I heard a lot of the stories before, but I paid more attention this time, as I would actually have to interact with these people now.

Suddenly there was noise from the village. Yells so loud they carried all the way here. "They're cheering for us," Cian joked. But then the yells became distressed. Some went on and on as people ran from whatever danger had appeared. Others abruptly cut off. Cian lost his smile. "What's happening?" he said to himself.

I grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the village. "Come, we will help them."

At that moment, we saw a man sprinting through the forest away from the village. He looked behind him for pursuers. "No," Cian said. He sounded worried, looking toward the village. "Climb your tree."

I did what he said. He followed me up part way. Every time there was a particularly loud yell, he turned toward it. "Can you see anything?" he asked me when I was near the top.

I could not see the whole village from here, only an absence of treetops in the small area where their huts stood. "There is more smoke than usual," I told him. Another person tore through the trees, followed by another carrying a dagger that glinted in the sunlight. I climbed down to meet Cian in the middle of the tree.

"I need to help my village," he said. "You stay here."

"Let me go with you," I offered.

"No, stay here. Stay out of sight. You'll be safe."

"But you will not be."

He pulled me into a kiss, and when it ended, he said, "Don't worry. I'll come back." I was not satisfied with that. I either wanted to go with him to protect him or for him to stay here with me. He started climbing down to the ground. "I have to go help them, but I'll be fine. Stay here until I come back, promise?"

It took great effort to say "I promise."

He reached up to touch my hand one more time. "I promise I will come back for you."

I watched him drop to the ground. I watched him run for the village. He was nearly out of sight. Out of nowhere, the man with the dagger appeared behind him. The man raised it.

"Cian!" I screamed. He did not turn around.

"CIAN!" He could not hear me.

"CIAN!" The dagger pierced his back.

So fast. All the joy, the hope, the goodness in my life was obliterated so fast. I nearly fell out of the tree. My whole body shook, and my breaths came in short gasps.

Cian—I—no—

I could not comprehend what had happened. It was impossible. Cian—his entire being—could not be snuffed out just like that.

" _I promise I will come back for you."_

I refocused on the scene. The man with the dagger ran off in some random direction. He had not heard me either. Cian was left on the ground.

Get up.

He did not rise.

Get up. You said you would come back.

He did not move.

But you promised.

I lifted my hand to my face. It was wet. I had not cried since Sister died. And for the rest of the day and night, I cried as hard as I had then, up in my tree, because I had promised to stay until he came back.

The screaming had ended long before my tears had. By the time I did take a break from crying, it was only due to exhaustion. The sun was creeping up over the trees. I faced it. It burned my eyes, but that was alright because it meant I would no longer be able to see Cian's body lying there, unmoving.

When the sun reached its high point, it no longer blinded me. But Cian was no longer there. For one brief, irrational moment, I searched for him. _He is not dead. He is hiding to surprise me. He is coming back._ In reality, the villagers had likely found him and moved his body.

_What now?_ Air attempted to embrace me, but for once it was no comfort. Eventually, I came down from my tree. I walked toward the village in a daze. The only thing I could think to do was find him again. _And do what?_ I would decide that later.

The village smelled of smoke when I arrived. I saw one place where a cooking fire had gotten out of control. Other areas appeared to have been torched purposely. People saw me for the first time as I walked across ash and smoldering embers. I was used to these types of burns. They did not bother me. Especially now, when I was bothered by something so much greater.

The people whispered as I passed, but I hardly heard them. It was only when I reached Cian's hut and found his mother holding his body that anything made it through. She peered up at me through her teary eyes. I wanted to join her in her grief. I was about to kneel down when she said, "You."

I was confused. _Yes, I am me. And I loved Cian too._

"You are what they were looking for."

They? Who is looking for me? Why would anyone look for me? No one here but Cian even knew I existed.

"It's the yellow-eyed one!" she called out. Suddenly we were surrounded by the other villagers. I turned in a circle to face each of them one by one. I was still so confused. They were looking at me with fury on their faces. They looked at me like they were accusing me of something. "It's your fault!" Cian's mother yelled at me.

What was my fault? Not the destruction around me. Definitely not Cian. I would rather die myself.

"They were looking for you!" _Who?_ "They did this to us, but they only wanted you!" _Who?_

Shouts started up from the other villagers. "Death to the yellow-eyed one!" "Go back where you came from, fae!" He said 'fae' the way others had said 'demon.'

I thought I had run out of tears, but it turned out I had one more. I stepped closer to Cian, a desperate attempt to touch him one last time. His mother jerked him away from me before my hand reached him, but not before that one tear landed on his cheek.

Go, just go, Cearo.

Where do I go?

Air swirled around me, not knowing where to go either. The villagers kept yelling at me. My mind could not keep up with them. I was spinning in circles, dizzy with grief and confusion and more grief. Then one statement got me to focus.

"Return to the red-eyed one and let him burn you!"

The red-eyed one... Did he mean...? Yes.

I went completely rigid and listened to them. Some of the others piled onto his statement and provided a few more details. The red-eyed one had sent men out to find me. They were to search far and wide until they did. Then they were to bring me back so he could end me once and for all.

I was not sure what name to give the emotion inside me. I would not call it rage, not yet anyway. I knew rage as something that explodes out. This was contained.

For now.

I walked away from the village calmly. The villagers let me go. I think after their experience the red-eyed one's men, they were too scared to actually attack.

When I passed my tree, Water was waiting there. It had not gone to help Cian. This sickened me, but I asked it anyway, "Are you coming?"

It followed me.

***

### Chapter 20

DAVID

"I'm here, Cearo, and I'm going to get you out of here," I promised her. I held her hand, and after a moment's hesitation, I bent down to kiss her lightly on her forehead. Then I faced the guard.

"Why are you keeping her in here? This is basically a closet." It was clear to me that they wanted her to die. Even if the guard denied it, I knew. I just didn't understand why.

"I'm sorry, I don't make the rules," he said.

"Well, I'm taking her. This is ridiculous."

"I can't let you do that."

"Why not? I'm already in here, and you weren't supposed let me do that."

"No one has to know I let you in for a minute, but if you take her, they'll definitely find out." He was getting more and more agitated, and it nearly reached panic when we heard the other guard stomping toward us. "Get out of there," he whispered urgently.

"I can't—"

"Don't argue with me, human," he yelled. "I'm not letting you in." Then his voice dropped back down to a whisper as he said, "Come back in a couple days with another diversion. Make sure it lasts longer next time."

I realized that was the best I was going to get. Demanding for Cearo's release right this second was going to get me nowhere and would probably cost me this alliance. I nodded.

"Get out of here," he yelled when his partner came around the corner.

"What's he doing here?" he asked as he joined us by the door.

"What do you think? I was just telling him to shove off."

"Well? Get lost, human." He eyed me suspiciously as I turned and left.

It took me an hour of searching before I finally found Sid and Randolph. I was in a random hallway on the ground floor. I think I was in the same wing as the library, but I was so turned around that I wasn't sure. I heard a noise coming from a wall. It was muffled, and I almost brushed it off, but there was no one else around to make any sound. Sid and Randolph were hiding, I knew that much. I ducked behind every tapestry, statue, and piece of furniture, even the small one that they couldn't fit behind. I was about to leave, deciding I'd imagined the noise when I decided just for the hell of it to pull on the huge portrait of the king that was hanging on the wall.

I found them hiding in a secret passage. When Sid realized it was me, he let out the breath he'd been holding. He jumped out and pointed to the canvas. "Cliché but effective."

I examined it. The opening was big enough for two or three people, but the passageway was so dark that I couldn't tell if it constricted. "The guards don't know about it?"

"I don't think so," Randolph said. "I've been using it for years and have never met anyone else in here."

"Does it lead anywhere?"

"Yes, there are a few secret alcoves on this side of the castle. Now that I think about it, that window that we thought led to Cearo's room, might actually be another hidden room. There must be another passage like this one leading to it."

"Interesting."

"Oh yes, very," he said happily. I think that was the first time I had shared his interest in something like this. "I will find that passage."

"I don't doubt it."

We started walking to my room, ready to finally call it a night, though it was actually dawn now. "So did you get in?" Sid asked.

"Yeah. They have her locked up in a tiny, windowless room. The air elemental is not getting in there. Where is it now, by the way?"

"I asked it to return tomorrow," Randolph said. "Let's hope it will."

That was good enough. I was sure the elemental would do whatever it wanted, but I had hope that it was invested enough in Cearo to want to return. "Okay, then we need to plan. We have to get Cearo out of that room or she will die."

"You really think she'll die in there?" Sid asked.

"Yes, I feel it. I'm positive she'll die in there eventually. There's nothing in there, Sid. No air, no water, nothing. They're keeping her there until she finally runs out of life, and then they'll probably come to me pretending they did the best they could to save her."

"That's weird," he said. "I thought they wanted her to be their hitman or something?"

Randolph interrupted, "Some of them may have been hoping for that. But there are others, including the king, who may think it's better for her to die."

"Why though? She could offer them so much power. Not that I plan to let them use her like that, but the potential is there," I said.

"Not necessarily. If Cearo wakes up, she may be much weaker. She lost the majority of her elements, after all. She will have lost all power associated with those, and there's no telling if she'll have the same level of power in her water elemental. She could offer the court nothing.

"On the other hand, she could wake up just as powerful as she once was and if she was so inclined, destroy this entire kingdom with nothing but a thought. Remember, our stories paint her as monster."

"She wouldn't do that. She's been in this world the whole time, and she hasn't destroyed you yet."

"True, but also remember that we didn't know she was here. We didn't know for sure she was real. Now that we do, a lot of people think all of the stories are real, which means she could destroy us if she wanted to. And she might if the king tries to force her to bend to his will. He does not want that risk."

"That's insane." I knew it wasn't really, but I wanted to complain. "They're going to let her die because they're afraid there's a slim chance she'll do something to them."

"It's not so insane. That is how humans treated the fae when we lived in your world."

I sighed. "Okay, you're right." I'd gotten the brief history lesson when we first got to this world. I knew how humans had forced fairies out because they were scared of them.

His eyebrows rose and he said under his breath, "A human admitted their wrongdoing to the fae. Fascinating."

It wasn't _my_ wrongdoing technically, but I didn't have the energy to argue that. "Well, either way, I'm not letting Cearo die. We've got to come up with a plan to get her out of there." We'd reach the door to Mom's rooms. "After we sleep," I added.

"I will be back tomorrow afternoon then," Randolph said. "Sleep well." He skipped off as if he wasn't tired at all. I was willing to bet he was going looking for that other secret passage.

Sid and I tiptoed through the sitting area and into our room. It turned out not to be necessary as Eric was already gone, off to court bright and early. We'd somehow missed them on our way here. Sid settled onto the cot while I collapsed onto the bed.

I had a dream that night that I'd had before. I was running, trying to get to someone or something so I could bring them somewhere. I didn't get anymore details on the who or what this time, except that Cearo was the somewhere. Or more specifically, where I'd left her. In the beginning of the dream I was kissing her. She was laughing, a light laugh that was both incongruous and perfect for her. I had never heard her laugh like that in real life, but I wanted to. In the dream, I became aware that something was wrong, so I left her in a tree. That's when the running started. The dream ended the same as last time, with a sharp pain in my back that woke me up.

I think my gasp when I woke up was loud enough to startle Sid awake. He looked over at me and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine." He fell back asleep almost instantly. I let him be, and stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't sleep anymore, so I tried to come up with a plan. If the jerk guard could be kept away long enough, I was pretty sure the nice one would let me get away with Cearo. But at the same time, I didn't want to implicate him. I needed a really good diversion that would call both of them away. It would give him a legitimate excuse, and he wouldn't rat us out even if he knew what was going on.

Randolph, Sid, and I met in the library that afternoon, and I had a vague idea by then. "Randolph, are there any poisonous plants that would put someone to sleep here?"

"Yes, there is a poppy that would do that. Why?"

"A poppy? Like _Wizard of Oz_?" He raised an eyebrow at me. He had no clue what that was. I got back to the point, "What would they have to do to be put to sleep? Breathe in the scent? Eat it?"

"Eating it would kill them. But breathing it deeply would knock them out."

I think he knew what I would ask next if the devious smile was any indication. "If you had some of these flowers, could you make them attack someone? Get the flowers in their face so they'd have to breathe them?"

His smile only grew. "How violent would you like them?"

"Nothing lethal."

I pointed a stern finger at him until I heard him mutter, "Alright, not lethal. So how are we getting them to the guards?"

"That's the part I'm stuck on. Randolph, how well do they know you here?"

"Well enough. They could identify me. If word got out that I was poisoning guards, the court would accuse me of treason."

"So we can't implicate you either," I concluded.

"No, but I'm good at hiding. This idea could still work."

Sid said, "We shouldn't have him walk straight up to them anyway. I mean, how suspicious would that be? Some guy just happens to be strolling through the castle with some flowers and ends up there? That'd be ridiculous."

"Good point. So what were you thinking?" I asked.

"Not sure. Let it brew for a minute," he said. I did that. Sid stared off into space for a while as he tried to connect the dots in his mind. A few minutes later, a hob walked by, dusting off the shelf in front of Sid. "Got it. Our answer, my friends, is a hob." He sat back, smiling, very pleased with himself. Actually, I was too. Why hadn't I thought of that?

The hob looked up nervously when it realized we were talking about it. I said hello to it in the hob language, the way Cearo taught me, and I tried to give it a smile that wasn't creepy. It still looked scared though.

"That is extra brilliant, as hobs are immune to the effects," Randolph said. He then spoke quickly to the hob. I only knew a few phrases, so I hardly understood any of it. When they were done, the hob walked off, dragging his tiny broom behind him. "He said he doesn't want anything to do with us insert-naughty-word fae, but he's going to find someone to help us."

"Are you sure he'll really find someone or will he blow our cover?" I asked.

"Hobs enjoy helping. I think this one was just nervous because helping us means potentially hurting the guards. I explained how there wouldn't be permanent side effects and how it's for the greater good, etc. I think he'll find someone with looser morals."

I thought about that for a second. Were we doing something wrong? No, keeping Cearo locked in there was wrong. We had to get her out. And we were only knocking them out temporarily to do so. I assured myself we were fine.

We went over the details. Randolph described what he could make the flowers do and how long the effects would last. Then we got to the point of what to do with Cearo once we had her.

"We can't keep her in our room," I said. "Eric and Mom will see her and there's no way they'd keep it a secret."

"I can't keep her either," Randolph said. "The servant's quarters are already cramped and someone would definitely notice her."

"Can we take her to the forest?" Sid asked.

"What if she doesn't wake up right away?" I countered. "I don't want to her to be outside in the cold for days."

"True. What about the secret passage we hid in?" Sid suggested.

Randolph was nodding before he'd even finished saying it. "That's good, only the potential for being seen on the way there from Cearo's current room is high. We might be better off using the other secret passage."

"You found it already?" I asked.

"Of course," he said smugly. "I found the entrance. It's closer to Cearo's room. We could get there without notice. I don't know all the places it leads yet though, so allow me some time to scout it out."

"Will tomorrow night work?" I asked. "I didn't want to attempt this tonight anyway. It's too soon after the last break-in."

"I think so." He got up from his chair. "I'm going to start now. After the hob returns, you may want to go meet the air elemental outside and tell it to meet us tomorrow at that window we tried last night. I'm going to find it." He strode off to search for the secret room.

Sid and I stayed in the library until the hob came back. He tugged along another hob and pushed the newcomer in front of himself when he stopped before us. He walked away to resume his dusting in another section of the library without an introduction.

"Uh, hi," I said to the new hob. "Do you understand English?" He held his twig-like fingers apart very slightly to indicate he knew a little. In the most simple language I could, I explained what we needed him to do. He nodded along to say he understood. Hopefully he meant it.

I went outside prepared to wait hours and possibly plead for the air elemental to return. It showed right away though. "Hello again. So Cearo is still inside. Any chance you'll just come with me in there?" I waited for it to give me some sign. I got none. Not surprising. "Okay, well, see that window?" I pointed up to it. "It's the last one we tried last night. We think we know where that is now, and we're going to bring Cearo there tomorrow night. Can you do something to show me you understand? Maybe bob up and down for yes?"

It took a while, but eventually it bobbed up and down. I think it just didn't want to do something it thought was stupid. You know, like answering me. "Great, so if we get her there, will you come?" It bobbed up and down again. "Cool. See you tomorrow night then." With that, it disappeared and I went back inside.

The next day Randolph informed us he had indeed found the secret room, and it was unlikely anyone else would happen upon it unless they were looking for it. He also brought a bouquet of flowers that included two of the poisonous poppies. They really did look like the ones from the _Wizard of Oz_. I wondered if there was any connection.

We met up with the hob and let him test the weight of the flowers. The bouquet was bigger than he was, but he could lift it. When night fell, we stood silently in a nearby hallway and sent the hob toward Cearo's room. The plan was for Randolph to sneak closer when we heard the guards notice the hob. They should be close enough to attack then.

A few minutes later, I was starting to worry when we hadn't heard anything. Maybe we should send Randolph now instead of waiting for a signal. But right as I was about to say this, one of the guards spoke up. "What's this about?" He had to be talking about the flowers.

"It's just a hob. Probably sent to decorate and got lost with all those flowers covering his face. You don't need to do this hallway, hob," the other guard said.

Randolph bolted silently down the hall until the corridor leading to Cearo's room was right around the corner. He peeked around so fast I doubted the guards would notice if they were still focused on shooing the hob. Then, with a quick flick of his wrist, we heard a snap and then two muffled yelps that died down in seconds. There were two thumps indicating the guards must be down. Sid and I raced over. The guards were crumpled on the floor, and two flowers were retracting their abnormally long stems, pulling them away from the guards' faces and toward the bouquet.

"That was fast," I said.

"Yes, that concentration of pollen has a nearly instantaneous effect," Randolph answered.

"How long will they be out?"

"A few hours. Unless you wanted to keep the flowers right under their noses."

"No, a few hours should be fine." I didn't want to risk killing them. I told the hob to dispose of the flowers, and he wandered off. I searched the guards for their keys, and pulled out a large ring of them from a pocket. It took a few minutes of trying various ones to find the correct key, but finally Cearo's door unlocked. Cearo looked the same as she had last time, only now the tension in her expression was more pronounced. I almost expected her to cry out, but she was still in too deep a sleep.

"Sid, help me with her." I took her under the arms and Sid grabbed her feet, and we carried her out. I kicked the door closed, and Randolph grabbed the keys from me to lock it and return the key ring to the guard. It was unlikely, but there was a chance they wouldn't realize the room had been broken into if everything was in place when they woke up. Maybe they'd think the hob just played a prank on them.

Randolph led us toward the secret passage. We were nearly there when we almost ran into one of the court fairies. He was crouching behind a statue, and at first I wondered how someone could be onto us already, but then I realized he was actually spying on someone in the room across the hall from the statue. Randolph made a quick silent gesture to backtrack, and we rerouted our path. We ended up making a large semicircle around the wing in order to reach the secret passage from the other side. It took longer, obviously, but at least we got there without being seen. I thought we were still good on time too.

This passage was accessed by pulling a light fixture on the wall. The wall, which had appeared free of any cracks that would indicate a door, suddenly swung open revealing a narrow corridor. Randolph motioned for us to go. Sid was looking up at the ceiling at something, so I kicked him lightly to get his attention. We entered the dark corridor and waited. Randolph then pushed the light fixture back in place and sprinted for the opening before it closed.

"I know there's no light in here," Randolph whispered, "but it's mostly straight. We're going to turn right up here." His statement was punctuated with a thunk and a grunt from Sid. "Yes, there. Turn right. Then there will be a turn to the left just before the room."

We shuffled along until Sid hit a wall again and then turned left. He hit another solid barrier only a few feet after. "That's the door," Randolph said.

"I'm going to set Cearo down," Sid told me. I held on to her while he lowered her feet. He fumbled at the door to get it open, and then we were able to see by a faint light. Sid picked Cearo back up, so we could carry her in.

This room was still small, but it was bigger than the closet they had her in before. And most importantly, there was a window. As soon as we set her down, I went over to open it. I didn't have to wonder how long it would take the air elemental to get here because the second it was open, a breeze came in. The elemental appeared right on the window sill.

"Okay, here she is," I told the elemental. "Can you help her?" It stayed still. "I think if you combine with her or whatever you call it, like you did way back when then she'll wake up." It didn't do anything. "What's the problem now? Is it because she has a water elemental still? It seems dormant."

It flew in, and my hope rose. It was going to do it. Cearo was going to wake up. It was inches from her, but then it turned back around and settled on the window sill again. God, I wished this thing could talk. I looked at Sid and Randolph. "Any ideas?"

"It tried. It's almost like it _can't_ go to her," Randolph said. "I don't know why though."

I sighed. What else could I do? "Can you talk to your earth elemental? Cearo used to be able to talk to hers."

"I don't know what Cearo could do, but for me it's more of a feeling. I'll try tapping into it." I gave him a minute to concentrate. His face twisted in confusion at whatever he felt. "I've got a bad feeling. It's like it wants to get away from the area. I don't know how it relates to the situation."

"Is it coming from anywhere in particular?" I asked.

He looked around trying to pinpoint it. Before he could though, Sid pointed to a corner of the ceiling and asked, "There?"

Randolph nodded. I didn't see anything unusual. It was just a dark corner. The air elemental left the window and floated over to that corner. The elemental gave off light, so I expected it to illuminate that corner when it got close. It didn't. The corner stayed shadowed. What the hell?

The shadow started to move. It morphed into a small, humanoid shape. It drifted down to the floor. By the time it touched the floor, it was no longer a shadow, but a goblin-like creature. It was cackling at us in a raspy voice. Seriously, what the hell?

Randolph took a step back from it. Sid followed his lead. I held my ground, not wanting to leave Cearo's side.

"What are you?" I asked the thing. Instead of answering, it continued cackling and reached a clawed hand out to brush Cearo's arm. I kicked at it. "Don't touch her. What are you?" I repeated.

"It's a mara," Randolph said. "They weave nightmares."

"Yes, yes, and what glorious nightmares this one has," it said, reaching for Cearo again.

"Get away from her," I snapped at it.

"There's nothing you can do," Randolph told me. "It's probably in her head even now."

"Yes, yes, deep in her head," it said.

"Are you the reason the elemental can't join her?"

"Oh no, that is her own fault. She is too deep."

"Too deep? What does that mean?"

"She is in there, you see, but too far for anyone to reach. Except a mara, of course," it said gleefully.

"I still don't get it," I said.

"I think I do. Cearo's consciousness has been pushed down so far it can't get back out. Most creatures can't reach her because they can only touch the surface of consciousness. Mara's feed on the sleeping though, so they could reach much deeper theoretically. If she's that far down that even an elemental can't connect, though it'd still be difficult for a mara," Randolph explained. He eyed this mara suspiciously.

I mulled that over. The mara was still laughing quietly and muttering to itself. It really creeped me out, but I had to ask. "If you can reach her like you say, can you wake her up? Can you bring her consciousness back up?"

Its laughing grew louder. "I could speak to her. But who would listen to a mara?" Maybe that was for the best. I definitely didn't trust this thing anyway. "Someone else would need to convince her to come out," it said.

"Ask it to take you," Randolph said fast. I looked at him. He was staring at the mara fearfully, but then he turned to me and repeated, "Ask it to take you. Follow it into her mind. You can convince her...if you find her."

The mara cackled much louder. "Yes, yes, your mind is a feast as well. I will take you."

"You've gotten into my mind too?"

"That's probably where your dreams of Cearo came from," Randolph said. "It makes sense now. You have to go. You're already connected."

The mara was reaching for me now. I jerked away from it. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this. "What exactly is going to happen to me?"

"You'll be asleep," Randolph explained while the mara just smiled and continued reaching. "The mara will weave your nightmares together. Find Cearo. I don't know exactly what to do from there other than convince her to wake up. I think she'll have to do that part herself."

I looked back at the mara. "What's the catch? That sounds too easy."

"My nightmares are not easy," it replied.

"You'll have to face whatever nightmares it gives you in there. Who knows what those will be," Randolph said.

I thought about it for a solid five minutes. I tried to think of any other way to wake her up that wouldn't involve trusting this thing with my mind. But the fact was, I'd been searching for a way to wake her for weeks and nothing was working. "Randolph, do you honestly believe this will work?" He nodded. "Air, do you?" I asked the elemental. It bobbed up and down. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Excellent, now fall asleep..." It began singing the world's creepiest lullaby. Despite the weirdness, I was asleep in minutes.

***

### Chapter 21

CEARO

I walked across the land, paying no attention to anyone or anything other than my direction. I did not go looking for people, but I did not go out of my way to avoid them either. I vaguely noticed some attempt to stop me. Whether it was to kill me or to simply ask what I was doing, I did not know. I stayed focused on my path.

Soon enough I reached the salty water. I paused for only a moment to watch it from the cliff. It still reached for the sky. And when it failed, it crashed against the rocks loudly, violently. That is how I felt too. There was no boat waiting when I reached the shore. "You are going to aid me," I told Water. If it did not help Cian when he needed it, then it was going to help me now. I dove in. I had never learned to swim, but Water kept me afloat and Air made sure it reached me. Water also pushed me along, faster than even the boat.

The shore on the other side of the water had boats and people on it. They could have been the same boats and people I had seen before. They yelled things at me, but I did not pay enough attention to hear what those things were. I resumed traveling.

People got in my way more and more as I crossed the land. They came at me with daggers and spears and torches. I continued walking calmly, peacefully past them. I paid no mind to their jeers and attempts on my life. They always seemed to halt when they got too close. It could not be my eyes. They already knew of those. Could it be the constant whirlwind that surrounded me? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just my expression. I did not know what my face looked like, but I knew it was devoid of any happiness or kindness or sympathy.

I passed villages that had been burned to the ground. As they became more frequent, I knew I was nearly there. I had been marching for many days, and I felt the same as I had at the start. Soon it would be over. I had no idea what I would feel then.

The sun was rising on an average day when I reached the edge of the forest that surrounded the village. My village. The red-eyed man's village.

I came to a stop just inside the tree line. No one could see me yet. Looking out, I saw the place where he had tried to end me the first time. I could pinpoint it exactly. The ground had healed from where I had bled on it and so had my body, and I had thought my mind as well. But I had been wrong. My mind had had a chance at healing, but he ripped it away from me. He took everything away from me.

I stepped out of the trees and walked slowly to that spot. I did not know how long I stood there looking down at it. Examining every detail. The rock that my head had cracked on, now clean of my blood. The grass that had grown anew since I had torn it out of the ground as I slid to a stop.

"Who are you and what is your business here?" a voice came from my side. It took me so long to move that he asked again. Finally I looked at him. His gasp came immediately. He staggered back from me and called for assistance. "Don't you move," he commanded me. It was unnecessary. I had not planned to leave.

Three more men joined us. He asked one of the newcomers what to do. That one must be their leader when Father was not here. The leader tried to stare me down, but I met his gaze, unintimidated. A wave of sadness washed over me when I realized who he was. The small boy. Father had finally gotten to him. How disappointing.

Does he even remember me? Why I was left here to die?

Evidently, he had orders to kill me on sight because he brought a knife up to my neck. I was mildly surprised. I thought Father would want to do it himself. But maybe I had heard wrong. Or everyone else had said that because they were too frightened to actually do it themselves. I remembered the way they looked at me.

I kept Small Boy's gaze and waited for the sting of the blade. I said nothing and made no move to stop him. If anyone had a right to kill me, it was him.

His face twisted and his hand trembled as he seemed to wage an internal battle. _He remembers_.

Finally his hand and the blade dropped. "We take her to face him. Those were our orders," he said to the others. They looked confused.

Liar. You cannot kill me.

I followed him without protest. They did not even have to prod me.

The village had changed some since I had last been here. Burned items filled the spaces between tents. No one meandered around. They all cowered inside. The center of the village was no longer filled with cooking fires. Instead it was a large pit of ash. Small Boy told me to stop in the center of it. I felt something crack under my feet. I looked down. It was a bone.

Small Boy went to fetch Father. The rest of the men backed to the edge of the pit, weapons pointed at me.

Father came to the pit wearing a smile. My expression remained unchanged. "Where have you been, huh?" he asked. I merely blinked in response. He laughed. It was meant to show that he did not fear me as some must have suspected after that day he failed to kill me, but I heard its falseness. "Walk with me," he commanded me. I did not want to. I just wanted this to be over already. He took my hesitation as confusion. "You're expecting me to kill you straight away," he said, his smile growing, "but I want to talk first. Don't be afraid. I'll tell you when I plan on killing you."

_I hate this man._ I closed my eyes for a moment to maintain my calmness. Then I walked with him side by side.

"So where have you been all this time?" Moments passed. "No answer? Fine, that's not what I really want to know."

We walked in the direction I had come from. Soon we reached edge of the village again. Once out of hearing range of any of the villagers, his tone lost its fake lightness, and he asked, "How did you do it? The air spirit must have kept you alive. I've worked that much out. But how did you get it?"

I kept my gaze forward and said nothing.

"You want to do this, stupid girl? Answer me or I'll make it hurt when you die."

As if you would not do that anyway. You do not know how to do things painlessly.

He grabbed my arm to bring me to a halt. "Answer me!"

I simply looked him in his horrible red eyes with my head held high.

He shoved me. I think he meant to push me to the ground, but I did not fall. I backed up a few steps. Not out of fright, but out of not wanting to bother. He shook with fury.

Then the real assault started. That is what I had been waiting for. He threw an arm out, and fire was propelled toward me. I dodged it easily. It had been a hasty attempt. I knew he would get better. I hoped he would.

He launched a few more fire balls at me before trying another tactic. He invaded my mind again. It was just as terrible as it was before. My mind, my whole being was on fire. But I did not falter. This overwhelming pain was nothing compared to watching the dagger bury itself in Cian's back.

The only outward sign I gave of my distress was faster breathing. I did not know if he could even see that though. This angered him even more of course. He sent lines of fire racing across the grass toward me. They formed a circle around me, locking me in. With nowhere for me to go, he sent a wave of flame taller than a man toward me.

_Now._ Air and I created the strongest gust of wind I had ever felt. It met his fire. It sent the flames soaring upward until they were taller than two, three men. And slowly but surely, it pushed the flames back. They crept toward Father, eating up the distance faster as each moment passed. Father put everything he had into his flames. He would regret it. My Air was stronger. It multiplied his flames power, all the while pushing them closer to him.

One spark touched him. Then one more. A wisp of flame licked him. Then several. He still refused to give up, to let go of his flames before they devoured him. His fury only grew. He screamed and flailed, and I stood calmly within my wind.

I watched as his own Fire finally engulfed him. I watched as he turned to ash. I watched as the ashes fell down to the ground.

My wind stopped. The flames were dying now that they lacked his power. They were the last evidence of his existence.

I glanced at the presence I felt at my side. Water. It took my hand. We made it rain, erasing him from this world entirely.

***

### Chapter 22

DAVID

I was in a void. I couldn't tell how long I was suspended in here because I wasn't sure if time existed here. Seconds or years later, I hadn't moved, but I realized my feet were touching something solid. I stood. There was ground here now. Had it always been there?

I turned in place, or at least, I thought I did, but my surroundings looked the same—nothing but darkness, that is—on every side, so I could have been standing perfectly still. There was no light, no sound.

I looked down to see if I could perceive the ground. It was completely black to match everything else. I reached for it, half expecting there to be nothing despite what my feet were telling me. I brushed something solid. And just like that, I could see it. The floor was still black, but not nothingness black. It looked like wood maybe, a normal, if very dark, floor.

I tried to see my surroundings again, but now it was just a floor quickly swallowed up by the void. "Hello?" I called. That did something. Shapes formed out of the nothingness. They grew up and out, surrounding me on all sides. They towered over me. They took on more detail until I could finally tell what they were. Bookcases, hundreds, thousands—I couldn't tell how many—empty shelves.

"Where am I?" I whispered to myself. I expected it to echo, but the sound didn't even seem to travel an inch. This place soaked up all sound.

I saw movement. There, to the right. I went after it. It occurred to me that I might need to be afraid of it, but my mind had deemed it more important to find another moving thing in this otherwise motionless place.

I couldn't hear my footsteps as I chased it. I felt myself twist and turn through the bookshelves, but I couldn't see any difference in where I ended up. I couldn't tell how long it had been since I saw the moving thing. I kept going anyway.

When my calves started to burn, I finally came to a stop. I looked around. This could be the same place I started or a mile away. Where had the moving thing gone? "Anyone there?" I called out. My voice was swallowed almost instantly.

There was a muffled thump. I ran in the direction I thought it had come from. "Keep making noise if you can," I said. My voice didn't make it any further than last time. How had the thump carried? I had no idea, but I couldn't let whatever made it get away.

I rounded a corner. Screamed.

Cearo lay in a bloody heap on the ground. Her throat was slit and her ripped dress displayed several stab wounds on her chest and abdomen. "No, no, no. Help!" I yelled. "Someone help!" I cradled her in my arms, not caring if blood got all over me. Who had done this to her? She couldn't be dead, she just couldn't be. "No, Cearo. Live. You have to live." I cried over her motionless body.

My eyes were closed, so I didn't see it happen. Suddenly Cearo's weight was gone. I opened my eyes and through the watery haze, saw she was no longer in my arms. Where had she gone? I searched all around, but there was nothing but empty bookshelves and darkness. She'd simply disappeared.

What was going on? Had she even been real? I glanced down at myself. My clothes were clean where they should have been covered in blood. Did I imagine the whole thing? My mind was cruel. I took some deep breaths to calm down and clear my head.

I tried my best to shake off the absolute horror and keep moving. Maybe I had imagined the thump, and the movement too, but I had to keep going anyway. I wasn't satisfied with just sitting in the dark and waiting for something to happen.

I jogged through the shelves for who knew how long until I heard a new sound. It was like a gurgle. I tried to ignore it, thinking it was just my imagination again, but it seemed no matter which way I turned, I got closer to it. It got louder and was interrupted by coughs. Someone was in trouble. I couldn't ignore it anymore.

I ran for it and there it was around the next corner. I skidded to halt before I tripped over Cearo's convulsing body. She wasn't bleeding and there were no open wounds. Instead she was shaking violently and foam was bubbling up from her mouth. "Cearo, can you hear me?" Shit, shit, shit. I turned her onto her side, so she wouldn't choke. It only took a second, but that was already too long. She stilled, and the gurgling and coughing ended. Her eyes stared blankly. She was dead. Again.

I cried again. She was solid in my arms. This felt real. No matter how little sense it made, I was convinced it was. "I'm sorry I was too late Cearo. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I muttered it over and over through my sobs. It wasn't until I peeled my eyes open again that I found my arms empty.

"What's going on?!" I yelled. I was met with silence. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. A shadow that was somehow darker than the rest of the darkness, slipped around a corner. I chased it. "Wait! Tell me what's going on! Where's Cearo?"

Soon I was huffing and puffing. Had I lost the thing again? I pushed myself around one last bend. I tripped and fell at the sight that met me. "Why?! What's happening?!" Cearo was hanging from a noose that stretched down from the black abyss above.

_This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real._ I chanted it and shut my eyes, blocking the horrible image of Cearo's blue face that would surely disappear. I peeked. She was still there. Why was she still there? I started chanting out loud. "This isn't real. This isn't real." I couldn't help the tears that once again leaked from my eyes. "This isn't real."

A low laugh sounded from Cearo's direction. Oh God, why would there be laughter? "Who's there?" It sounded nothing like Cearo. It couldn't be coming from her. Plus _she isn't real,_ I kept reminding myself.

"You're right," a voice croaked. "It isn't real."

I braved a glance in that direction. Cearo was still dangling there, and the sight nearly crushed me all over again. But I looked past her. There was a new shape coming toward me from the darkness. It continued chuckling as it got closer. It was an ugly goblin thing, and it was slinking closer to me with a clawed hand extended.

It all came rushing back to me. I was in the secret alcove with Randolph and Sid and the sleeping Cearo. There was a mara, and it was going to take me into Cearo's mind. I just had to fall asleep. "This is a dream...or a nightmare."

"Yes, yes, and it is delicious," it said. "Look at her." I did automatically. I wanted to cry out again because even though I knew for sure now that it wasn't real, it was still horrific. The mara gasped in pleasure. "Yes, yes, delicious."

I turned away. "Make it disappear. Please."

"Why would I want to do that? This such a delectable feast."

"I thought we had a deal." I tried so hard not to look or even think about what was behind me, but it's like something was tugging at my mind, trying to force me to look. I forced the rest of my words out. "I said I would let you give me a nightmare, and I have. Haven't you had your fill?"

It laughed at me. "I am never full, not when there is so much to feed on."

This thing was evil. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this. "You were supposed to take me into Cearo's mind."

"Where do you think we are?"

I glanced at it from the corner of my eye. "We're in a maze of empty bookcases."

"Cearo has receded to the furthest depths of her mind. What did you expect the edges to look like?"

I looked at the shelves in a new light. Of course they were empty and dark. Cearo was empty and dark right now. She was somewhere deep in this maze, and I had to get to her. "You know where she is, don't you? You said you've been feeding on her."

"Yes, yes, I know the way through the maze."

"Then take me."

"You are already halfway there. I've just been feeding from you along the way." It gave me a creepy smile and reached for my arm, turning me around. I resisted, not wanting to look at dead Cearo again. But mercifully, it was gone.

The mara began leading me through the shelves again, but I soon lost track of it. I decided not to worry about that. I had gotten this far by following a general direction and my instincts. I only hoped it hadn't melted back into the darkness so it could scare me again. I picked up the pace, running through the bookcases.

After what I felt was the longest continuous silence I'd endured in here, I started to get nervous. Nothing terrifying had happened in too long of a time. As much as I'd hoped the mara wouldn't scare me again, I didn't actually think it would lay off. Was I going the wrong way after all? Everything looked the same in here, so I could be going in circles for all I knew. I started sprinting. I felt my feet pounding on the floor, but I didn't hear it. The unnaturalness multiplied my anxiety.

At the height of my panic, I slammed into someone. When I backed up a step, I could see it was Cearo. She crumpled to the ground with a gasp before going still. Her whole body was covered with burns and blisters. Some of them bled and oozed from where they'd burst when she hit the ground.

"Oh, God. It's not real. It's not real." This was the worst one yet. I turned away from it immediately and started the chant.

It was still there when I looked back. "Come on, mara. Isn't that enough?" Evidently not, because it wasn't disappearing. "Please stop. Do you know how bad this hurts?" Of course it did. It liked that.

His chuckle came from behind me. "Yes, yes, I'll stop for now." Extending the horror for one more second, Cearo's charred body disintegrated and the ash floated away on a breeze I didn't feel. "You're back on track now." With that, he began slinking away into the dark.

"Can't you just lead me?"

It paused just close enough that I could still see his face when he looked at me. "Aren't I?"

"I mean without disappearing to create these little scenes. Just let me follow you like a normal—" Normal what? I thought. "Nevermind. Just stay where I can see you and lead me."

It gave it some thought, and then said, "Yes, yes, we're nearly there anyway."

I felt a rush of relief. Almost there. I followed the mara close. It was really fast, and I nearly slipped every time we turned, but I was determined to keep up and avoid more of his nightmares.

We ran until my legs were hurting again. It looked back at me occasionally and flashed its weird smile before racing ahead. I had to call out for it to wait for me. It would always let me catch up, but it seemed to enjoy messing with me. On top of that, I was worrying again that we were going the wrong way. "Hey, are you sure we're almost there? We've been running a long time and nothing looks any different." If it was leading me on a wild goose chase, I was going to kill it. I'd turn it into his nightmare.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure." Suddenly it laughed like it had heard the funniest joke.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't feel it, do you?"

"Feel what?" I slowed and looked around. Everything was the same. Empty bookshelves. Darkness. More bookshelves and darkness.

"One more corner. Come," it said excitedly. That wasn't a good sign.

I stepped around the corner slowly, scared of what I was about to see. And that instinct was right. "Not real. Not real." I closed my eyes and clutched a shelf as I tried to regain my sanity. I just need to be rational. It may look bad—worse than bad—but I just need to remember that it's only in my head. That's definitely not Cearo lying there with all her bones broken and blood leaking from the back of her head to stain the patch of grass underneath her.

"I thought we weren't doing this anymore?" I croaked out. The mara only laughed at me. Or maybe it was enjoying the high that it got whenever I was in pain. I faced it head on. I wanted to get over this fear so it wouldn't slow me down again and again.

The mara was leaning over Cearo's body like it was admiring its work. Cearo's limbs lay at unnatural angles, her chest was caved in, and her neck was twisted too far to the side. Her glassy yellow eyes stared out at nothing. Her brow looked worried and her mouth hung open in shock like she was surprised at the distress she'd found herself in.

I wanted to cry for her. But it wasn't her. I had to keep reminding myself of that and to look at the mara instead. "Would you just quit it? This is slowing us down."

I expected the mara to laugh, but he only smiled. Then something unexpected happened. Cearo gasped. I thought she was dead already. I didn't think her crushed chest could take in any air. But it did. It rose in a painful motion and when it settled back down, a tear escaped her eye.

I rushed over. If she was still alive, even for one moment, I wanted to comfort her. "Cearo, it's going to be okay. I'm here. You're going to be fine." I knew as I said it that it was all lies, but I couldn't not say it. If nothing else, my lies might bring her a little peace. "Cearo, I've got you." I reached for her to touch her cheek. I brushed my fingers lightly across her cheekbone. Her eyes didn't meet mine. They didn't look at me. They continued to stare right through me. "Cearo? Can you here me? I just want you to know I'm here. You're not alone." There wasn't even a twitch in response.

She took another labored breath, her eyes focused on something past me. I asked the mara, "If you're not going to let me comfort her, can you just make her disappear already?"

It chuckled quietly. "You still don't feel it, don't see it."

"See what? See Cearo dying? Trust me, I see that. I can't unsee it."

"But you are not seeing the rest."

The rest? What more was there? I stared down at Cearo for what felt like hours. It was when I missed catching one of her tears that I noticed it. Her tear landed on the grass beneath her. There was blood there, yet the tear didn't mix with it. When I touched that spot, I felt the grass, but it did not seem to know I was there. It didn't bend. The blood pooled there didn't ripple. It was like I was a ghost. "She can't see me. Why not?"

"You aren't there," the mara said.

"I'm right here. Why can't she see me? Is it because she's one of your creations? Is that why you had to kill her instantly in all of the other hallucinations?"

He chuckled. "I did not have to kill her. I did so because it caused you the most distress. But this isn't one of my creations. I've only embellished."

I looked sharply at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, extra broken bones, a deeper dent in her chest, a more severe twist in her neck. For your eyes only, of course. To her, it's merely bruises and a few broken ribs, possibly a wrist. Oh, and a mild cut on her head. She hit it on a rock when she was thrown here. She did not cry."

Thrown here? Memories of dreams came to the forefront of my mind. I was starting to connect the dots. This looked a lot like the dream I had of the Cearo look-alike being tortured and tossed from her village, left to die. "How..."

I looked all around. I couldn't make sense of this. The mara said this wasn't his creation. But what was this then? It couldn't be... It couldn't be—

My thoughts halted abruptly when my eyes landed on something peculiar. A lone book lay on a shelf near dying Cearo's head. I looked back at her. It was clicking in my head, but I didn't want it to because it would be too awful. "Mara, is this Cearo's memory?"

***

### Chapter 23

CEARO

Not enough. I had not known what I would feel after facing Father, but now it was after, and I felt that it had not been enough. I breathed in deeply as the rain tapered off. I could feel Water inside me. We magnified each other's grief.

People began emerging from their tents. They stared at me in awe. No one cheered. No one so much as smiled. They were impressed, but not happy at the scene before them. They remembered the last time one of the strange-eyed beings had vanquished their enemy. He had become the enemy. They feared I would as well.

It flitted through my mind that I should leave. I was not welcome here and never would be, no matter what I did for them. I did not truly want to stay anyway. I did not want to be anywhere.

I stood there for ages, yearning to simply cease existing. The sun was setting when I finally moved. My eyes focused on the villagers. They were parting, not wanting to be near whoever it was walking through. They whispered things to each other and to the person in question. I did not bother to listen.

I was in the process of commanding my body to walk when the person made it out of the crowd. It was Small Boy, and he was carrying a basket of food. He came over to me nervously. He was within my reach, but I made no move for him. He set the basket at my feet and looked me in the eye. "Thank you," he said. He studied me for a long time, and I could see the majority of his fear leaving him. "I do not think you're like him," he whispered, "but the rest do. You must leave, Yellow Eyes." His normal eyes pleaded with me to understand.

I did, had worked that out myself. But I appreciated that there was one person left in the world who knew I was not a demon. I grasped the handle of the basket. Before I left for good this time, I told him, "My name is Cearo."

He nodded. "Goodbye, friend Cearo."

I went east. Away from him, away from the sun, away from this day. When the sun rose, I turned north, refusing to go back, but also refusing to face it. When it made it to my other side, I faced east again. I zigzagged for days, moons, seasons.

My insides roiled. I was depressed and angry and disappointed and depressed all over again. Ridding the world of Father was not enough. Cian was still gone. I was still unwelcome by all. I had no hope left. Every night when there was no sun to run from, the sorrow took me. It crushed me to the ground and forced enough tears from my eyes to create a river to rival Cian's.

All the while, rage burned deep inside me. Father was gone so quick that I did not even get a chance to show him what he had taken from me or the agony it had caused. I wanted him to come back to life, so I could destroy him again. I wanted to stomp on him until his bones broke like he had done to me. I wanted to drown him in my river of sorrow, squeeze the air from his empty, heartless chest, I wanted...I wanted...to burn him.

I know he had burned, but it was his own Fire. Mine wanted out. It kicked and screamed for release. If Father was not present, it would take anything I let it touch. Father should be proud. I finally knew what he felt like all the time. But I still resisted. This was why I let the sorrow take me every night. It would put out the fire until my tears ran dry.

One winter day I arrived at the northernmost point I could find. I was forced to stop at the edge of another body of saltwater. It moved like it did in the west, but it was not angry. It had nothing to crash against. It reached onto the ice I stood upon and other ice islands that floated within it, but it never pulled strong enough to wrench me in.

I did not like this water. _You are connected, are you not?_ I asked my Water. It shifted in me uncomfortably. _Why is it not affected? Why is it not grieving with us?_

It should be sad and angry with us. It was freezing cold, but that was not enough to negate its calmness, its gentleness. It needed to crash and roar.

My desperation peaked, and I lifted the water into a massive wave. Without truly comprehending what I was doing, I let it fall on top of me. It slammed me onto the ice before dragging me into its depths. It pulled me down, down closer to its darkness. The pressure was great, constricting my chest, forcing air out of me to bubble up to the more and more distant surface.

I would die down here. _Good. I should die. There is no reason not to._

I closed my eyes against the stinging salt and waited for death to relieve me. I felt my consciousness slipping. _Yes, sleep. Take me away. Take me to Cian._

Suddenly my face met air. It flew into my chest and chased away the sleep and death. "No!" I yelled to expel the air. I plunged back under, but the water fought me. It pushed me to the surface where air continued to assault and invade me. I kicked down again and again to no avail. I tried to suck in water, but it only fought its way out of me when I surfaced next. Finally fed up with me, a wave formed and threw me onto the ice.

I kneeled on the hard, cold surface and wailed. Tears poured out in oceans. Screams of desperation ripped out of me. The water around me was whirling even though it would not touch me. The wind whipped in a frenzy, though it refused to blow me away. I clawed and pounded at the ice just to have something to hit. I felt the bones in my hands crack, but I did not let up until they were absolutely shattered.

When my attack finally ceased, I collapsed. The ice was unforgiving beneath me. It sucked the heat right out of me. For a moment, I relaxed into it. Perhaps I would die after all.

Please, please let me die.

But then I was warmed. Fire burned within me, replenishing the unwanted heat, pretending at comfort while it took over.

A new day came, and I realized as I woke that I faced the sun. It shined across the ice, burning brightly. I rose from the grave that had rejected me and walked toward it.

Over the next few moons, I had traveled in every direction, no longer afraid of the sun. I recall exactly when I reached far enough south that plants grew. I was walking through the snow and heard a sizzle. Looking down, I saw I had stepped on small, leafy sprout. I picked it up and watched it blacken and turn to ash in my hand. I watched the remains blow away on a breeze. I was not repulsed.

Later on, I found myself in a forest. The ground was littered with leaves and pine needles, and sizzles mingled with the usual crunch with every step. When night fell, I sat down among the leaves. I picked one up and watched it burn in my hand. I was mesmerized by the light. I picked up another and did it again. And again.

_You should stop._ I told myself this several times, but each time I did not heed the warning, and each time it became quieter. I let the next leaf drift down before it burnt out. The embers touched another leaf next to it. I rested my head right next to them and watched the tiny inferno blaze. It looked huge from so close. I fell asleep with it filling my vision.

Fire had not engulfed the whole forest by the time I woke the next day. This place was too cold and wet. I could see droplets from a recent drizzle covering every surface. There was a tiny blackened spot on the ground, no bigger than my palm, where my flames had burned briefly. I moved on from that forest, determined to find a place that would not put out my Fire.

I found that place. And then another and another. My flames grew larger each time. I would be enthralled by their beauty until I thought they were not big enough. I fed them as much as possible. They grew up to the treetops where there was nothing left to burn beyond. But I wanted bigger. Angry at my failure to make them as enormous as they were in my mind, I made the air stand still to suffocate them and rain fall in torrents to drown them out. Then I moved on to the next place.

I got bored with my simple flames before long. I was never satisfied with them. Besides, the air had gotten wet again. I began to experiment with other things. Could I make my small whirlwinds into great tunnels of wind? How high could I make the saltwater reach? What would happen if I combined the wind and the water? I traveled along the coast making the most magnificent storms. They tore through sky, land, and sea, leaving my mark on the earth.

Sometimes I heard people around me. They would scream at my storms. A few brave ones would get in my way, thinking they could stop me. They could not. It was so easy to remove them. I did not understand their complaints anyway. Many died in my storms, but that was lucky for them. My storms would never touch me.

At one point, I wandered away from the coast, deciding to take a break from the storms. I found myself in an arid land. It was full of nothing but sand and rocks. It stretched as far as I could see and then farther still. I tried to mark this land, but to no avail. The air was so empty of water that I could not create a storm. There was nothing to light on fire. Dust storms could be huge and powerful, but only until they ended. Then everything would settle as if nothing had taken place. I took to burying things when I came upon them, just for something to do. When I finally reached water again, I was grateful to be out of this monotonous land. I was sure the people I left under the dunes felt the same.

I created more storms, toppling monuments, flooding villages. I started hearing my name called. Sometimes it sounded different in their languages, but I knew what they meant. They told stories about me, saying I brought terror and pain and death with me everywhere I went. They said I was the embodiment of chaos and fury. I did not think either of those was the right word, but I did not correct them.

One day I came upon a most unusual place. I had climbed a mountain, since I could not be bothered to go around it. At the top, I found a colossal hole as if a giant had pinched off the peak. Within the hole was a hot, fiery liquid. I tried using Water to maneuver it, but it did not work. Fire came to the forefront of my mind, stretching after the long rest I had put it through. It reached for the liquid. The liquid burned brighter, and it swirled and bubbled. I threw a piece of food into it and watched it melt and burn to nothing. I had never seen anything like it. It was liquid fire.

I stayed to play with it for a time, making it boil and jump. I made it bigger and higher until some of it streamed from the hole. I followed the fire river to see what it would do outside the hole. It cooled rather quickly and hardened into a black rock. I tried to heat it back up, but it took too much energy. Better to use it when it was already hot then.

After a few more experiments, I left the hole and traveled down the other side of the mountain. A man attempted to ambush me. Air threw his knife back at him before it could touch me. Curious what I could do with the new liquid fire, I called to it. It exploded out of the hole and covered the man, his village, and the entire surrounding area. All except me.

***

### Chapter 24

DAVID

The mara was too busy laughing to answer me, but it was fine because I didn't need him to. I knew this was Cearo's memory. The mara peeled back his 'embellishments' so that I could see it in all its ugly truth. It looked exactly like the dream I had had. She lay there bruised, burnt, broken in body and mind. She watched her fellow villagers back away fearfully. They were invisible to me, but I felt their stares and the pain they caused her. She stayed still and silent the whole time, not knowing how to ask for help and maybe not feeling like she deserved any.

Even though she couldn't feel it, I brushed my fingers through her hair. "You didn't deserve this," I told her. "They were just too frightened to see the truth of what you were." A lonely little girl. That's what I saw in this memory and previous ones. Mini Cearo must have been real too. I was horrified to realize that all of the things I'd witnessed Cearo, the child, go through had actually happened. My mind hadn't made it up to torture me. They were real events that had tortured Cearo then and lived on in her mind to torture her forever. I cried for her, since she was too strong to do it herself.

"How did I see all these things before?" I asked the mara.

"Oh, I simply inserted them into your dreams. Hardly any effort as these memories hurt both of you so wonderfully deep already. Two nightmares for the price of one."

I wanted to hate it for that, but I couldn't, not entirely. These memories would hurt Cearo regardless of the mara's involvement, so at least he wasn't creating anything new for her. And by showing them to me, maybe Cearo would let me bear some of the weight. I just had to find her.

"Come on, we still have to find her. The real her, not this past version," I said. I got up and started winding through the shelves without waiting for it to lead.

I rounded a few corners when I saw a more current Cearo standing with her arms raised. She brought them down quickly while staring at some point in the distance. I turned to look, even though I wasn't expecting to see anything. This was obviously another memory. There were a few books on a shelf behind her. This time though, more of her surroundings were visible. I saw what she was looking at. In the distance was a line of huts. And as her arms came down, a giant wave crashed onto them. They were crushed under the weight of the water, and pulled back into what was probably the ocean, though it was only the void to me. "Don't do that, Cearo," I said to her before moving on.

The next Cearo I met had red eyes. She was surrounded by a circle of twenty foot flames. She sat in the middle, concentrating. The flames grew bigger and drew closer to her, but eventually they reached a point where they couldn't reach any taller or closer. She kept concentrating until a muscle in her eyebrow starting twitching. Then she collapsed and rain poured over her. Her eyes went blank like she'd given up.

The next Cearo appeared to be dancing with a tornado. She directed it with her arms and followed it gracefully. It always stayed one step ahead of her. It occasionally sucked up buildings and people. They would come out the other end in pieces and scatter everywhere. "Cearo, stop. You're hurting them," I told her. She couldn't hear me. I tried not to look back as I went on. It was in the past. It couldn't be changed.

I passed another Cearo that made a volcano erupt like in Randolph's story. I had seen this one before. I was even more saddened by it now that I knew it was real. I ran up to her and hugged her, not caring that she couldn't feel it. "Cearo, stop doing this, please," I begged her. This was a terrible version of her, one I knew she would hate because it was just like her terrible father. It was so angry and hateful and...evil. This Cearo gave credence to all the stories that painted her as a villain. "You're not. Stop acting like one." She walked away from the wreckage calmly, like I knew she would.

I watched the next Cearo stand in the eye of a hurricane. I heard the screams of people fighting the wind and rain, but they were no match for Cearo. She looked out over them almost as if she was bored. Their fight to survive didn't register with her. She only made the storm churn stronger while she stood in the middle, her hair not even blowing. I called to her, but my voice got lost in the wind with everyone else's.

One Cearo buried an entire ancient city in the desert with a sandstorm. I cringed thinking about what a horrible way that would be to die. If anyone was still alive under the new sand dune though, I couldn't hear their cries.

"How much of this is you?" I asked the mara. I prayed for it say all or most.

It chuckled. "None."

That broke my heart, but I couldn't say I was surprised. The mara opened its mouth to say something else, but I cut off what would surely be a comment to make me feel even worse. "Let's keep going. The memories are getting more complete"—which only increased how uncomfortable they were to watch, but I didn't mention that—"so we've got to be getting close, right?"

"Yes, yes, nearly there."

Thank God. I didn't know how much more I could endure. I didn't know how Cearo could have dealt with all these memories for so long. And all by herself. There were so many bad versions of her, but I still held on to the fact that deep down she was good. I didn't know how I was going to reconcile all of this yet, but I'd figure it out. She wasn't this monster, at least not always. She wasn't like this in the present, and these were all very distant memories. I wouldn't let them cloud my feelings for her, and I'd help her move on from them so they would stop coloring her opinion of herself too.

I came upon countless more versions of her as I wove through increasingly fuller bookcases. In some memories, she was causing more destruction. In others, she was alone. In one, I wasn't sure if she'd been alone the whole time or if it was the aftermath of one of her natural disasters. She floated in the middle of a vast sea. A storm raged around her. There were no buildings for it to tear down or people for it to drown—at least not anymore—but it rained on. Cearo lay in the center of it, rolling along with the waves. Her eyes were blank like they'd been after she collapsed in the ring of fire. She'd given up again. I wasn't sure on what, but I thought I had an idea. Since I wasn't part of the memory, I could walk on the water to get to her. It just felt like the floor to me. I bent down to reach her and kissed her forehead before moving on. "It'll get better, Cearo."

The deeper I went, there got to be so many memories that I tried to move through them faster without stopping to watch or getting too emotional over them. The mara thought I was scared of them. It laughed at me gleefully and said, "She is terrible, isn't she? A true monster."

I ignored it. My theory was gaining more and more evidence as I went on. Mixed in with the destruction, there were other memories too. Ones of her only kind-of-friend ignoring her, ones of her sister being beaten in front of her, one of her sister's suicide. That one almost made me pause despite my determination not to. Cearo couldn't have been more than four years old. Her cries nearly killed me.

One memory I ran into over and over, and I paused every time. I couldn't help it. It was me—Cian—dying. I watched several times as the dagger pierced my back, and I swear I could feel it. I saw it all from the tree that I—I mean Cian—had left Cearo in after promising to come back. I was amazed her ear-splitting screams didn't break her voice permanently. It was only her spirit that was broken. At that time, it appeared irreparable.

From the corner of my eye, I saw her blow away another village, drown more cities, burn more people. "Are we almost there?" I asked the mara. I feel like I'd been running forever.

"Why, human? Had enough of her horrors? Can't take anymore of the demon Cearo?"

"She's not a demon."

"You still deny it? Look around. The evidence is clear."

I sighed and shook my head. "You don't get it, do you?"

Its laugh cut off abruptly. It was not expecting that. "I understand what I see. Of course I do. You're the one that doesn't believe his own eyes."

"Oh, I believe my eyes. I don't deny that all of this happened."

"Then admit she is terrible. She is the world's worst demon."

"No, she's not. You really don't get it." It jumped in front of me, ready to yell its argument until I gave in. Before it could start, I grabbed it and turned it around. "Look," I told it. Cearo had made another volcano explode. People were running to escape the lava. A lot of them didn't make it. Their homes and their meager possessions were all melted, burned, and buried. The mara focused on this as it started yelling at me. But I turned its head and made it look at Cearo. Cearo, who wasn't running. Cearo, who was watching the flames rain down all around her with a desperate look in her eye. "She's trying to die."

I knew in my heart that was what was happening. The people around her were just collateral damage to her. She would still be doing this even if they weren't there. They just happened to be there, unluckily for them. And Cearo was too absorbed in her sorrow to notice them.

"Demons and monsters don't try to end themselves," I said.

It hesitated before saying, "Plenty men have tried to kill her yet she resists."

"Does she?"

"Of course."

"Can you bring up the memory of the goat herder and the volcano again?"

It tugged on something I couldn't see and a book came flying over the shelves to him. The familiar scene formed around us. I watched Cearo carefully as the man hid behind her. She honestly didn't know he was there. I could tell because she was once again lost in her own thoughts. The knife was on its way to her and she still didn't see. It wasn't until the air had already started gusting that her attention shifted. When the knife buried itself in the man, she didn't look angry. She looked disappointed.

"She wasn't resisting. Air saved her against her will." I continued to watch her for a moment, and then asked, "How much farther is it?"

The mara finally looked like he believed me. I wouldn't call his expression sad exactly because I didn't think he was capable of feeling real sympathy, but it wasn't happy either. "We are close, but the corridors get tighter and more crowded the closer to the center we get. There is still much more of this."

Great. It felt like it would never end. I guess that's how Cearo always felt. "Let's go then. Once we're past all this, I'll give her better memories."

***

### Chapter 25

CEARO

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

My head was full of terrible things. There was no room for anything else. The memories kept playing, and I was sucked into them no matter how hard I tried to shut them out, no matter how far I retreated, no matter how much I tried to stop being.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

They would not let me die. The elementals constantly thwarted me and anyone else that attempted to help me die. They still were. Or one was.

"Leave me!" I screamed at Water. It stayed by my side. It touched me in a way one friend might try to comfort another. But it was not my friend. It was keeping me alive, and I was sick and tired, so damn tired, of being alive.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

"You had no problem letting Cian die," I snarled at it. It backed away slightly. I should feel ashamed for such a low blow, but I did not think I was capable of feeling anything other than misery anymore.

The truth was, I knew Water hated that day as much as I did. It wanted to go back and change it just as badly. I could feel it whenever I drew him or thought about him. It was only with me because I did those things. My drawings were the closest it could come to seeing him. My thoughts about him were the closest it could come to being with him. Water had not chosen me. It had simply decided I was the next best option.

"Abandon me already. I vow I will never think of him again." That way it had no reason to stay.

The memories continued their assault, but I did my best to redirect them. Instead of my grief over Cian, I watched the results of the mess I had made. It made me sick. I was the demon everyone called me. Eventually, I went back to hiding in the trees, but that did not fix things. The situation was already broken beyond repair. And it was all my fault.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

"Please just go. I beg you. Let this end." Surprisingly, it did leave. Not entirely, as I was still alive, but it floated into the blackness and out of sight.

I broke my vow quickly. The memories of Cian returned and I relished them, as painful as they were. Anything to see his face. Mixed in were all the bad things I had done, and I cried and cried over my foolishness. He would hate this. He would hate me.

The elementals would never let me die, yet I kept trying. And all of the destruction I caused along the way...I could not blame the people for their stories. I looked mad in every way and in every instance.

I remembered the first time I had been run out of a village. I had only wanted to trade, but they chased me, calling 'demon.' How right they had been. I should have let them have me.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

I had tried to clean up my mess later on. Actually, no, not really. I had tried to disappear so that it could clean itself up. That did not go to plan though. There was far too much to clean up. The stories about me had spread too far. And they had influenced others. My chaos and madness were no longer confined to just me.

I started noticing it after I retreated to the trees again. There were others like me with strange eyes. The fae, Cian had called us. Some of them attempted to emulate me in other ways as well. They created tornadoes and fires and torrential rains. A few made earthquakes, something I had not dabbled in but was destructive nonetheless. Their displays were always on a smaller scale than mine, but that was still big enough to cause damage to the regular people and their homes.

I watched one in particular for quite some time. He was a fire fairy, and for a split second I thought my father had come back from the dead. He used his power in much the same way. He burned anyone and anything that displeased him. He went from village to village imposing his will on the people. He soon built himself a small empire.

I often sent a light rain to him and his people. It would help for a while. Unfortunately, he would make up for the lost time in the end. Burn more, burn faster until his own empire had been reduced to ashes. Then he would build another.

It was the people that finally took him down. He had amassed so vast an empire for his day that he could no longer truly control it. There were enough people to take him down despite his greater power. And that is exactly what they did. I watched as they gathered and planned. Part of me was pleased even. This tyrant should be eliminated. But I did not fully realize what this meant in the long run.

The people were successful. They trapped him after one of my rains and drowned him in a river. Their only mistake was not doing this before he had spread his seed. I kept an eye on his children and his children's children throughout the centuries. I was still keeping an eye on one of them to this day. King Aodh of the Seelie.

These ancestors of the Seelie king and others like him continued their reigns of terror. Some tried to dominate regular people. Others just seemed to enjoy hurting them for their own amusement. If the people didn't submit, they were killed. People became terrified of all fae. Even the people who had been kind in the past—I had seen a few, though I never approached them myself—were turning on anyone with strange eyes. There were not many evil fae. I had been the worst by far, and I had stopped. But the pain and damage they caused reached far. People forgot that the fae could be good.

It started slowly. I noticed that more and more villages were kicking out fae, sometimes even children. It typically was not violent, as people were too afraid to fight the fae without huge numbers on their side. It was more like a gradual shunning. The fae would get less to eat, the worst of clothing and places to sleep. When they were told to leave, many wanted to and most were too weak to put up a fight either way.

I watched one memory that had always unnerved me. It was a girl with black hair and red eyes. She was much younger than I was when I left my village, but she still reminded me of myself. She was exiled from her village after doing nothing wrong. She cried on her first night alone. She did not understand that people disliked all of her kind, not only her. I prayed to every deity that she would not turn out like me. I was almost glad when she died of starvation, as she did not know how to survive on her own. I say 'almost glad' because more than that, I was envious.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

After ridding their homes of the fae, people started banding together to take on the cruel fae wherever they could find them. I did nothing to stop them as I watched several of the most vile of the fae be murdered. Occasionally I even helped, like I did with that fire fairy. A little rain here, a dust storm there. No one ever knew it was the same demon who had tormented them that was now helping them.

I should have stopped them though. At least some of them. Because after gaining the courage to take on the evil fae, they took on _all_ of the fae. They began to actively seek out fae and kill them in cold blood for crimes they did not and would not commit.

The fae hid. They formed their own secret communities for protection. Earth fae grouped together underground. Water fae surrounded themselves with the most treacherous waters. Air fae climbed the highest, most precarious peaks. Fire fae kept themselves ensconced within walls of flame. That was when they officially started referring to regular people as humans. Humans were different from fae. They were not friends.

I sometimes wondered what had happened to the earth fairy in the village next to Cian's. Were his people still kind to him? Or was he shunned right after I was? Whenever I happened upon a group of earth fae, I would stop to look at them, wondering if any of them were him. Did he despise me for the life I had condemned him to? Because maybe the humans would not hate the fae so much had I not seen to it.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

The attacks on the fae got bolder as time passed. They became as deadly as the attacks on humans. I hated watching it then and now. So many innocent fae died because the humans were scared of a few bad ones.

Most of the fae were only trying to live in peace. They used their elementals to try to keep humans back. They only hurt them when their defenses failed. It did not do enough to deter the humans though. They came back time and time again until even the most reluctant fae had no choice but to engage them.

I watched one memory play out that I found particularly sad. There was a fairy who had not always been fae. He was chosen by an earth elemental when he was a young man. His village chased him out immediately, and he joined a nearby fae community. One night, he absconded to his old village to meet with his closest friend. I did not understand all of their words, but I could sense the young fairy's desperation as he pleaded with his friend for acceptance. The fairy and the human hugged before parting. At the time I hoped things would be different for these two.

They were not. There was an attack on the fae community the following night. It was not the worst I had seen, but it was the worst these particular fae had seen. They had thought their location in the caves was a secret. The young fairy survived, and the next night he went back to his human friend. He did not believe his human friend would have done this. They were true friends after all. That night, they came to some agreement. I thought perhaps the human was agreeing to give aid to the fae, and the fairy in turn described their new location and their numbers.

There was another attack two nights after their agreement. This one was much worse. It wiped out nearly the entire population of fae. One fae family was slaughtered right next to the entrance I was closest to. The ones that made it out alive scattered. The young fairy survived again, but now he was suspicious of his human friend. When he left, he did not trust the human with his destination.

Sometime later, the young fairy went back to see his human friend. He did not tell the human of the new fae tribe he had joined. Still they met again and several times more, and it looked like they were true friends again. The young fairy decided to test him. He gave a fake location of the new tribe.

The human friend led the army of people there himself. The young fairy's bitterness and resentfulness was born and took over in a split second. Disgusted, he burrowed away before his ex-friend saw him. The next night, he met with the human again. This time with his own army. The humans were slaughtered.

This is what would have happened with the small boy and me.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

***

### Chapter 26

DAVID

The mara was right. The memories got so crowded that I could see several at once. I was pretty sure I could just run through everyone and everything in them like a ghost, but it all looked so real and solid that my instincts wouldn't let me. I wound through them all slowly and carefully, avoiding flying weapons, of which there were many. After a while, I started noticing a change. We still passed some memories of Cearo being violent, but they got less frequent. In their place were memories of Cearo watching violence. Other fae were terrorizing humans, and I could tell by the look on her face that she wished it would stop.

The first time I saw one like this I thought I had finally found actual Cearo. "Cearo! Thank God, I found you," I said, running up to her. She was still watching the violence unfold in front of her. "Stop looking at that, Cearo. It's not real," I said, trying to comfort her. I realized that wasn't entirely true though. "Okay, well, it was real. But it was a long time ago. You can forget all that now..." I trailed off when I realized she still hadn't looked at me. "Cearo?" I waved my hand in front of her face. Nothing.

"You're not there, remember?" the mara's voice came from right behind me. I jumped. I'd forgotten he was there.

"I had just figured that out, thanks. I wonder what changed." I said the last part to myself. Why had Cearo taken to watching the evil fae? What had made her stop acting like one? With only a quick flick of her fingers, she sent rain clouds over to the area, thwarting the fire fairy. She didn't battle him outright, but the light rain she created effectively stopped him for the time being. I smiled. She was helping people. This was progress.

These types of scenes gradually replaced the ones showing Cearo's storms. I noticed other things too. She was climbing trees again. She was still incredibly sad and I often came upon her with the same giving-up look, but she was no longer actually trying to kill herself. Again, it wasn't great, but it was progress.

One memory showed me what I thought was the reason. She was watching another fire fairy burn a field. There were no people in the area luckily, so she didn't intervene at all. When the fire fairy moved on, she brought rain so the fire would be put out. She didn't stop there. Her eyes changed to emerald green, and new grass sprouted up from the ground.

"When did that happen?" I asked even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I expected to eventually see that moment she got her earth elemental, but so far it hadn't come up. As long as it helped her as it seemed to be, it was fine. I'd ask her when she woke up.

I went through a few memories where Cearo was so far away observing that there was enough open space for me to feel comfortable jogging. I ran past a few skirmishes without paying much attention. I regretted that soon after.

A figure flew past me without warning, and I tumbled to the ground. A minute ago this has been open desert land, and Cearo was peeking over a sand dune, watching one of the few nice fae I'd seen make a little oasis. The humans had chased him away when he offered to make it close to them, but he left it for them to find just over the rise. Cearo looked immensely sad at his predicament, and I think she helped him a little, little enough that he didn't notice. I kept thinking she should go over and talk to him. Maybe they could be friends.

I didn't remember leaving that memory before the figure darted past me. Everything just changed in an instant. I took in my new surroundings. I was in a cave. Perfect. I hated caves. I knew in my head that this wasn't real, but the claustrophobia was coming for me anyway. Add to that chaos. There were people running everywhere, humans and fae. They were chasing each other down tunnels and slamming each other into walls. I crawled to a dark corner away from the worst of it to take a few deep breaths.

"It's not real. It's not real. I'm not in a cave, and there's no one fighting. Not anymore. This isn't real." I was on my last deep breath before I planned on opening my eyes and finding my way out. But I was interrupted by a woman tripping and falling over me.

She looked to see what tripped her and met my eyes. Her bright green ones widened at the sight of me, and she screamed. "Leave us alone!" she yelled as she sprinted away.

"What?" I stood up, but I didn't walk away yet. I was too confused. I looked after her. That couldn't have happened. For a second, I could have sworn she was looking _at_ me instead of through me. I looked behind me to find what she must have really been looking at. But there was nothing but the rock wall.

Impossible. I was a ghost. I couldn't interact with these people because they were just memories. Like the mara said, I wasn't really here. "Mara!"

It slid out of a shadow looking very pleased with itself. "Enjoying your time here?" it asked.

"How did she see me?"

"Who would that be?"

"Don't pretend you didn't see what happened," I spat at it. "Why could that woman see me?"

At that moment a man, a human man, bumped into me, almost knocking us both over. "What are you doing?" he yelled at me. "Where's your weapon? Grab one and start exterminating these fae bastards."

He ran off before I could reply. Not that I had one. My mouth was hanging open in shock. When my brain started working again, I said to the mara, "What the hell was that?"

It chuckled at me. "Oh yes, yes, that. I have been so generous with you for so long. Yet you didn't think I would go on the rest of this journey without feeding one more time, did you? Especially when we have reached such a delicious part."

I went to grab the thing and demand it stop, but another person ran into me. This one was too preoccupied to notice and ran on without saying a word. It gave the mara enough time to hop away from me. "Stop it, you little monster!" I yelled after it. "This isn't even a nightmare for me because I know I'll be fine and I've got no emotional attachment to whatever this scene is. It's just weird."

It laughed high and long. "I didn't say I was feeding on you, human."

Shit. "Cearo's here? The real Cearo?"

If possible, it's laugh got even more maniacal. "Yes, yes, and just wait until she sees her beloved Cian in the middle of this battle that resulted in so much bloodshed. Imagine how utterly delectable it will be!"

"No! Her memories are bad enough as they are. Stop tormenting her!" I yelled a few more things at it, but it melted back into the shadows without responding to any of them. I was left at the edge of this not-real-but-feels-real cave with not-real-but-act-real people. And the mara was right. This was getting bloody, and fast. I had to get out of here.

I sprinted through the nearest tunnel, having no idea if I was going deeper into the cave system but praying I wasn't and that I'd soon be met with fresh air. Weapons flew by, and I thought some may have been directed at me. I stumbled upon a few earth fairies, what looked like parents and their small child, that were running quietly but urgently down a small tunnel. They seemed like they actually knew where they were going so I followed them.

Right when a light came into view ahead—oh sweet fresh air and open space—the father looked back to make sure the coast was still clear. He saw me. The walls around me started shaking, and the man wielded a knife as he ran to attack me. "No, no, no, I'm not dangerous! I won't hurt you or your family!" I held my hands up to show I was unarmed. It meant nothing to him. He kept coming for me.

Just before he made contact, I was slammed into the wall from the side. "Good work!" yelled the human man who'd told me to grab a weapon earlier. He grappled with the earth fairy until the fairy's wife called out to him. With a powerful lunge, the fairy pushed back the human as far as he could and ran for it. The rock started crumbling down, but not fast enough to bury me or the human man.

"Let's get them!" the man yelled and followed the fae family. Another man ran behind him, eager to be part of it.

I had to stop them. They'd followed me here, and now the fae family was going to die because of it. I burst through the tunnel onto a rock plateau. The fairy was already fighting off the two men and losing. I went to help.

At first the men thought I was joining them in bringing the fairy down, but as I grabbed onto their knives, trying to pull them away, they got the picture. One of them kicked me in the stomach, the other in the groin, and I went down hard. They managed to disable the male fairy, and one of them held him while the other looked down his nose at me. The fairy's family cowered behind them. "Please don't kill them," I said. "They're innocent. One is just a kid."

The man leered at me and said, "Traitor. I'm going—"

I didn't find out what he was going to do. At that moment, the world slipped away, and everything went black. My eyes adjusted, and I realized I was back in the bookshelves. There was a book right next to me that slammed closed on its own.

"No! That was going to be the best part!" a voice yelled. The mara.

"Where's Cearo? You said she was here." Well, it hadn't said it exactly, but it had implied it. Instead of answering me, it ran off, muttering to itself and tearing at books. I chased after it. It darted down a new corridor without warning. I barely caught myself in time to redirect my body. By that time though, the mara was out of sight, having already turned again. I jogged as fast as I could while looking down each corridor that branched from this one, hoping I'd glimpse the annoying creature.

My head turned to face the next branch when blue filled my vision, and I came to a sudden stop. "Whoa, what the—" I muttered. The blue light backed off slightly, and I realized what I was looking at. "Water?" It floated to and away from me a few times like it was beckoning me to follow it. "Yes, show me where Cearo is!" We had to be close, like right there, now. And Cearo's Water was way more trustworthy than the mara. Water flew ahead, and I followed without hesitation.

Only two rows down, we were forced to stop. The mara had come out of nowhere and grabbed onto my leg. I tried to shake it off but it was surprisingly strong. "What are you doing? Let go."

"Hush. I'll just throw you into the next one."

"What—" An open book flew toward my face. Before it made contact, the scene changed again.

***

### Chapter 27

CEARO

Water was back. It was flying around me, tugging on me, and leaping on me. Whatever it was so excited about, I did not care. My eyes were closed, and I curled up into a tighter ball. It kept trying, so insistent that I pay attention to it. "I told you to leave!" I screamed at it. "I do not want you! I never wanted you! Get out of me!"

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

Water went still for a moment. Though it had no eyes, I felt it watching me. I felt its sadness at my words. But I also felt that it had not given up. There was one last speck of hope left in it. I wished it would drown it already. It backed away, slowly at first, before bolting into the abyss. I did not wonder where it had gone.

For no reason that I could fathom other than my mind was against me, the memory of the earth fae cave community invasion by the young fairy's human friend came up again. I buried my face in my arms again. I was determined not to watch that family be murdered again. I had seen it enough. I started hearing the familiar shouts. "No, no, no, no, no," I repeated to drown them out.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

With herculean effort, I shut the memory down before it could finish. It tore away from me, back into the blackness. I trembled in trepidation of what would come next. Everything stayed black and quiet for a time. I peeked out. That must have been what it was waiting for.

***

### Chapter 28

DAVID

I was in a field. For a second, I was relieved. This is better than a cave. I could work with this. What's so scary about this?

Then I found out. Shouts erupted from either side of me. My heart raced in fear at what I saw. To my right was a huge mass of humans. To my left, fae. All were armed, and all were angry. I was in the middle of a full scale battle. Shit. This was much worse than caves.

Which way do I run? The lines stretched on and on, so I wouldn't get out by the time they converged. So what side do I go to? The fae would kill me for being human. The humans would kill me for being a traitor.

Both sides started running to meet each other. Time to choose. I turned in a circle, putting off the decision for one more second. There. Slightly off to the fae side in the distance were trees. I sprinted in that direction. Cearo. That's where she'd be.

I crashed into the line of fae a few minutes later. They swiped their weapons at me, and the fire fairies got their fire balls ready to launch. I felt the ground shaking slightly as the earth fairies prepared to trip me. I dodged everything the best I could. I got a few cuts, but they were minor. I held up my hands, showing I didn't carry any weapons and prayed they'd let me go.

They looked confused when I didn't fight back. I did my best to weave around each of them, out of range of their weapons. Some still took a swipe, but when the rest of the humans met them, they forgot about the one weird guy.

It was chaos after that. I thought the cave was crazy, but this was on a whole other scale. Some people broke off to fight one on one while some traveled in groups, slaughtering anyone that got in the way. I even picked up a sword from a one of the fallen—couldn't tell if he was human or fae—and held it out in front of me in defense.

A flaming arrow zoomed past my ear from behind, and I dropped to the ground in case there were more. I looked behind to see a fire fairy coming for me. I scrambled to my feet, ready to run. I watched from the corner of my eye as a human came up behind the fairy and beheaded him. I wasn't relieved. The human's creepy laugh as he watched the fairy's head roll prevented that. I didn't stay to thank him. I just ran on.

The next fairy that engaged me was a water fairy. He stopped me by bringing his sword against mine with a loud clang. He moved in front of me to continue the fight. He smirked at me like he knew I was no good at this. He was right. He reminded me of the Seelie water fairy I'd fought by the gate weeks ago. He'd given me the same look, and I would've lost that fight if it hadn't been for luck. That, and Cearo basically exploding.

"You know, I like fairies," I said. I knew it was desperate, but I had to try. He was already winning because I had no idea how to actually have a sword fight. "My girlfriend is a fairy. I'm actually looking for her right now. I don't want to fight anyone. Can you let me go?"

He didn't buy a word of it. His mouth twisted up in a sarcastic smile. "Tell you what, human, I'll go easy on you. You'll still end up dead, but I'll give you a minute to think you have a chance." He even sounded like the Seelie fairy I'd fought before. I wondered if this was the mara's doing. It had to be. Did that mean Cearo knew I was here?

We were still fighting, and I didn't feel like he was going any easier on me, when a stray fire ball blasted him. He was thrown to the ground by the force of it, and his entire torso was burned. I was saved by luck again. The fairy was still alive and gasping in pain. I couldn't bring myself to finish him even though he looked like he'd die soon with or without me. I'd meant it when I said I didn't want to fight.

I hopped over him and found the trees again. I made it out of the main fighting zone and kept going. I wanted to be far away. What were they even fighting over? There was nothing here that I could see. No one lived here. No one was growing crops here. Were they just going to kill each other until there was no one was left? What was the point?

The field stretched out before me, and I felt like I wasn't getting any closer to the trees. I glanced back at the battle. I'd come a long way, which was good because it was harder to see the gore from this distance. There was so much red on the grass, I was sure I'd have puked if I could see it up close.

I turned back around. I saw something on the horizon a short way from the trees. There were more people. As I got closer, I could see that they were women and children. They stood near some Pictish stones. It made sense now. That was a gate to the fae world. This was one of the battles in their war with humans. The fae women and children were ready to escape as the men made one last attempt at staying in this world.

I looked to the battle again. The fae were retreating. Cearo had told me that while the fae had the advantage of elemental power, humans had always been superior in sheer numbers. Sure enough, there were a lot of humans here. I was running uphill and could see the human army stretching into the distance. There were probably five people here for every fairy. The fae didn't stand a chance.

At that moment, a couple of the fae men broke away from the fight and ran toward the gate. They waved their arms and shouted for the women and children to go. I watched as they disappeared through the gate. The rest of the fae were backing up, but still trying to hold off the human army. What were they going to do when they got to the gate? If they went through, they'd just lead the humans there. That defeated the entire purpose of the fae world.

When all of the women and children were through, the scouts gave a signal, and the fae army stopped fighting and ran for the gate. I was running to the side now, still shooting for the trees, so they caught up to me quick. The human army didn't take long to follow, and I prayed the fae had a plan for losing them.

The earth started shaking violently. I fell to the ground. All of the others did too. A few tried to get to their feet, but the shaking was so bad that it wasn't possible to balance for even a second. I was used to small and medium sized earthquakes, since we got them all the time in L.A. But this was the strongest earthquake I'd ever been in. I dug my fingers into the dirt and hung on for dear life.

I heard the earth cracking. Then I felt it happen underneath me. Part of me didn't want to look, but I finally peeled my eyes open to see the crack forming beneath me. It spanned the length of me and beyond, all the way to the trees. I was positive it stretched just as far behind me as well.

"Please don't let this happen the way I think it will," I said aloud just in case the mara was listening. It could stop this. It could pull me out of this nightmare.

It didn't. And the situation played out just as I feared. It was actually good for the fae. They were on the side of the crack with the gate, while most of the humans were still on the other side. Unfortunately for me, I was right in the middle, and I couldn't let go to move or I'd be thrown who-knows-where. So when the earth split open, forming a deep trench beneath me, I fell through.

***

### Chapter 29

CEARO

The memory that opened up before me was one of several battles between humans and fae that I had observed over the years. This one and several others had ended with the fae hiding in the newly discovered realm that would turn into the fae world.

I was not sure why my mind had chosen this one. I suppose the fae in this particular battle were more idiotic than most. They nearly led the humans right to their new refuge. I had had to help them with that. I had for the first time used my earth elemental to its full extent. Like the other elementals, their full power led to natural disasters, but at least this one was for a good cause. I was helping the fae escape the violence and hatred I had condemned them to. It would have been much more bloody had more of the humans gotten through the gate. A few of the faster ones managed it, but their numbers were so small that I had picked them off before they did any damage.

I watched the scene unfold as if I was back in that tree all those centuries ago. I became more confused at my mind's choice because it had apparently decided not to torture me. This was not a particularly horrible memory for me. It was violent and sad, yes, but most of my memories were. I was used to this level. In fact, as I watched the battle rage, I felt myself become almost bored.

But that was a trick.

I noticed something off about the memory. A figure had just broken away from the battle and was running along parallel to it. I looked back at the battle. It was still raging.

_It is too early for the scouts. And he is not going for the gate._ It was almost as if he was running for the trees. My trees. _Who are you? You do not belong here._ This was not part of the memory. I would have noticed him before because it made no sense for him to be running this way.

I slid out onto the tip of the branch where I could see better. He got closer. His features became discernible. I recognized him. It was not possible—

No.

"No, Cian, you cannot be here," I said. The real scouts ran past. Fae disappeared through the gate. "Cian, get out of here." The fae army retreated. "Cian, leave, now!" I yelled.

The ground started shaking. I had not told it to, but it did not need me to. That part of the memory was still happening as rehearsed. And Cian was in the worst possible place.

"Cian!" I screamed. I screamed it over and over just like I had the first time he had died. And just like then, he did not hear me now.

He fell through the chasm in the earth. "No! Cian! No! NO!"

I screamed until my throat was raw. The rest of the memory—this terrible, warped memory—was ripped away with my voice. Every memory I had about Cian flashed before me in quick succession until I was paralyzed with utter despair. My heart felt like it was stabbed, torn, and beaten to an unrecognizable, useless pulp.

"No," came my last quiet cry. Because surely I would perish now.

Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die.

Cian's face, his smile, his eyes, his everything filled my mind, the images shifting faster and faster as they raced to the end. Then a voice called out. I drew in a sharp breath. Everything went absolutely still. My mind froze on one image, one that had not come up in the time I had been here, that I was just now remembering.

I looked down from a tree near a Seelie gate.

I turned to face one of the many dark corners of my mind.

In both places, I met David's gaze.

***

### Chapter 30

DAVID

Everything had gone black for a second. Then so many memories appeared, they created a giant blur. In the middle of it all was Cearo. The real Cearo. I was sure this time.

"Cearo?" I called softly.

All of the memories ceased abruptly, except one. The one where we'd seen each other for the first time.

"Cearo," I said again at nearly a whisper. I approached her slowly. She looked scared and hurt and completely despondent. A lone tear escaped her eye as she watched me come closer. I wiped it away and let my hand linger on her cheek. "I'm here now, and I won't leave you." She curled into me.

I picked her up off the floor so she was sitting in my lap. She held on to me as if I'd disappear. She was shaking with grief. I let her take a moment to get it out and see that I was real. Then I told her, "I missed you."

"You were gone so long," she whispered.

She meant Cian. I had seen her drawings, even witnessed several of her memories about him. There was no denying we were connected. But, "We're not the same." I made her look at me. I was glad that she liked me and that I somehow had the ability to make her happy, but I needed her to understand. "I don't have any of his memories. We've had completely different lives."

"I know," she said. And I saw her eyes change as she accepted that. The color was the same, but the look in them was altered. It wasn't disappointed, just not a dream anymore. "That is alright," she said. "You share a goodness, a warmth and tenderness, that I have missed so much."

I thought that was true. We shared a soul. I hugged her closer. "I'm sorry I made you wait so long for me to come back for you."

We sat there for what could've been eternity, just breathing each other in and providing long-awaited comfort. It was Water that finally reminded me what I was here for. It floated over to us, wary but pleased.

Cearo saw it and glanced between us. "It wanted Cian, you know. Now it wants you. That is why the other water elementals like you so much."

"Well, thanks, Water. But you should stay with Cearo for now." It didn't acknowledge what I said, but I was getting used to dealing with these elementals, so I though nothing of it.

"Why is that?" Cearo asked.

I refocused on her. "Because it's your last elemental, and you need it, at least until we can get you your air elemental back, or you'll die."

"I am not getting Air back. Once an elemental leaves you, they do not want you anymore." She turned away from me slightly. I could see the depression creeping back up.

"It does want you still." I tried to get her to meet my gaze, but she wouldn't look at me until I held her chin and put us nose to nose. "I swear. It's waiting for you. All you have to do is wake up." She still wasn't believing me. "Wake up, Cearo. That's all you need to do. It can't reach you in here."

"If I do not want to wake up?" she whispered.

I frowned and begged her, "Please wake up. I know you think your past is too much. I watched a lot of these memories too. I'm so sorry for every painful moment you've had to endure. But those moments have passed now. And we could bury all of them with new moments, happy ones. You just have to wake up, Cearo."

It took her a long time to decide. But I saw it in her eyes when she made the decision. I stood and held out my hand. Looking up at me, she took it. We faced the bookcases together. Her eyes said she was terrified. But I'd traversed this maze before.

"Follow me, Cearo."

TO BE CONTINUED...

***

### Acknowledgements

Thank you to my family and friends for all your support and excitement. You guys keep me motivated to keep doing this. Lauren, I am awaiting the empanadas ;)

Huge thanks to the cover designer Betibup33 for another amazing cover. I found this cover before I even started writing the book, and I knew right away it was the one. I only hoped the book would live up to the amazing image.

Finally, thank you to anyone who reads this. I really hope you enjoyed it and are excited for what's next for these characters. If you have the time, I'd be extremely grateful if you left a review.

***

### About the Author

Tarynn Kerr has a degree in psychology but probably should have gotten one in mythology instead because that's way cooler. She lives in southern California where she works a boring day job and covertly writes down her daydreams when her boss isn't looking. Aside from writing, she enjoys reading and eating enormous amounts of mac 'n' cheese. _Enthrall_ is the sequel to her first book, _Lure_.

Connect with her on twitter and wordpress.

https://twitter.com/tarynnwa

https://tarynnkerrauthor.wordpress.com

***

187

***
