There was no trail except the one forged by Gli and Urthrang, who stayed almost just out of sight. If they ran in to an ambush, the rest of the group would have enough time to attempt an escape. Dredik hoped it wouldn’t come to that, of course, but these were the sacrifices they had to be willing to make if they were ever going to make it to the Daemon Gate.

A few birds sang in the distance, their mournful cries shrill in the otherwise complete stillness. Chloe was thankful for their haunting calls. The silence would have been too unnerving otherwise.

The group tread onwards, deeper into the forest, deeper into the oppressive darkness, deeper into the thickening mists, deeper into the overwhelming stench. Their progress slowed, and they were forced to move in closer to the advanced guard of Urthrang and Gli in order to stay within sight of them. Their brisk walk slowed to a crawl. How long they went on like that, it was difficult to say. The sun was nowhere in sight, and there were no landmarks to distinguish any true passing of distance. Only steps. And there were many of those.

All at once, Urthrang and Gli stopped, listening to something. They then beckoned the rest of the group forward. When they were all together, Gli opened his mouth and spoke. His voice was regal, deep and as calm as a lake’s surface on a windless day.

“Calisto has something to say.”

The intensity of Calisto’s voice surprised Chloe. Here was a tried and true soldier’s voice. “I scouted up ahead. They lie in wait for you. Too many for you to fight through, and too wide to go around.”

Dredik hunched down on the ground. “By now, the woods behind us will be crawling with soldiers hunting for us. We can’t turn back. And we can’t go around?”

“You cannot. They are tightening the noose as we speak.”

“Hemmed in from all sides,” growled Dredik. He took a few seconds to think, and then spoke with Chloe. “I’m sorry to have to do this, but you’re the only hope we have at the moment, Chloe. How many people could you bring along with you into Stopped Time?”

Chloe shook her head. “Not very many. Avner, Christopher, they’re almost effortless, because its easier for them. But with you Faerie, you can’t contribute at all. The burden is very great. Maybe three or four at the most. And that would only feel like a few seconds inside of stopped time.”

“So you can’t get us through in one trip?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, then. You’ll have to clear the way for us then.”

“Clear the way? As in kill them?”

“Yes.”

“Dredik!” reacted Chloe. “These are Faerie we’re talking about. They’re not the enemy! Only a few days ago, you would have gladly given your life for these soldiers if it came down to it.”

“Chloe, they are the enemy. They serve the King, and the King wants to stop us from saving this Kingdom.”

“They are unfortunate victims, Dredik! They are pawns! This is not their fault!”

“But they still stand between us and the only thing that can save the Kingdom. Chloe, it’s the only way.”

“He’s right, sister,” added Christopher. “As much as I don’t like to think about it, this is turning into a war. And they’re on the wrong side.”

“But they don’t know it! Can’t you see that?”

“I see, Chloe, but it doesn’t change anything,” acknowledged Dredik.

Chloe, was awestruck and at a loss for words. Finally she managed to collect her thoughts and put them into words. “Fine. If I can incapacitate them, knock them unconscious, I’ll do it. But under no circumstances will I kill a Faerie.”

“They would kill you, Chloe,” said Avner.

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“Chloe…” began Christopher, trying to reason with his sister.

“Christopher, do you forget that Charles is off in some ungodly war at this very moment, being forced to risk his life, even asked to give it, simply because the leaders of the world’s countries have no problem sacrificing their young men! I will NOT bring that same kind of war to this world. And that’s final.”

Chloe’s argument clearly resonated with many of the people present. She looked around, gazing into the eyes of the Faeries and the boys alike, letting them know her resolve. When no one commented, she continued. “Now, Dredik, I will get us through this. You are going to give them the option of standing down and surrendering. Understood?”

Dredik was incredulous.

“Dredik, I can stop time. Nothing’s going to happen to any of us if I don’t want it to. Do it.”

The Werepanther growled in response.

“Good. Lamanos, do you have anything I can use to knock these soldier’s out?”

Lamanos opened up her pack and dug around for a moment, before pulling out a pouch. She opened it up and extracted three vials of a clear liquid, capped with a small needle. “This is Essence of Sterling, made from the berries of the Sterling Rowan tree. A prick from a this needle, and you’ll be out cold for a few hours.”

“Perfect. Avner, Christopher, let’s go. Dredik, start talking. Tell them the truth about the King, and if they want to stand down, to lay down their arms and keep their hands in sight at all times.”

And then the Humans instantly disappeared, armed with the Essence of Sterling. There was an awkward silence as Dredik said nothing.

“Dredik?” said Calisto. “Say it…”

Dredik, stubborn to the end, refused. “It’s foolish, and risky, and we stand to gain no advantage by it.”

Chloe suddenly reappeared. “Dredik, I’m not going anywhere until you say what needs to be said.” Chloe grinned, knowing that she had the trump card.

Another little growl followed, which Chloe was beginning to realize was his way of saying ‘Fine, but I do this under protest.’

“Faerie of the Kingdom!” he called out into the mists. And Chloe was gone once again. “You serve an empty throne! Your ‘King’ is nothing more than a puppet for the Daemon Lords. He is a Daemon, inhabiting a Faerie’s body, and is in league to overthrow this Kingdom and lay waste to all Faeriedom! Therefore, let us pass! We have the only hope of successfully stopping this evil from coming to pass. We do not wish to fight you! So stand down, if you love this Kingdom, if you are a true servant of the One and Only King – our Maker and Sustainer, than lay down your arms! We will not harm you in any way. This is our promise.”

There was no reply from the mists. Dredik hadn’t really expected one.

After only a few seconds had passed, the Humans reappeared.

“That was fast,” said Dredik.

“Was it? Didn’t seem like it to me,” replied Chloe smugly. “We’re good to go.” She shook her locks of flaming hair triumphantly. She handed over her vial to Lamanos, who neatly packaged it away. Avner and Christopher followed suit.

“So, did anyone comply with your foolish plea?” said Dredik mockingly.

“Quite a few, actually. I even had a few nice conversations with them. I told them that if they want to help, to return to Lantes Isle. I figure Drake will know how to find them, one way or another. Well, now, shall we?”

The group, once again led by Gli and Urthrang, plunged ahead. It wasn’t long until they began to see bodies lying down on the ground, slumped against trees and sprawled out in amusing positions. Apparently the boys had taken advantage of the situation and gotten carried away. Then, they passed the first of the soldiers who had surrendered. No words were said as they passed by, but Dredik glared at them.

“Dredik,” said Timor, sensing the Werepanther’s anger, “they did not surrender out of fear, but because they believe you are telling the truth. Do not hold that against them.”

“It’s better to die fighting for a cause you do not know is wrong, than to surrender to one that you do not know is right,” replied Dredik. No more was said on the matter.

It was surprising how many Faerie were unconscious. This was a sizable army, meant to catch the Humans at any cost. They clearly posed a considerable threat to the King, else he would not have gone to such drastic measures to stop them. First was the guard at the Gate, then the attack on Lamanos’ house on Lantes, then the Banshees, followed by another attack on the mansion, and now here, a large force sent out to stop a group of ten.

Those who had surrendered stood calmly aside, some ashamed, some afraid, but mostly just thankful that nothing more serious had happened to them.

“Here, we’re almost to the end now,” said Chloe. “Nobody’s beyond this back line.”

A crackling noise behind them pierced the stillness of the woods, and as one, the group turned to see what approached. The crashing through the underbrush continued to draw nearer, and then, out of the mist appeared Meric, haggard and worn, but alive and uninjured.

“Meric!” cried Chloe and Lamanos at the same time.

“Thank the Maker, I’ve been running all over through this mist trying to find you. What’s happe…”

“YOU! You killed my brother Falinos!” One of the Faerie who had surrendered was shouting at Meric from only a few feet away. Before anyone knew what was going on, he had picked up his sword and was charging at Meric.

Chloe, acting on pure instinct, tried to slip into Stopped Time, but found herself too weary. While everyone else slipped into Slow Time to try and intercept the suddenly crazed and vengeful Naiad, Chloe was able to approach Stopped Time. The result was that everyone around moved very slowly. Meric still hadn’t drawn a weapon, and Chloe saw that she was his only hope. She raced towards him, desperately trying to get to him before the Naiad’s blade.

The sword was coming down, only an inch away from Meric’s exposed head when Chloe, with a last ditch effort, leapt at the Naiad, pulling her dirk free of its sheath. Her body collided with the Naiad’s, simultaneously  and she slashed at his exposed neck, a feral desire to protect Meric kicking in.

She gasped and held her side as she was jerked back into normal Time. There on the ground lay a very dead Naiad, in a pool of its own blood. She vomited, teetered for a moment, and then collapsed to the ground as a sheet of white washed over her. Her last thought before the numbing sensation overtook her was, “I’m  sorry…”

~    ~    ~™        ˜

It only took Lamanos a few seconds to revive Chloe, once she finally had a chnace. Dredik, anxious to get away from the Faerie army, had asked Gli to pick her up and carry her. Eventually, by an outcropping of rocks, they had paused, and Lamanos had gotten out her smelling salts. With a rush, Chloe had returned to the waking world.

“Oh! Oh my. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to! I didn’t want…”

Chloe kept babbling on, making apologies, her eyes wide open in fright and horror.

“Chloe! It’s alright. You’re fine. It’s going to be ok!” said Avner, trying to be heard above Chloe’s panicked voice.

And then the rest of the Faerie were trying to console her.

“You did great, Chloe.”

“Nobody blames you, dear.”

“Barruum, yes, you have saved us.”

“He was a killer, Chloe.

“Good ‘un, sis.”

“Calm down, calm down, you’ll be fine.”

“He was going to hurt Meric. You did the right thing.”

And all at once, he was there, picking her up and holding her close. “Hey, ssshhh, it’s alright. You saved me again back there, Chloe. I’d be dead without you long ago. Sshh, there, there. You’re going to be fine.”

Chloe stopped her torrent of apologies and just began to bawl into Meric’s shoulder. “That’s right. Let it out.”

“He’s dead, Meric. I – I didn’t want to kill him!”

“I know. We all do, Chloe. It just happened. You saved me, that’s what counts. I’m sorry he’s dead. You didn’t mean to.”

She continued to sob into his shoulder. Meric held her close and brushed a hand through her hair.

“I can still see him, laying there…”

“Chloe, don’t think about it. Not about that. You don’t want that memory. It’ll fade. I’m here now.”

Meric continued to gently stroke her red hair, working through the gnarls smoothly and effortlessly. Nobody noticed Lamanos, standing towards the back of the group, grimace as Meric tenderly sought to soothe the distressed Human. Not only did the girl have the chance to rescue Meric (again), but now she was now the sole object of his attention.

Lamanos knew she wasn’t being reasonable. They were on a desperate, world-hangs-in-the-balance mission here, and she had better ways to spend her emotional energy. She also knew she should be grateful to Chloe for saving Meric’s life, but at the moment, all she could think about was that she wasn’t the one being cradled by the Dryad who’s seemed to grab both of their fancies. But what chance did she have, when it came down to it. She wasn’t even the same species. And on top of that, she was from an entirely different earth. She didn’t belong here, and if everything went according to plan, in another twenty-eight days, she’d be gone for good.

This was a side of Lamanos that surprised even herself. She was used to having males throw themselves at her, and equally used to being able to turn them down. She could have had any eligible bachelor on Lantes, and probably on half of the mainland as well. She had chosen nobody, of course, because of everything she did with the Order. She reasoned it wouldn’t be fair to a potential suitor to always be at the beck and call of a secret organization which he could know nothing about. So, she had bided her time, until Meric came along.

And here he was, with that Human girl in his arms, and herself ignored and unacknowledged, standing in the background. The more she thought about it, the more infuriated she became. She had always assumed when she finally chose a person that suited her fancy, she could have him any way, any time. It wasn’t proving to turn out the way she’d hoped. And all because of Chloe Abbot, a Human. She wasn’t supposed to be a threat, and yet, she could see what was going on between the two. They were bonding. Whether or not Meric viewed it the same way as Chloe did, it didn’t matter. Chloe had something she wanted, wanted desperately. And I’m going to get it, she decided.

Chloe’s head was resting on Avner’s chest, listening for a pulse. There was none. Lamanos alone of all the Faerie sprang into action, leaping over to Christopher’s limp form.

“His heart’s not beating,” cried the Dryadess. “He’s not breathing either!”

Dredik, clearly upset over what had just occurred, barked out orders. “Establish a perimeter around the boys, everyone. I need to know we’re safe. Report back in five minutes. If you’re not back after ten, we’re not coming for you.”

The Faerie, minus Lamanos, began to spread out through the clearing and a short distance into the woods. And then, after a few seconds tending to Christopher’s superficial scratches, Lamanos turned to Chloe and said, “I’m so sorry,” and then faded into the trees as well, leaving Chloe alone with the bodies.

Chloe moved away from Avner, whispering silent prayers, pleading for a miracle to occur and for a spark of life to come back to the two boys. I promised him! Promised I’d get him back home safe, told him he wasn’t gonna die. And now this… it’s all my fault. Shouldn’ta made ‘em do it…

Oh, please, dear God in heaven, bring ‘em back, please God. You know how much I need ‘em to be alive…

“Chloe,” said a female voice quietly behind her.

“What?”

“Chloe, it’s me, Calisto.”

Chloe turned around, not really comprehending what was happening. There wasn’t anyone there.

“You can’t see me, Chloe, remember?”

She jumped, and then remembered what was going on. Calisto was still in the Shade realm. Chloe wasn’t anymore.

“Calisto, look!” she said, sobbing. “Look at them, they’re, they’re dead! It was too much for them, to bring us over here…”

“Nonsense!”

“Nonsense? Look at them! And how, how’d you find us?”

“Easy, I’ve been with you the whole time, well until you jumped across to the mainland like that, but I caught up soon enough. Now, listen to me, they’re not dead!”

Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes. “What do you mean? Of course they are!”

“You’re not thinking straight, Chloe! I’m a Shade! I’d know if they were dead. Think about it! What do you know? About the future? About these boys?”

Suddenly motivated with the possibility, even Calisto’s promise, that Avner and Christopher were alive, Chloe began to grasp at the fragments of potential explanations as they entered her head, and then she hit upon it. With a sudden jolt of inspiration, Chloe realized that Avner would survive. He had to! Because she’d seen him, there in the Void. Of course, Christopher had failed to appear at all. An uneasy knot began to tighten in her stomach as she wondered why exactly that was…

But! If Avner were alive, then it was highly likely that Christopher would survive this experience as well.

Chloe looked towards the invisible figure’s last heard location. Now she knew what Drake had felt like the last few days. It was somewhat unnerving, and that was with just one hidden person to deal with. How it must have been with over a dozen, Chloe didn’t even want to think about. Bizarre.

She tried to put a knowing expression on her face as she nodded her head. “Avner – I’ve seen his future self, the him that’s going back to Earth. I know he survives, or at least, I’m fairly certain he will…”

“He will,” said Calisto. “The future, once it is known, is set in stone. If it is changed, in any way, Summus Terra will be destroyed, even as magic and reality tear each other apart. It is one of the laws that govern this world. And so, Avner will survive.”

“What’s wrong with them, then?”

“Again, if you would take a moment to think and clear your head, you could figure it out fairly quickly. You are new though, to our world, are you not? Well, I suppose I can forgive you this time. But, please! Don’t be so quick to panic! You’ll be your own worst enemy if you give in to despair so easily. Now! All that is wrong with these two is that they are stuck. Simple as that.”

“Stuck?” echoed Chloe incredulously.

“Stuck. Suspended in time. And just so you know, yours is an ability no Faerie has ever possessed. We can all enter varying degrees of Slow Time, depending on our natural talents and training, but you! I’ve never seen anything like it! You can stop time altogether! Simply amazing! Oh, but, yes, the boys. All that needs to be done is for you to go back in and pull them out.”

“That’s all?”

Calisto didn’t respond. After several seconds, Chloe tapped the air in front of her like it was a glass window. “Hello?”

“Oh! For a moment there, I forgot that you couldn’t see me! You were looking right at me. I nodded my head, I did, I promise. That’s all you need to do.”

If Calisto had blinked, she might not have seen Chloe suddenly shift to the other side of Avner. The boy stirred slightly, and Chloe, holding her breath, put her hand to his chest.

There was a pulse.

Chloe vanished from her position and reappeared next to Christopher, who, just like Avner, began to breathe and show signs of life.

“Calisto!” whispered Chloe, tears of joy running down her face. “You were right!”

“Of course I was!”

“Chloe?”

Avner was sitting up, squinting in the bright sun and holding a hand to his head. “Ugh, my head hurts… so tired…”

Chloe rushed over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, knelling down to be at eye level with him. “It’s alright. You had us worried for a moment there. You did it Avner, you got us all out of there. You and Christopher both.”

“They’re all ok?” asked Avner, looking around, wondering why none of the Faerie were present.

“Each and every one,” said Chloe, a smile cracking her lips.

Avner valiantly tried to get off the ground, and promptly fell back down. “I – I can’t really move yet, so weak…”

“Shhh, then don’t talk. Save your strength!”

“She’s right, you know!” chimed in Calisto. Avner jumped when he heard her voice. “Sorry. It’s just me. Calisto, your friendly invisible Shade.”

“Augh… What’s she doing here?”

Christopher was up now too.

“Well, if that’s the way you feel about me,” pouted Calisto, quickly changing personalities. “I’ll just flounce off and leave you three to yourselves!”

Chloe gave Avner a reassuring squeeze and then put on her angry-older-sister face as she stomped over to Christopher. “Oh, well spoken there, brother. When are you going to learn to hold your tongue? Now look at her, she’s gone!”

“Couldn’t see her nohow!” retorted Christopher, before a fit of coughing, which Chloe very obviously refused to acknowledge.

“That’s not the point! You offended her, Christopher. I’d tell you to go apologize to her, but who knows where she is. So it’ll have to wait.”

“I didn’t mean t’ hurt her feelins, Chloe. I jus’ wandered what she’s a doin’ here. She’s alright, bein’ what she is an’ all, if’n a lil’ creepy.”

Chloe looked her brother in the eye, trying to gauge his sincerity. He’d never been able to lie to her. In the past, he’d always looked away after a few seconds if he was fibbing. If it was a downright lie, well then, he wouldn’t even dare to look anywhere other than his own two feet.

Christopher non-chalantly  returned the gaze. Satisfied, Chloe abated her reprimand, but didn’t let him off the hook entirely. “Fine. But you still upset her, and you still owe her an apology. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re not hurt. Everyone else is fine.”

Avner grumpily called out to the siblings. “I’m not!”

Again, a smile crept onto Chloe’s face. “So, Avner’s not the best he’s ever been. Still, the rest of us are alive. How do you feel?”

Christopher propped himself up on his elbows. “Well, aside from my head ringin’ like I was the clapper for great big ol’ church bell, and feelin’ like all the life been sucked out from me, I s’pose I ain’t doin’ half bad.” He descended into a fit of coughing again.

Chloe took more notice of her brother’s pain this time, leaning down, and offering a comforting hand. As much of a pain as he could be, and as much as he deserved her motherly scoldings sometimes, he was still her younger brother in need of protection and care.

“Christopher? He’s alive!”

Lamanos was the first back into the clearing. She came running over to where the trio were. Avner feebly waved a hand. “And Avner too? How did this happen?”

The excited Lamanos slid onto the ground next to Christopher and threw her arms around him. “I thought you were dead!” Christopher, quite embarrassed at being embraced by the infatuating Dryadess, merely blushed and uttered a few mumbled smatterings of half attempted words. With a final squeeze, Lamanos let go. “It’s so good to see you alive! I leave the clearing and you’re as dead as a Daemon, and I come back not five minutes later and you’re alive!”

Lamanos scrambled very unladylike over to Avner, whom she tackled to the ground in her enthusiasm. “Sorry! Are you alright?”

Avner quickly sat himself back up. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. No worries. You can knock me over any day!” Avner, after he heard those words come out of his own mouth, also began to blush furiously. Lamanos, if she heard the subtext, didn’t react to it at all. Chloe glared at him ever so slightly, and he felt a strange rush as he realized that Chloe might be jealous, maybe just the slightest bit…

Lamanos quickly gave him a more controlled hug. Her woodsy, flowery scent was intoxicating. Avner breathed it in deeply, and right away began to feel more invigorated. The closeness lasted far too short for Avner’s liking, but all in all, he was grateful for the few seconds he shared with the most spectacular creature in two worlds that he’d ever met.

When Lamanos stood up, which seemed like an eternity to both Chloe and Christopher, and the shortest of moments for Avner, she said, “I can’t believe it. What happened?”

“Calisto,” replied Chloe.

“She was here? And she brought them back to life?”

“No, but she told me what was wrong with them. They weren’t really dead. They were still stuck in Suspended Time. That’s what Calisto called it, at least. She said that nobody else she’d ever known can do that. Stop time altogether. And so, they accidently got left behind. All I had to do was go back and get them, really. It was like waking them up.”

Lamanos put a hand to her mouth. “And here I was all ready to tell Dredik that we should move on without them. Oh, Chloe!” Another hug ensued. “I’m so glad I was wrong. Where’s Calisto now?”

Chloe didn’t feel quite so grateful to be wrapped up in the Dryadess’ arms. Lamanos wasn’t her favorite Faerie in the Order. Once she was free, she took a breath and answered a little tersely, “Don’t know. She left after Christopher woke up and insulted her.”

“I said I was sorry!” said Christopher, who felt strong enough to get up on his feet. His knees were a little wobbly, but he made it up.

“That you did,” came that familiar voice without a visible body.

“Calisto!” said Chloe. “When did you get back?”

“Never left, sweetheart. Thought it would be funny to watch you chew out your brother. He deserved every bit of it. And yes, Christopher, I forgive you. You don’t really think I’m that vain, to get upset over a little comment like that, and coming from someone who’d been good as dead only seconds before?”

“Well…” replied Christopher teasingly.

“Christopher!” said an indignant Chloe.

“Kiddin’! Just kiddin’!”

Dredik and a few of the other Faerie began to arrive back in the clearing as well. “Christopher. Avner. Good to see you alive. Anyone have anything to report?”

“I’m here,”

“Calisto?” asked Dredik.

“The one and only!” replied the now perky Shade.

“And the Banshees?”

“Oh, I got rid of them a while ago. Won’t be bothering me or you or anyone else who’s neither alive nor dead ever again.”

“Well, I suppose I should get used to being amazed,” said Dredik. “Anyone else? Find anything?”

Gli shook his head. Chloe was pretty sure she’d never heard him speak.

“I didn’t see much of anything except a few birds. And a hedgehog,” added Mahlon.

Neither Urthrang nor Timor had anything to report either. That left Meric, who hadn’t returned yet. A couple more minutes past, and everyone started to feel on edge. Meric had head. Five minutes. Anymore more than ten, and they’d assume the worse and leave without him. The seconds passed, and the tension rose rapidly. Everyone began to slowly assume defensive positions.

“Alright. That’s it. We’re leaving. Now.”

“But!” protested Chloe.

Dredik interrupted her. “Due north, inland. Urthrang, Gli, scout ahead.”

“No!” interjected Chloe again. “Meric’s still out there! We can’t leave him behind!”

“We can, and we will. He’d do the same thing in my place. We’re not going to risk your safety. He’s either in trouble, or dead. And that means that we shouldn’t be sticking around here any longer. If he can catch up to us”

“But!”

“No buts. Now shut your mouth,” said Dredik harshly, the growl coming back into his voice. “Strict silence from here on out.”

Chloe would have protested further, but Dredik’s eyes were so fierce and absolute, she feared he would turn into a Panther and eat her right then and there if she so much as opened her mouth.

So the group of nine stole away into the forest, dark from the heavy canopy and foliage, not knowing if danger lurked behind the next tree.

Chloe’s heart was pounding, and adrenaline was rushing through her body. “What just happened!” she shouted.

Drake’s mind was already spinning faster than a top on a knife’s edge as he realized what was happening. “Hurry! We don’t have much time. The King’s men will be here any moment now! Those Banshees were sent to flush us out of the Shade realm.”

“Banshee? What’s a Banshee?” cried Avner, terrified at this sudden turn of events. Was anyone ever safe here in this awful magical Kingdom?

“Shade hunters!” replied Timor. “Again, they belonged more to Ancient Terra. They only exist in the Shade realm, created by magic to hunt down and destroy Shades. But they pose no threat to the living. While you’re out here, exposed in the natural world, they cannot sense you, touch you or harm you in any way.”

“But Calisto?” said Chloe, gagging at the sight of Ariahnis’s body on the floor.

“She said she’d be fine!” replied an irritated Drake. “Now, come on! The King’s soldiers will be here any minute. Here’s the plan. Dredik, I’m appointing you leader of the expedition. Whoever is going with the Humans to the Daemon Gate, you must leave now. Go, grab your packs, and get off this rock. The further you get from the King’s men, the better. But he’ll be after you every step of the way. Once you get far enough away from here, you should be able to return to the Shade realm. It will take the Banshees some time to discover your path. Just, be ready for them, for they will find you again, eventually. You will be like a bright candle in the distance. They will track you for thousands of miles if necessary, attracted to your soul like a moth to the light. Now, go!”

“Right,” growled Dredik. “All those who wish to see the Humans safely to the Daemon Gate, we leave now.”

Urthrang the Dwarf, Gli the Troll, Timor the Gnome, Lamanos the Dryadess and Meric the Dryad all stepped forward, followed by the Humans. They turned and looked at those who would remain behind.

The faces in the room expressed a wide range of emotions, from steeled, grim determinations of the battle hardened veterans, to the sheer terror caused by the most recent death of another member of the Order, to the unabashed sorrow and dejected hearts as many knew this might be the last time they saw each other.

This was goodbye.

“Blessings be upon you all,” whispered Chloe.

“And also on you,” came the dutiful echo.

Chloe looked into Drake’s eyes for one final moment, and then Dredik spoke. “Come on, time’s running out. Follow me.”

They turned and exited the dim room in silence, lit only by the single torch that Drake held. Mahlon was still on the ground next to her father’s body, weeping.

™~     ~     ~ ˜

“Grab what you can, quickly, and then we’re off. Silence, please. And slow time, everyone. We’ve got to make the most of what we’ve got.”

The company of nine had gathered in a large chamber several hallways and turns later. Apparently, the Order had been planning for something like this. It was a storeroom full of supplies and bags ready to taken at a moments noticed, prepacked and labeled. There were even bags that had the Human’s names on them.

Dredik started handing out packs, which the Faerie dutifully shouldered as they could. Timor the Gnome was bustling around, trying to gather what last minute supplies she could, parchment, ink, a few spare books, anything that ‘those males’ might not have thought of.

“We’ll stop for supplies on the mainland,” said Dredik. “This is what we take for now… Timor, what are you doing?”

The Gnome was trying to stuff an oversized book into a bag. “Just packing a few things we’re going to need, that’s all, Dredik!”

“Well, you’re carrying it. Alright, that’s all. Grab a weapon, be at the ready.”

Dredik opened up a wardrobe that had been stocked with various and sundry blades. One by one, the Faerie peered in, quickly chose and cleared the way for the next one. When it came to the humans, Chloe was at a loss for what to choose. The sizes, shapes, hilts, they all meant nothing to her. Seeing her hesitation, Urthrang the Dwarf came over.

“Oy, Lassie, you ‘ad much experience with a blade afore?”

Chloe shook her head.

“Right, then,” said Urthrang, flexing his hands together. He nosed around in the closet for a few seconds, before pulling out three weapons. “ ‘Ere… try these on for size. Make it quick now. How’s the weight?”

Chloe picked up the first weapon -a short, thick double edged sword. Immediately, it dragged her arm down to the ground.

“Right, then. Nope. This one?”

The second had the same effect.

On the third one, a single handed thrusting sword, Chloe was at least able to support it.

“Good, good, now go a’ead and give ‘er a swing… whoops! Right, then. Hmmm…”

The momentum of Chloe’s swing had carried the sword too far and she lost control over it. Embarrassed, she decided to intervene. “Look, do you have a bow and quiver. I’ll take that any day!”

“Oh, fine then, ‘ave it your way. But you’re still gonna want a small knife, or something… hmmm, nope, no good… aha! There y’ are. A nice little dirk, get ya out of a pinch it will. And a bow, and quiver, fine then…”

He handed the weapon to Chloe then turned back to rummage in the closet. The blade was a little over a foot long, came to a sharp point and had a single edge. It was small, light and a good size for Chloe. She smiled ever so slightly, a resigned smile, as she turned it over in her hand, then strapped it in to its leather sheath and looked around the room. After spotting what she needed, namely a belt, she looped it around her waist and secured it on around her dress. By the time she was done, Urthrang had pulled out a bow and quiver, the latter she slung over her shoulder.

“Thank you, Urthrang,” she said to the kindly Dwarf.

“Gladly, missy! Now, you boys, what for you?” He turned to Christopher and Avner, who were equally as clueless.

“Urthrang, is that really necessary?” said Dredik, impatiently.

“You know as well as I do, Dredik, that these are the best weapons we’ll have access to for many a league. Finest on Lantes Isle, second only to the King’s armory, that’s for sure. Boys?”

Urthrang turned his back to Dredik, who growled and bared his teeth. “Fast.”

Chloe ran her hand over the wood of her new bow. The grain felt smooth and pleasant in her hands. The grain was dark and seamless, although there were a few nicks up and down the length of it. It seemed it had already acquired a history of its own. Just what that history was would have to wait and see.

Urthrang had finished with Avner, who now held in his grasp a two-handed broadsword. His eyes were wide with wonder as he looked at it up and down, from razor thin tip to gilded hilt. After checking to make sure the immediate area was clear, Avner took a firm grasp and made a few arcs with his new blade. The air whistled as he wielded the gorgeous weapon. Chloe eyed him and smiled when his face lit up in pride. That was a good sign.

“Nope, ain’t gonna cut it…”

“Well, what then, laddie buck?”

Things weren’t going as well for Christopher and Urthrang. A small pile or arms had accumulated on the ground already.

“Look, I can feel it, there’s somethin’ in there, waitin’ fer me.”

“Well, then, go on in and get it yourself, if ye’ve a mind to!”

Christopher obliged, and after a few seconds of rattling and shaking and the sound of metal scraping on metal, he emerged, a victorious grin on his face.

“Told ya so, I can feel it! Like it’s callin’ t’ me.”

He pulled out a slender black staff of wood, almost as tall as Christopher himself, plain unadorned except for the top, whereupon a series of curls flared and splayed outwards and upwards.

Urthrang looked surprised. “That, my lad, is a wizard’s staff, and won’t do you one smattering of good. Come on, be reasonable there’s half a dozen blades in here than any sensible soldier would risk their life for!”

“Nope. This is it.”

“Christopher, now, come on…”

Dredik growled again. “Urthrang!” the Werepanther was getting impatient.

“Alright, alright! But don’t blame me when the boy’s bleeding his bloody life out and his staff broken in two by a Daemon’s cudgel!”

“Just you wait and see. This stick and me, we’re gonna do great things, ain’t we Winchester?”

Chloe couldn’t help but giggle at her little brother.

“Winchester? You can’t name a wizard’s staff Winchester! I don’t even know if you’re supposed to name a wizard’s staff!” complained Urthrang.

Dredik leapt in and grabbed the older Dwarf by the collar and dragged him off. “Alright there, captain, time to get out of here. You take the lead, and I’ll cover the rear. Meric, in the middle. Keep your eyes and ears open, everyone. Single file now.”

Before they could get started, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed down the hall. Dredik hissed.

“Too late, they’re here already. Back in the room, everyone. Urthrang, lead them out the back. Meric, you’re with me!”

Chloe, ushered along by Urthrang, turned her head back to look at Meric. They were staying behind to buy them time! They would die! Meric’s head turned briefly, and their eyes locked. Those gorgeous pools of liquid addiction. Chloe’s heart skipped a beat.

“Meric,” she whispered, and then the eyes were gone.

“Keep movin, lassie! No time to waste!”

They crossed the room with haste, and went out the narrow hallway that led from the back of the room. It must have been some kind of servant’s corridor, because it certainly wasn’t comfortable, and it didn’t lead to anywhere very quickly. Prob’ly a shortcut to the kitchens,, thought Chloe. They hadn’t gotten very far when Dredik called out to them.

“Urthrang, it’s alright, it’s only Mahlon! She’s coming with us!”

With a groan, Urthrang gestured for them all to turn around and head back to the chamber.

Gladly! Chloe, second to last only to Urthrang, was now right behind him as he led the way back at a more calm pace. Another few steps, around the corner, and there they were. Indeed, Mahlon had returned. Her eyes were red from crying, but her face was set to the task at hand. A cold, hardness had come over her.

“My father commanded me with his dying breath to protect the Humans, so here I am.”

An arrow embedded itself in the wood not a handsbreadth away from Mahlon. Dredik never even glanced behind him.

“They’re here!” as he pushed Mahlon towards the narrow door.

Then the real dash began.

“Go! Go! They’re right behind us! Move it!”

Like a giant centipede worming it’s way through a tunnel, as one the moved through the corridor. At a few points, the roof got a lot shorter than Chloe and she had to double in two to fit through.

Gnome servants, was her only thought as she squeezed through, pushing the body in front of her, being pushed by the body behind her. Up ahead, a few bodies in front of her, she could see a torch light casting bizarre shadows on the wall.

It was only when they burst through into what indeed was the kitchen that Chloe realized Meric and Dredik weren’t behind them. She had to do something, and so acting impulsively, she stopped time and grabbed Christopher.

“We have to go back there!” she pleaded with him. “Please, slide back there, we’ll grab them, and then we’ll get back here. Alright?”

Christopher nodded, and in the blink of an eye, they were zipping back to the weapons chamber. They arrived in the middle of a battle. Meric and Dredik, their backs together, were frozen in time, their mouths wide open, roaring violently. It seemed they’d been able to clear a circle, but would soon be overwhelmed. One of the soldier’s swords was making a stab that looked like it would prove fatal to Meric in a matter of microseconds. They were  fearless warriors about to fall in battle, sacrificing their lives to protect the Humans.

Christopher, without a word, jumped with Chloe in tow into the middle of the circle. Chloe reached out for Meric and Christopher grabbed Dredik, and then, just like that, they were back in the kitchen.

As soon as they resumed slow time, Meric, still bellowing, reeled back, trying to escape the blow that never came. Dazed, he fell to the floor, confused at what had just happened.

Dredik, however, figured it out right away. “Thanks for the rescue, Humans. But next time, keep in mind that we’re no good alive if you’re dead. Urthrang, lead the way!”

Chloe reached a hand down for Meric. “That’s twice now I’ve saved you,” she said mischievously, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

“Looks like I owe you,” replied the Dryad, taking her hand. “Come on.”

Chloe’s feet simply flew over the floor as Meric paced himself next to her. The steady thrum of this stride fell in line with her’s. Whether or not he was aware of it, Chloe didn’t know. And she didn’t care. If he chose it this way, or if it was simply subconscious, she liked both explanations.

Chloe Abbot! Yer bein’ a fool again. Here ya are, runnin’ for yer life, and all you can think about is this… this thing running next to you? Get a hold of yourself!

Chloe knew she was right. But she chose to ignore what the sensible, backwoods voice told her. Thinking about Meric felt to good to let that go. If she didn’t have him to think about, she’d probably be too terrified to even move right now. He was her distraction, her painkiller, and she liked it that way.

He was more than that too, of course. In the moments when she could actually stop and think about what was going on, but for now, that’s all she had time for, and that’s all she needed him to be.

Without warning, they suddenly burst out of the house, into the open air. It was sometime around midday, judging by the position of the sun almost directly overhead. The bright sun burst on their eyes, temporarily blinding them. And so, while they couldn’t see the onslaught of soldiers, they could hear their cries.

It sounded like an army was coming their way.

For the second time in as many minutes, Chloe stopped time, grabbed Dredik, Christopher and Avner, and held a quick conference. It gave them a breather and a chance for their eyes to adjust. After a moment, Dredik spoke.

“Well, this is convenient. We can kill the entire lot of ‘em right now. Won’t even know what hit ‘em.”

Chloe shook her head. “Look, we can’t take on that whole army. I can’t keep more people than myself suspended in time like this for very long, so killing them is out of the question. It’s slipping already. Only a few more seconds. Which way’s the mainland?”

Dredik pointed to the north east. Chloe could see the distant outline of land. Low mountains? High hills? It was difficult to tell.

“That’ll be good enough. Christopher, Avner, split them into two groups. Do you see the valley between those two peaks?”

“Right,” said Avner.

“Ya think this’ll work?” asked her brother.

Dredik realized what they were about to attempt and tried to veto it. As soon as Chloe realized he wasn’t about to cooperate, she tapped him, and he slipped back into slow time.

“Sorry about that,” she said unsympathetically. “It’s the only way. Alright, boys, here we go.”

Avner and Christopher maneuvered the Faerie around so that there were two groups, all holding hands. When they were all linked, Chloe nodded. “See you on the other side.”

There was a gigantic rush and a vicious sucking sensation as the two groups were flung out over the edge of the islet, far across the sea, above the sandy beach and into the wooded foothills about a mile inland.

When they landed, Chloe lost her grip on Time, and her footing and tumbled to the ground, facedown, feeling quite dizzy. She rolled over, and sighed in relief when the other Faerie began to pick themselves up off the ground. Mahlon, Meric, Dredik, Urthrang, Lamanos, Gli and Timor were all present and accounted for.

The only two who didn’t were Avner and Christopher. They hadn’t moved a muscle, in fact. Chloe hurried over to Avner, who was lying as still as a stone on the loamy ground.

The whole order had assembled. Drake, while he was the de facto leader, still sat in his customary spot at the opposite end of the circle from the eldest. An empty chair remained where Rolf would have sat, as no new member had been selected to fill his position. Between the empty chair and Hirza sat Christopher and Avner, another empty chair between them, where Chloe should have been. A very much refreshed and neatly groomed Meric sat opposite the Humans, between Drake and Mahlon.

She hadn’t been seen in some time, however, not since leaving Avner’s room. Still, the Order had decided to simply wait in the great hall rather than go out in search of her, assuming she would show up eventually.

And so, they sat, and waited. Some slept, others talked quietly with their neighbor. Avner seemed content to be at peace, but Christopher was quickly letting his impatience get the better of him.

“That’s it,” he stated, standing up. “I’ll be back with Chloe in a jiffy.”

There was a small rustle and Christopher was gone, slipping and sliding through the mansion, looking for Chloe. Sure enough, after only a couple of minutes had passed, he returned with his sister, and Calisto, in tow.

At the sign of the stranger, Dredik leapt to his feet, transforming into his panther form, snarling. Several of the other members of the Order stood as well, drawing small hidden daggers from within their robes.

“It’s alright! She’s not going to hurt anyone!”

“Chloe!” said Drake sternly, not seeing any of what was going on, but hearing and sensing the tension. “What is the meaning of this?”

Calisto comically tried to hide behind Chloe with much whimpering and pawing.

“She’s ok. Everyone calm down. She’s a Shade. She’s been alone for thousands of years, so she acts a little strange, but she’s fine, really. Her name is Calisto…”

There was an audible, unified intake of air as the Faeire reacted.

“Calisto!” cried Hirza the She-Dwarf. All in the room became instantly still. Hirza stepped forward towards Chloe and her ward. Calisto peaked out from behind Chloe’s back, her saucer eyes betraying her fear.

“Calisto? No one would dare call herself by that name of sorrow and tragedy unless she truly were. Calisto?” asked Hirza gently.

The Shade, feeling reassured by the She-Dwarf’s words, ventured gingerly out from behind Chloe’s body, floating upwards slightly, her feet off the ground as always. Her eyes darted around at each of the people present. Each and every one of them looked straight back at her. They could all see her. Calisto felt rather exposed all of the sudden, and she began to fuss with her hair. She hadn’t had to worry about her appearance for thousands of years, and now she felt quite self-conscious. The Faerie couldn’t have cared less. They couldn’t believe their eyes.

“A Sylph,” whispered Meric in awe.

“M’lady,” stated Hirza, who bowed low on one knee. The rest of the Faerie followed suit.

Calisto put her dainty hand over her pale lips, and perplexed at the sudden change in her life’s direction, she began to weep openly. Had she been alive, the tears would have fallen swiftly and laden with the sorrow of many years. As it was, her body shook with sobs, wracking her body causing her to bend over nearly double.

Hirza jumped up right away. “Oh, you poor, poor thing. There, there now. It’s going to be just fine,” soothed the She-Dwarf, taking her hand and gently pulling her to an empty sofa. The Sylph didn’t resist at all and allowed herself to be led.

As soon as she hit the sofa, though, it was another matter entirely.

“Calisto! Get a hold of yourself this instant!”

“But… but… I just find it all so… hic… overwhelming.”

“Obviously! That’s the problem. You’re a princess! Princesses don’t cry. They’re strong! They’re courageous!”

“But… hic… I’m tired of courage! Look where it got me… hic…”

“Oh, please, please, stop this fighting. It’s not nice to fight, not in front of other people…”

“Shut it, little miss perfect!”

“Waaaahhh!”

“Come on, dear, that’s right, cry it all out, just like a good girl.”

“NO! Stop this foolish, useless bawling! It’s embarrassing. It’s degrading!”

“No, you’re embarrassing!”

“Please, please, cease the fighting.”

“WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

“There, there, honey. Let it all out. Good, like a good girl, that’s right.”

“Ugh! I’ve had enough with you! I’m leaving!”

“Good riddance.”

And then it was just the sound of Calisto crying. Her other selves left her to cry in peace.

Christopher, one eyebrow cocked, said, “That was the weirdest thing I ever done seen. By far.” The rest of the Faeries agreed that it wasn’t too far down on their strangest events they’d witnessed lists either.

“It’s ok,” said Chloe. “She’s been alone for so long, she’s created these different characters, different versions of herself, you see. To keep her company.”

“You mean like multiple personalities? She’s schizo?” asked Avner, his face clearly betraying his wariness of this potentially mentally unstable creature. Nobody else in the room understood what ‘schizo’ referred to, so they just ignored him.

“What a terrible fate,” whispered Drake to himself.

“Bound to the shade realm for over 4000 years,” added Lamanos.

“And completely cut off from your lover,” concluded Meric.

“Someone wanna tell me what’s goin’ on here?” prodded Christopher.

Amid the continued sounds of Calisto’s tears and the ministrations of many of the females in the room, Drake explained the known history of Calisto.

“Do you remember the story of Ashmiel and Sharrah, the two Sylphs who, with the help of Be’el Zebul, created the Gates of Time and Space? Good. Well, Calisto was to be the wife of Ashmiel. Legend says that she was the most beloved princess in all Faeriedom, beautiful, gracious and passionate in her love for Ashmiel. Their relationship was followed closely throughout the Kingdom by gossiping housewives, young couples, little girls, everyone knew the latest about Calisto and Ashmiel. Fashion! Dinners! Guests! Everything! Indeed, we know more about their lives than we do about the Gates themselves. And yet, in spite of their relationship being so public, not once did a single scrap of anything insidious or hurtful appear about them. They were loved completely by all Faerie. None were jealous, well perhaps they were envious a little, for Ashmiel was as handsome a fellow as Calisto was beautiful, but never was anyone bitter. They were the pride and joy of the Kingdom. Their love was pure. Unadulterated. It was holy. Even when the war began, they were looked to as a sign of hope among the free Faerie. Calisto would travel the front lines, offering encouragement to the soldiers at great personal risk. Wherever she went, Faerie were healed, morale improved, and hope seemed to spring anew. And Ashmiel, well, he was a masterful leader, to be sure. But without Calisto, whether by his side in public as his equal, or merely in the background tending to the everyday needs of a Faerie, he would have been half the Prince he was.

“However, when the end drew near, as the story goes, Ashmiel commanded Calisto to leave him. He knew that his death was coming, that there was no way to stop the tide of Daemons, and so he made her depart and seek sanctuary on Lantes, with his father, the King. After that, the great deluge occurred, and while the rest of the Faerie on Lantes survived, neither Calisto, nor the King, nor any of the Sylphs were ever seen again. There was a time of great mourning amongst the Faerie, for the Sylphs, yes, but mostly for Calisto, for the Princess was lost to them. Every year, when we remember the Deliverance, there is a time set aside in her memory. And now, after so many years of us commemorating her death, here she is, neither dead nor alive.

“Calisto is a Shade, stuck between the land of the living and the void of the dead. How she became this way, who can say? But you can see her, because you are being masked by the Shade realm as we speak. It is thread from a Shade’s mantle that your lifestrands have been rethreaded with. The magic that I had them imbibed with allowed you to hide yourself in the Shade realm, without being confined to it. Calisto, however, doesn’t have the option of returning to the visible world. It wouldn’t surprise me if you are the first people she’s seen in quite some time. Indeed, as far as I know, no Faerie has become a Shade since the beginning of this age. It was an uncommon rite tied to the old world, you see. Now we do not fear death so much. Not since the way to blessed Island of Avalione in the far western seas was made known to us.”

Drake’s account lost momentum towards the end, as he grew more contemplative. Mentioning Avalione was a mere anecdote, an aside meant more for his personal analysis rather than the benefit of the Humans.

“So, is she safe?”

Drake regrouped himself. “Safe? Oh yes, quite, I’m sure. A Faerie doesn’t much change over time, even 4000 years of it. Given the chance to acclimate back into society, even one as temporal as ours, I do believe she’ll be fine. One can hardly ask for anything better than how she is right now.”

It seemed that Calisto’s emotional outburst had quieted down. Several of the males were awkwardly standing around, thankful that the situation had passed. Dredik had resumed his Faerie form. The females were all crowded around the Sylph. After a few more sniffles and pats on the back, she floated off the couch into an upright position.

“I apologize, dear Faerie, that you had to witness that,” said the shimmering Calisto. “No, no. I’m better than that, or at least I used to be. I’m afraid I’m nothing more than a shadow of my former self. But I am touched that you remember me for what I once was. At the moment, however, all I ask of you is your kinship and assistance. Please, I beg of you. Take me with you to Ancient Terra. Promise me, swear it by all you hold dear! Do not leave me here to languish for eternity!”

The pleading in her voice was so desperate, so helpless, there was no way anyone in the room was able to deny her request. The thought didn’t even cross their minds of how she even knew about Terra Firma.

“Of course, M’lady. Anything you ask,” said Drake, bowing low, albeit slightly off line from where she really was. “But what interest, Lady Calisto, do you have in Ancient Terra?”

“My Prince. Ashmiel. He may still be there.”

“Ashmiel?” echoed an incredulous Hirza. “Verily, the titans of our history are coming out of the woodwork in front of our very eyes!”

“Please,” requested Drake to the invisible Shade, “Do enlighten us.”

“It is a long tale, if it is to be told properly,” said Calisto. “so please, sit.” All in the room willingly obliged, somberly eager to hear the firsthand account of Calisto and Ashmiel, most beloved of all Faerie.

~    ~    ~

“And now you know why I must return to Ancient Terra. If Ashmiel survived, then he has been bound to the same fate as I, bound to the Shade world for all eternity, unless we are reunited. Then we can once again assume our living bodies, and wed each other, as we should have done so when we had the chance. If he did not survive, then at least I will be at peace, knowing I have done all I could. But if he is out there! Then by the Master Weaver’s graces I must find him!”

There were few dry eyes in the room. Calisto’s narration had been so compelling, so passionate, that every one present felt the rush of love, the tragedy of separation and the dull ache of the accumulated years of loneliness. Her burden became theirs, her pain, her desperation, her commitment.

Drake spoke for all of them when he said, “Calisto, we shall do all in our power to help you reach Ancient Terra and seek out Ashmiel.”

“Thank you, good Gnome,” replied Calisto gracefully.

“Not that we can get back right now…” quipped Avner sarcastically.

“That may soon change, young Human,” retorted Drake dryly. He seemed poised to say something, but was interrupted by the voice of Hirza.

“Drake, do you suppose Calisto and Ashmiel are a fulfillment of the prophecy? Remember His words? ‘The Three Lost races shall return and save the Rescued.’ ”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “I suppose, it is possible… in all the time I’ve been thinking how to get the Humans back to Ancient Terra, I had forgotten about the rest of the Prophecy.”

“Look around you!” continued Hirza, although there was precious little for Drake to see. “First, the Humans have repapered! The first race, lost to us in the Deluge, although I suppose you could say they were born lost. And now, the Sylphs, the second race! Lost to us when Summus Terra was born.”

“And the third race?” asked Chloe.

Hirza shrugged her shoulders. “Who can say? All shall be revealed in time. But just think! An army of Slyphs could prove to be the tide-turner in this war against the Daemons.”

“My fear is that its not only the Daemons we have to worry about, Hirza. This King could be just as dangerous, or more so, to the Faerie as any Daemon army.”

Avner was getting frustrated. “Look! I’m sorry, but what good is any of this talking doing? Right now, who cares if there’s a legion of Sylphs waiting back on Earth to come and topple your evil King. It’s no good unless we can get home! We need a plan! Preferably one that doesn’t result in my near death.”

Calisto decided to end the awkward silence that followed. “My, what strange, impatient creatures you Humans are.”

“Avner, I’m sorry for what happened at the Gate,” responded Drake. “The truth is, no one saw that coming. The Fabric of Time altered itself when we went back in time. It looped back on itself, leaving the entire thirty days as nothing but a memory. Not just for the Order and you and Meric, but for the entire Kingdom. That meant that the King had a chance to react. He was able to get to the Gate before you were. He was waiting. By the time I knew what had happened, it was too late. You were gone, and all we could do was wait.”

Avner accepted the explanation, but was still impatient for something to be done. “Alright, fine. But where do we go from here. Your Gate’s been cut off by the King, and we couldn’t get through. It was like there was something preventing us from passing through it.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“I do.”

“And you still think there’s a way for us to get home? Look, by now, that place will be under lock and key! That’s the only way home for us! It would take an army to break through, and even then, there’s the magic that blocks us. You think you can get through both of those?” Avner’s negative temperament was starting to surface, as his voice grew louder and his hand gestures more violent.

“Even were we to break through the guard, and that is a big if, one would have to study the magic that acts as a barrier between the two worlds, learn its strengths and flaws and understand the source of the magic before being able to break it. And by that time, it would be too late. We would all be dead. No, you are right. You cannot return home that way.”

Avner was livid. “How can you say that so calmly! That is the only way! That’s how we got here, that’s how we’ve got to get back.”

“Avner, sit DOWN!” scolded Chloe, having experienced enough of this tirade. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”

Avner quickly came to his senses. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, resuming his seat.

“All is forgiven, young Human. You see, there is another way. Because there is another Gate.”

An eerie silence reigned in the room as soon as Drake spoke. The other Gate was in Daemon territory. Deep in Daemon country. Impossibly far into the maw of the hellish land of the Daemon Lords. No Faerie in his or her right mind would ever think about venturing into the Daemon lands, let alone to the very heart of them. It was dangerous enough in the Shadow Lands between the Kingdoms. But the Daemon territory, that was unheard of. And yet, it made sense.

Sneak into the Daemon lands even as the Daemons had into the Faerie Kingdom, slip through their Gate, which would likely be as guarded as the Faerie Gate had been. Nobody would expect a surprise attack that deep in enemy territory.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Avner. The very thought terrified him and left him frozen in his seat. These Faeries were dangerous enough. The Daemons, oh no. There was no way.

“I am not,” replied Drake. “I believe it is our best chance. A small number of us, certainly not all, can accompany you and see you as far as possible, hopefully to the Gate.”

“It would be suicide!” said Avner.

“Not for you, not if you make it. Think about it. If you stay here, we all die when the Daemons attack. If you attempt to return through our Gate, you will most likely die. But there, in the Daemon lands, you have a fighting chance. They’re not looking for you.”

“He’s right,” said Chloe, before Avner could respond. “Now that I think about it, it makes sense. Remember when we were in the Blackness, the Void? After the Daemons came through the Gate and passed us, our other selves appeared. But not from the Gate! They came from a different direction.”

“Not me,” said Christopher. “I wasn’t there. Just you and Avner.”

“Oh,” said Chloe. “Well, in any case, it makes sense. I say we go,” stated Chloe, as if it were a vote.

Christopher began to wonder why he hadn’t seen himself. He didn’t want to think about the obvious answer – that he didn’t make it to the Gate.

“As do I!” added Calisto.

“Oh, well that settles it!” said Avner sarcastically.
Drake rolled his eyes. “Please, please, this is a very serious matter. Yes, it would be dangerous. Many may perish along the way. But, if it is the only chance to stop the coming disaster, I for one would be willing to put my life on the line. I will not ask the same of anyone else here.”

Drake looked around the room, imagining the faces of his friends, his peers, his fellow patriots. He could sense his gaze being returned.

“Drake.” It was Hirza, the elderly Dwarf. She rose slowly, and with much regality, the kind that comes with having lived a fruitful and excellent life. “I do not doubt that anyone of us here in this room today would be willing to sacrifice our lives in order to ensure the survival of the true Faerie Kingdom. Especially myself, hee hee! As I have very little of it left to live. However, while all of us may be willing to see the Humans to the Daemon Gate, clearly, not all of us should. And not all of us need to. Therefore, first, let those of us who would remain behind do so, without shame. The Master Weaver has a purpose for each of us, whether we stay, or whether we go. I myself will remain here. The wilderness is no place for an ancient Gnome like me.”

“Well spoken, Hirza. Thank you for your wise words,” said Drake. “Is there anyone else who would choose to stay here?”

Ariahnis, the elderly Priest, stood. “I too shall stay. I have no special skills in a journey such as this. I would only be a burden, and I mean that. I wish you all blessings, however, and my prayers will follow behind you unceasingly.”

Drake nodded understandingly towards him. That brought their total company down to thirteen. Still too many.

“Drake, perhaps you yourself should remain behind?” said Hirza. “We may need you here in the Kingdom. The King trusts you! And you are now in charge of all the Watcher’s. It may be foolish to simply throw that authority away in a time like this.”

Drake cringed. What Hirza said made sense, in all honesty. There was much he could do here in the Kingdom. But his heart yearned for the adventure that was set before him. And, as the de facto leader of the Order, how could he remain behind while the rest went forth, most likely to their doom?

“She’s right,” said Dredik.

Drake sat, contemplating his decision. Neither choice seemed to offer peace. And yet, he had to decide.

Then, without warning, the lights went out, and the windowless room went black. The sounds of everyone scrambling to their feet quickly followed. Drake got bumped by an invisible body.

A blood curdling cry rent the air. A howl of agony and hatred that made Drake’s hair stand up on end.

“BANSHEES!” yelled Calisto. Drake’s stomach dropped.

There was a dull thud and a grunt from nearby followed by the hideous sound of flesh ripping from flesh.

“Calisto!” shouted Drake.

“I’ll be ok! I’ll find you!” came the reply. Sounds of violent struggles were all around him.

“Everyone, get out of there! Leave the Shade Realm! NOW!” screamed Drake, praying he could be heard.

Sounds of the fighting disappeared, and with tiny pops, the Faeries and Humans returned to the land of the living. Drake stumbled over to the nearest lamp and, grabbing the lighter it contained, lit the lamp after a couple of sparks. Fearing the worst, he turned to see the damage.

Dredik, in Panther form, was wounded badly, as was Vulta the She-Troll. Blood streamed from many wounds. Bones stuck out of flesh, and their skin looked torn to shreds.

But the worst of it was the sight of Ariahnis, lying on the floor, mortally wounded, blood everywhere. His torso was punched full of holes, and his face smeared in his own blood.

Mahlon his daughter was kneeling by him, close enough to hear his last words.

“Go, my daughter… and protect these Humans from all evil. They are come to be…”

Ariahnis pulled his daughter close as his breath left him.

“… our salvation…”

“Hey, there.”

Avner stirred minimally as the voice gently slipped through the herb-induced stupor. It seemed to be distant, like someone calling for him from the mountain on the other side of a valley. His body said that he should ignore it, but his mind said otherwise, and with a great effort, he fought off the weariness that tempted him, beckoning with seductive promises of sweet rest and soothing dreams.

He managed a moan.

‘Hey, hey now, Avner, take it easy. It’s alright. You’ve made it through the worst of it. You’re going to be ok.”

His eyes flickered open. A hazy shape was leaning over him, blocking out the vicious sunlight. He raised an arm to cover his eyes reflexively. “Chloe?”

Seeing how the light distressed him, Chloe moved over to the window and drew in the shutters. “There, is that better?” she asked. The room darkened considerably, lit only by two candles whose flames weren’t flickering.

“Where am I?” Avner asked groggily.

“The Faerie Kingdom. Do you remember?”

Avner nodded his head slightly.

“Good. We were trying to get back home, back to Colorado, when we were ambushed at the Gate. You were shot with an arrow, Avner. And the Gate was blocked. Something invisible, between us and it. We couldn’t get through, so we had to come back. Back to Lantes Isle.”

Avner wiggled a little more upright using his elbows. “I remember getting’ shot, that’s all,” he said, voice raspy. “Everything went black after that.”

“We got you to Fortuna, the Were. She’s a healer, remember. It’s only been a day. You’ve been in Fast Time ever since we brought you here, giving your body extra time to heal itself. In fact, Fortuna said that the wound is all gone. The only thing left is a scar. That’s why I woke you up.”

“Gosh… I feel like I’ve been asleep for days…”

“That’s because to you, that’s what its felt like. An hour out here was almost an entire day for you. Fortuna had to check in on you every fifteen minutes. She had an herb that kept you asleep for most of it. It would have been a lonely twenty days without it.”

“Ugh, I’m so hungry,” groaned Avner.

“You’ve been shot and almost mortally wounded, nearly scared me half to death, and now, the first thing you’re thinking about is food? Honestly? How about, ‘It’s nice to be alive!’ or ‘Wow, Chloe, I can’t believe you stayed with me almost the entire time!’”

“You did that?” asked Avner. “Talk about boring.”

Chloe looked a little sheepish. “Well, actually, I was in fast time too, but not as much as you. It went by faster for me.”

Avner chuckled, then coughed. “It’s good t’ see you too, Chloe.”

“I’ll go get you some food,” said Chloe. “Fortuna will probably be in to see you soon.”

Chloe turned and left, and for the first time, Avner saw that she had changed out of the clothes that she had worn since appearing on Summus Terra (although it had only been about two days that they’d actually spent here) and into a beautiful flowing dress that ran down to her ankles. It was a perfect white, unblemished in any way. Peeking out from underneath the dress were a pair of lilac slippers, in which Chloe silently floated away on. Avner sighed as her long, fiery red hair, now combed and shining, hung loose at her shoulders. She was as gorgeous and enchanting as anything Avner had ever seen, except for Lamanos, perhaps. Although, she’s a very different kind of beautiful – more dangerous, more bewitching…

It was while these thoughts were running through Avner’s mind that Chloe, right before she turned the corner and passed out of sight, glanced back at Avner. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, he failed to notice, but Chloe made note of the strange expression on his face.

™™~    ~     ~        ˜

“Drake.”

The Gnome looked up from the table at which he sat, his eyes dim and his expression blank. He shook his head to clear his mind from the wandering thoughts that he’d been alone with for the last few hours.

Christopher the Human stood before him. His sudden appearance had gone unnoticed by the weary Gnome. But, he was a welcome distraction. His mind refocused, and, looking Christopher in the eye, Drake managed to mumble out a greeting. Apparently his tongue wasn’t as quick to wake up as his mind.

Christopher took the body language, if not the half-heard words, to be a welcome sign. He walked through the doorway into the little study. His eyes flitted to the tabletop. A parchment, most likely of the prophecy, sat on the table, as well as a few maps and a quill pen and a well of ink. On the wall, a candle flickered, the only source of light in this otherwise dark portion of the house.

“Lil’ gloomy in here, don’t ya think?”

Drake shrugged his shoulders meaningfully. “Perhaps, although us Gnomes are quite used to the absence of light. If you need another candle, please, let me…”

“Naw, I’m good. Thanks. It’s just, this whole house is kinda gloomy. Don’t get me wrong… I like it! Just, could use a bit of life, if ya catch my drift.”

“Indeed, I do, young Human. All in all, however, it is as fine a place as we could expect to procure on a moments notice. This islet has been abandoned for a few years now, ever since some ghoul rumors begin to spread.”

“Ghoul?”

“Oh, yes… a time-travelling vengeful Faerie. Nasty little things when they go off. Creates a bit of a mess back at the Tower, you see. But it explains why nobody’s dared to touch this house or the grounds. Perfect little hideout for the Order. Not that we’ll be here for long anyways. Only twenty-nine more days…”

“That’s what I wanted t’ talk to ya ‘bout,” interrupted Christopher. “I been thinkin’. And I think I come up with an idea. But I wanted to share it with ya first, see if there are any points I’m missin’.”

Drake simply stared back at the Human. There was no way this was going to be a good idea. He’d been racking his brain at this for days in Fast Time, and when his body couldn’t take the strain any longer, he’d reverted back to Standard Time. And still, no solution presented itself. The King had taken every precaution to keep access to the Gate out of their hands. They’d thought about going backwards in time again, but the instability it would create was too risky. Only the greatest musicians in Faerie history had ever been able to string together even a few time reversals in order to create a single performance. And none in this group had that kind of skill. The Gate was guarded by a force ten times greater than had been present when Meric was on watch. And, in spite of numerous attempts, the Gate was still protected by the invisible shield. None of the Order had been able to determine what it was or how to stop it. But they had determined the magic was one way. Getting through the Gate from the Summus Terra was impossible. But from Terra Firma was another matter entirely. Even worse, over the last few hours, news kept coming in that the King was mobilizing units across the Kingdom- naval, land and air. For what purpose, none knew. But he was up to no good, to be sure. The King was a Daemon, and whether he was in league or not with the three running loose on Terra Firma right now didn’t matter. Even if the Order somehow managed to survive these next twenty-nine days, they had no way to prepare for the coming destruction. By Mahlon’s account, an army far greater than any that the Daemons had ever mustered threatened to rush in and annihilate the comparatively few Faerie that would be guarding the Gate.

And here stood this inexperienced Human, who had idea the depth or the complexity of the issue, or of the scope of danger that faced all of them, ready to propose a solution to circumvent the end of the world. Drake the Gnome nearly chuckled. He motioned to Christopher to proceed. Nothing could have surprised him more than what Christopher proposed. He had expected to be able to dismiss the idea as preposterous, ridiculous and crazy. It was only the latter.

“You want to do what?” was all Drake could muster.

“I want t’ sneak in t’ the Daemon territory, get t’ their Gate, return t’ Earth and stop these dadgum Daemons dead in their tracks.”

™ ™~    ~     ~       ˜

After alerting Fortuna of Avner’s awakening, Chloe started to weave her way through the many corridors and halls. The house was like a maze, much bigger than Lamanos’s comfortable home that was restricted in size simply because the Isle of Lantes itself had very limited land. But this mansion sprawled across the entire islet, seeming built into the ground. There were steps that led down to floors below that opened out onto the sheer outcropping, overlooking the churning sea beneath. There were towers that stretched into the sky, unkempt garden grounds to peruse, outer walls to walk along. It was as if medieval castle architecture had been blended with a Victorian era Mansion. One minute, she’d be in a dark, stone, torchlit hallway, and only a few steps later, it would open up into a marvelous parlor complete with plush carpeting and dusty furniture. Beyond the parlor were more rooms, more hallways, more doors and more ways to get to the same place than you could shake a stick at.

It was the kind of place that, had she had the time, Chloe would have loved to simply explore and map out, even if it would have taken several days. But in that moment, Chloe simply needed to get to one room in particular, and at the moment, she felt somewhat lost. Why the Order had chosen a labyrinth like this, she had no idea. It certainly wasn’t always the most convenient, especially when they spread out throughout the entire building, rather than centralizing. It’s not like they were in danger from attack. Being invisible from the outside world eliminated that potential problem.

Of course, she hadn’t been there when the location had been selected. Then again, her opinion wouldn’t have mattered much anyways. They were the Order, charged with the protection of the Faerie Kingdom.

What had happened since she had slid away with Christopher and Avner to the Gate, Chloe had very little idea. In the very brief time while they were gone, this location had been selected, because the first thing Drake did upon seeing Avner wounded so was rush him to the islet.  Fortuna had taken over then, slipping into Slow Time and beginning to minister to Avner. Chloe, too, remained by his side, and left only once when Mahlon the Naidess, the one who had uttered the prophecy, entered, pleading with her to leave and rest, if only for a few moments.

Chloe, after much persuasion, had conceded, and allowed herself to be wearily led from the room. The next few memories were sporadic – falling asleep, briefly waking up to Mahlon combing and braiding her hair all the while cooing gently, feeling the cool damp of a cloth as it washed the accumulated grime off of her body, and finally, waking up alone with a sudden awareness that she’d been asleep for far too long and hastily dashing out of the room, not noticing that she was no longer wearing the clothes she’d worn when she left from her home back in Colorado, but instead a long, flowing white dress. She had no idea where to go, of course, but thankfully, Fortuna came along, and showed the very worried Chloe to the room where Avner lay recovering.

Where everyone else was and what they had been doing, Chloe had no idea. But now that Avner was out of the danger zone, she was going to find out. Her priority was still home, regardless of whatever setbacks they’d encountered. She would leave the thinking up to the Order. As long as it got her and the two boys back in one piece, it was a good plan. She just wanted to make sure there was a plan.

First however, she needed to go find Mahlon and thank her for taking care of her so kindly, and presumably for the dress. That was who she was attempting to find at the moment, but her memory failed her as to the location of Mahlon’s room. So it was in her aimless wanderings, she opened a door and found herself looking at a startling sight.

A ghastly figure, shimmering in the lamplight, stood in front of her, perfectly motionless, as gorgeous as she was terrifying, pale and beautiful, if not deathly and ageless. Silvery hair ran down her back, and the dress wrapped around her slender figure waved every so gently, as if in the wind.

All of this Chloe took in in a moment, but the first thing she noticed was that the apparition’s feet weren’t touching the ground at all. The figure was floating.

“Who are you?”

When Chloe spoke, a drastic change came over the phantasm. Awareness suddenly sprang into her eyes, and a wide look of shock followed thereafter. Clearly surprised, not by Chloe’s entrance, but by her voice, she receded a few paces very quickly which left her limp limbs behind for a moment.

“I am Calisto, the Shade,” came the crystalline-voice’s reply. “And you are?”

A chill rippled down Chloe’s body.

™~    ~     ~™        ˜

The same expression that was plastered on Avner’s face when Chloe left was still there when Fortuna walked in. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she was clucking like a mother hen.

“Oy! No sitting up until I clear you for any kind of strenuous motion, young lad!”

Avner was taken aback. “Strenuous motion! I’m… I’m sorry, I was just sitting, not that hard really, I feel great!”

“Not hard? Not hard! Wait until you’re an old coot like me, then tell me, is sitting up easy or hard? Hmm?”

“Sorry, sorry, I meant no…”

“Of course you did! What’s gotten into youngsters these days? No gratitude, no respect for their elders…”

Avner rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m sorry. And thank you, for fixing me up good and proper. Now, I’m fine, I’m telling. I feel great! But I need to get up and walk around. My legs feel like Jello…”

Fortuna crinkled her brow. “Jello? What’s that? Is it a good or a bad sign?”

“Never mind,” mumbled Avner. “Forgot, you guys don’t know anything…”

“Know anything? KNOW ANYTHING! Why, you little upstart of a runty Gnomelet, I’ll have you know…”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” shouted Avner, trying to calm the ‘crotchety old lady’, as he termed her in his mind.

“Ah, whatever,” dismissed Fortuna with a growl. “Pull up your shirt.” Avner obliged, and Fortuna began her inspection  of Avner’s side where he had been pierced.

“Barely even a scar. Good, good. Healed nicely on the outside… Stand up, now.”

Fortuna had Avner run through several stretches, some of which pushed Avner’s body to its limits. He’d simply been average athletically in school. He certainly wasn’t an inactive slob, but he wasn’t one of the jocks who constantly hung out in the weight room either. He’d done his fair share of stretching in his life. The knotting and straining that Fortuna put him through began to take its toll. As he started to pant, Fortuna’s creased brow softened.

“Ach, my apologies, young Human. Here I’ve gone and forgotten that you’ve spent nearly three weeks lying in bed without any kind of muscle activity. Of course your body will tire quickly. That will be all.”

Avner rose and sighed gratefully.

“The wound has healed well. But should you feel any pain, you must come to me and tell right away, do you understand? And it may be a few days before you feel up to any strenuous activity. Take it easy, that’s all I can advise you. I shall go now. I have other things to attend to.”

Fortuna whirled and strutted out of the room.

Avner, slightly set back by her terse attitude, forgot to thank her until she had disappeared around the corner. “Thank you!” he called anyways. “She needs to work on her bedside manner,” he mumbled to himself. “Now, where the heck am I?”

Poking his head outside of the room, he stared up and down the empty hallway. “Hello?” he called. His voice echoed several times over. After no response, he shrugged and walked off, choosing for no good reason to go right first.

What a peculiar place this is… he thought. His mind began to wander aimlessly as he meandered in and out of rooms that seemed to lead nowhere in particular. Eventually, his mind settled on Chloe and her angelic appearance. She had been so caring towards him ever since they’d first met, even before they knew each other’s names. He felt like he could talk to her about anything, everything, and that she’d already know all about it and just what to say and do for him. She was enthralling. She was rapturous. She was perfect.

Avner, lost in his own little world, failed to see Dredik appear around the corner right in front of him. With that same, one-sided grin that he’d had earlier when Chloe had left the room, he slammed right into Dredik.

“Avner!” said the Werepanther, picking himself off the ground. “You’re up. Feeling better, I presume.”

“Much, thank you. Sorry ‘bout that. I have no idea where I’m going right now.”

“That’s fine,” replied Dredik. “Follow me, we’ve been summoned to counsel. I’m hoping we’ve got a new plan to get you home.”

The Werepanther trotted off down the hallway, back the way Avner had come. The Human followed suit.

“Home,” he said. He only prayed that he’d live to make it back. He’d survived this first wound just fine, though, so that was a start.

“Home.”

™~    ~     ~

It took Chloe a moment to gather her wits. It didn’t seem like this ghostly figure in front of her was too dangerous, but one could never be too sure…

“Uhh… my name is Chloe…”

Before Chloe could even finish introducing herself, Calisto rushed straight for her. Chloe cringed and put her arms up to ward off the assault. She expected a fierce blow, possibly even a fatal one. Instead, she suddenly felt cold arms gently wrap around her and squeeze her in a tight hug.

Calisto was giggling. “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe it! Chloe! It’s soooo good to see you, I mean, it’s so wonderful that you can see me! And look, look! I can touch you, and play with  your hair and hug you – oh! I just can’t believe it. After all these years, finally, someone! 4000 years of being all alone, no one to talk to, no one to play with or go on walks with, and now you’re here! Muah!”

Chloe found herself on the receiving end of a smacking loud kiss on the cheek. She was rather bewildered as to what was going on.

“Oh, oh! Do tell me about yourself! How did you become a Shade? How long have you been this way? Eek! Wait, wait, wait, wait… don’t tell me you’ve been out there all this time and we’ve never found eachother! OH! THE TRAGEDY!!!”

Calisto pulled away and began to sob violently. No tears ran down her cheeks. “All those years, wasted! Gone! And I could have had someone to spend them with!”

Chloe, still unsure how to respond, finally decided to pat the young woman on the shoulder comfortingly. After a while, her hysterics began to wane.

“Oh dear… hic… Here I am, crying like a new… hic… born troll that needs its diaper changed. Way to spoil… hic hic… the moment, Calisto.”

“It’s alright there,” said Chloe gently. “It’s alright. I’m new… new to the Kingdom. Please, what’s a Shade? And why have you been alone for so long?”

“So long… hic…” echoed Calisto as Chloe rubbed small circles along her back.

Eventually, the Shade regained her composure. “A Shade,” she said, after taking a deep breath, “Is neither alive nor dead, unable to be seen or felt by the natural realm, only heard and sometimes sensed. We’re invisible to everyone else, but you! You can see me! Because you’re a Shade too! That’s what you are. Didn’t you know that?”

Chloe looked down at her hands. “No I’m not. Look, my flesh is bright, and warm. Yours is pale, and cold.”

“Ah, but see, I was that way too when I first became a Shade. It fades after a time, as the life slowly leaves you. Poor thing, you don’t remember what happened, do you?”

“No, I don’t… unless…”

Calisto’s eyes widened in anticipation, like she was about to hear an extremely juicy bit of gossip.

“I am invisible right now. Drake said something about threads and the Fabric of Time. I’m trying to remember it all, but…”

Chloe scrunched her face.

“Yes, yes!” encouraged Calisto, who whirled around completely three times for good measure.

“The Shade realm!” said Chloe. “That’s what he called it. The threads, they allow us to go back and forth between the Shade realm. So, I’m not a Shade. But I’m in your world. I can leave at any moment, at least that’s Drake said…”

“Lucky,” pouted Calisto, sticking her tongue out at Chloe.

“Hey, a few seconds ago, you were glad just to have found someone, and now, you’re jealous of me?”

“Sorry,” said Calisto sheepishly. “I’ve been alone for so long, I’ve made up characters for myself… that was Calisto the spoiled child. She has a vexing habit of interrupting when she’s least wanted.”

Chloe didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the Shade.

“Ah, well, you never told me why you’re like this. I mean, you’ve been this way for how long?”

Calisto sighed. “Over 4000 years.”

“With no one to talk to?”

“Nope.”

“Wow.”

“I eavesdrop on people’s conversations a lot. Sometimes I spook people and whisper in their ear. But lately, its been so depressing, I’ve just stayed here, just sitting. There were rumors of a ghoul a few years back, maybe fifty, sixty years ago. That scared everyone away, so I just came and sat here in the silence, undisturbed. It’s been nice.”

What a terrible life she livin’, or ain’t livin’ thought Chloe. “When was the last time you left this room, then?”

“I don’t know,” replied Calisto. “Many, many years.”

“And what have you been doing all by yourself?”

“Oh, you know, I sleep, I think to myself, I go on imaginary adventures with all of the different Calistos. But mostly I just think about him…” A wistful, pained look came into Calisto’s ashen eyes.

“Who’s ‘him’?”

Calisto shook her head mournfully. “I do not speak his name. He is the reason why I’m like this. You see, he was a great warrior, a Prince, a valiant Faerie. We were young, in love, passionately in love even, but fate drew us apart. We vowed that if we were ever separated, or about to perish, we would invoke a curse, a terrible curse that if uttered by one would turn us both into Shades until we should meet again. When I last saw him, he was going to defend the Gate from the Daemon army. He left me to the safekeeping of the King on Lantes. Things must have gone ill for him, in that final battle. That was when the flood happened. And all the Faerie Kingdom was destroyed. I uttered the oath, praying, trusting that he had somehow survived long enough to transform into a Shade. But I have never found him. I looked for years. Thousands of years. I left messages behind for him, I visited all of our favorite spots, but he was nowhere to be found. He died, before he could say the curse, and left me alone, to ever wander the earth in search of my lover who is no more.”

Chloe and Calisto stood and floated in silence. How utterly heartbreaking, thought Chloe. To trust yer entire life for the chance t’ be reunited with your love, only t’ be condemned t’ a life of loneliness. If only he hadn’t died…

“Wait!” exclaimed Chloe, an idea suddenly springing to her mind. “4000 years ago, a flood? You mean, you were from Terra Fimra too? You survived the flood because you were on Lantes Isle? Look, do you know what happened, what really happened?”

“What happened?” asked Calisto hesitantly.

“Terra Firma wasn’t destroyed! Lantes Isle was reborn on a new Terra. Summus Terra wasn’t the new Terra, it was a different Terra altogether! Terra Firma is still out there!”

“EEK! How do you know?”

“Because I’m from Terra Firma! I’m a human!”

“But… but…”

“Long story. Trust me. And I can slip in time like a Faerie, and slide in space like a Daemon, and its all really weird, but, just trust me. I’m from Terra Firma.”

“But… that means that…”

“That means your man could still be waiting for you! He’s been stuck on Ancient Terra, unable to find you too!”

Calisto made a dramatic fainting motion. “Oh, my poor Ashmiel, my poor, poor Ashmiel…”

“Ashmiel, that’s his name?!”

Calisto nodded, somewhat miffed that her theatrical moment was interrupted.

“As in the Slyph Prince who made the Gate of Time?”

Calisto nodded again.

“Then, then you’re a Slyph too?”

“I was, before I became this. But now! Now there’s hope. Oh! I must go find him! Ashmiel! Ashmiel! Chloe, you say you’re from Terra Firma? How did you get here? How do you get back?”

Calisto was shaking Chloe quite violently, purely out of excitement, but it was still rather rattling.

“Calisto… Calisto! Stop!”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Look, I don’t know how to get back yet. That’s what we’re trying to figure out. There’s a lot that’s not right in the Faerie Kingdom right now, and we need to get back to Terra Firma if we’re going to save both my earth and yours.”

“We? There are more of you! Oh! The ecstasy!”

Chloe rolled her eyes. The emotional highs and lows of this creature were simply dizzying.

“Come on, we need to go find them. Let’s go.” Chloe grabbed the Shade’s hand and pulled her out of the room like she was nothing more than a balloon. A very emotional, crazy, completely lovable balloon.

The room erupted in chaos. Everybody began to talk and jump up from their seats at once. There was much arm waving, and yelling, and milling about. Little argument clusters formed, each trying to be louder than all the others. Only the three Humans remained seated in silence. The noise and din grew to a point that Chloe had to cover her ears.

Christopher decided it was time to put a stop to the confusion. He stood up, climbed on top of his chair, and bellowed out, “QUIET!”

Amazingly, everyone in the room ceased their diatribes, turned their heads and focused on the young Human.

“Right!” he said, making every effort to appear as big and authoritative as possible. “Now, what we need here is a plan. And a good’un. And cool heads. We’re here to help, Chloe, Avner, me, but we ain’t got no idea how to take care of this on our own. So let’s just start from the beginning, alright?”

Seeing as he still commanded the Faerie’s attention, he continued. “Say we could get back t’ the Gate in less than an hour, could we get through back t’ Earth and stop the dang Daemons?”

“It would be a miracle if you could stop more than ten Daemons, with just you three Humans,” replied Drake.

“Why just us three? Ain’t you comin’ along too?” asked Christopher.

“I am sorry,” said Ariahnis, “but to pass through the Gate is strictly forbidden for any Faerie. Anyone who violates the Forbidding forfeits his soul. Even in a case such as this, we will not pass through that Gate.”

“So its just us three, then?” said Christopher, stepping down from the chair, dejected.

Chloe, however, saw some possibilities with her brother’s idea. “What if,” she said, standing up as the plan began to take shape in her mind, “we didn’t have to stop an army of Daemons. What if it was just three? Could we do it?”

Chloe’s heart skipped a beat when Meric answered her question, looking her directly in the eye. “If it was a surprise, and with the right training, I suppose it’s possible, yes.”

Chloe, eyes never leaving Meric, pressed on. “Well then, Faerie’s have the ability to control Time. Can you go backwards in time? The King mentioned something like that before…”

Realization dawned on Drake’s face. “I see, I see now! What if you went back thirty days and returned to Earth through the Gate? Any more than that, and who knows what would happen, since you Humans weren’t on Summus Terra thirty-one days ago. But, you would still be right on the heels of the Daemons! You could stop them before they can put their plan into effect. We know how long it takes them, because unless something changes, they’ll be here in an hour! You would know down to the very minute how long you had to stop them! Of course, you would have to be very, very careful not to violate a Forbidding…”

“What do you mean?” inquired Chloe.

“Our control over Time is a very powerful ability. There are many ways it could be abused, including going backwards in time and changing the past to alter the future. When that happens, a tear occurs in the Fabric of Time, and, unless it is repaired, it could result in the complete destruction of Summus Terra. Thus, the Forbidding. While not as serious as the law against passing through the Gate, there are two limitations that are placed upon those who reverse time, specifically no preventing somebody’s death and no killing anyone. In general, its best to spend as little time as possible in the Past, as one’s actions can unintentionally set off a series of events that ends up violating one or both of these rules. However, it can be safely and effectively done. So, I suppose the long answer is, yes! You may discovered the best course of action. Go back in time, return through the Gate, stop the Daemons! It’s simple, gives us the time we need, and, with the necessary preparation, has a high chance of success!”

Chloe was excited, to say the least. The combination of having presented such an excellent plan and the prospect of returning home quickly was more than enough to cause a grin to spread across her face. “When do we lea…?”

An enormous crash interrupted Chloe. She nearly jumped out of her skin. It sounded like the front door had been smashed in. Several of the Faerie had already assumed defensive positions.

“Stay quiet! Stay still!” hissed Drake. “They can’t see you!”

The three Humans huddled together as a dozen guards, swords drawn and ready, entered the hall. They looked around, confused that there was only one Faerie in sight.

“It’s about time you arrived,” mocked Drake, not even looking up. “I’ve been here for the last hour, piecing together the clues. What have the King’s Tortoises been up to? Napping in the sunlight?”

The Kingshadows spread throughout the room. “This is where the traitors last were!” growled a burly Troll.

“Obviously, you imbecile! This is where they were before their lifestrands were replaced with invisible threads! And now, they’re invisible! You can’t see them, I can’t see them. Simple as that. They could be anywhere at this point, but I would hazard a guess that they aren’t here anymore!”

The trio looked at each other. Could Drake really not see them? He’d been sitting in what appeared to be in empty room, holding a conversation with nothing but voices?

The Troll growled. “Krumbarum. I was merely following orders, Kneeknocker. Insult me, you insult the King.”

Drake glared back at the Troll. “Insult me, you insult the Mender. And that’s me! Now get out, all of you… I have work to do!”

The Troll, obviously taken aback by the authority of the Gnome who stood in front of him, simply gestured to his men and withdrew.

The Humans breathed a sigh of relief when the Kingshadows had left. So far, all of their encounters with the immaculately dressed and decorated guards had left a rather foul impression.

“Thank the Maker!” sighed Drake. “That was too close. All clear.”

“The Kingshadows have surely fallen quite a ways in only a year,” commented Meric. “I am almost ashamed to admit that I was once one of them. New King, new regime, I suppose. It only takes one bad worm to ruin the whole apple.”

Drake nodded his head. “And the rottenness is spreading quickly.”

Dredik agreed. “I know firsthand of the decline that you speak of. I too, am a Kingshadow, and truly, the times have become dark, for our captains are harsh and proud and without honor.”

Chloe tried to picture Meric suited up in one of the fancy uniforms. Somehow, the picture didn’t seem to flatter Meric, so she quickly shoved it from her mind.

Drake began to wave his arms. “Now, come, time is slipping away. We must return to the past and stop these Daemons!”

“Wait!” said Avner. “Are we really invisible?”

“You are,” replied Drake.

“Even to you?”

“Even to me, Avner. You can all see each other because you are all veiled by the shade realm. However, I, as I did not replace my own lifestrand, remain in the natural world.”

“And this is permanent?” asked Christopher.

“Oh, no! You can choose leave or return to the shade realm at any moment now. Just realize that if you do leave, you will instantly become visible not only to eyes nearby, but to the Fabric of Time as well. You will be able to be tracked and hunted like any other Faerie.”

“The Fabric of Time?” asked Chloe.

“It records everything done by anyone in the Faerie Kingdom.”

“How do I…” started Avner.

Drake rolled his eyes. “So many questions! Not enough time. Look, you have felt the Flux before, yes?”

Avner nodded.

“Good. Well, there should be another one now.”

Avner closed his eyes, squinting. There was a small pop, and Drake’s mouth suddenly fell open. Avner was visible right in front of him. Of course, to the rest of those in the room, nothing had changed at all.

“No! Not here, not now! What did I say!” shouted Drake.

Avner’s eyes wide popped open. “Sorry!” he apologized quickly, and then vanished.

Drake shuddered. “We’ve got to go now, before they get suspicious. Is everyone ready? Grab hands everyone. We should do this together.”

Invisible hands reached out and grabbed Drake as the Order of the Sanctuary, Meric, Chloe, Christopher and Avner formed a tight circle.

“Just follow my lead,” said Drake. At once, that tingling sensation began to ripple through Chloe, starting from her right hand, which was closest to Drake, and spreading throughout her body. The tug followed immediately after, and all of the sudden, it was over.

™                 ˜

~     ~     ~

Day 1™

Chloe gasped as they all released hands, feeling somewhat dizzy and disoriented. She had expected something a little more visually dramatic, but this feeling was quite enough. Small waves a nausea assaulted her as she tried to steady herself. She was able to steal a glance at the room, and noticed that the sun was entering from the opposite side of the room. It was now morning, albeit the morning of thirty days ago. The air was cooler, and a brisk breeze blew through the house.

Drake jumped into action immediately. “Alright, let’s get to work. I figure we have about an hour before my past self returns from the palace and the Order convenes again. Meric, Dredik, Urthrang – you’re in charge of giving these Humans a crash course in Daemon slaying. Use Slow Time if necessary. We need to get the them back to Ancient Terra as quickly as possible. The Daemons have a head start already. Ariahnis, Mahlon, Timor, Hirza – I need you to study the prophecy that we have been given and glean whatever information you can from it. Fortuna, Gli, Vulta and Lamanos – we’re going to need a new headquarters. We’ve spent too much time here during the last thirty days, and we can’t be seen or heard by our past selves. I’m going to head to the Watcher’s Tower and monitor the situation there. Blessings be upon you.”

“And also on you,” chanted the Faeries.

“Good luck,” threw in Avner. He didn’t sound nearly as confident.

The Order quickly dispersed. They were on the clock, and although they had thirty days to counteract the Daemon attack, everyone knew that the success of their plan might depend on how quickly they could mobilize right now.

“Drake, wait!” called out Urthrang Dwarf. “The Humans, how will they get to the Gate in time?”

Drake, who had been making for the front door didn’t even turn around. “Like a Faerie and a Daemon, combined into one!”

“Right,” said Urthrang to himself.

Thus it was the Humans found themselves in a matter of moments with only Meric the Dryad, the disgraced Keeper of the Gate, Urthrang the Dwarf, the experienced Captain of the Lantes Isle Legion, and Dredik the Werepanther, the fit and physically impressive Kingshadow.

Urthrang spoke first. “We should make the most of every minute. Slow time.”

Chloe effortlessly joined the Faerie, and Christopher wasn’t far behind. Avner, though, remained stuck in normal time until Chloe touched him and brought him along with her.

“I don’t get why I can’t do that!” he grumbled. Chloe gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, as if to say, ‘Don’t worry. I’m here with you.’

“Listen closely,” began Urthrang. “Every piece of knowledge that we can share with you could be key to defeating the Daemons. Commit every fact to memory, and dwell on it. Run through scenarios in your mind. Envision slaying a Daemon the ways we suggest. Keep in mind that you are the prey. They are the

hunters. They are intellectually and physically superior to you in every way. They are cunning, created to ruthlessly kill and devour all in their path. If you think you’ve outsmarted them and its too good to be true, it is. They will use you, manipulate you, double cross you, disorient you, distract you and destroy you. Do not underestimate them. Have I made myself clear!”

“Yes, sir,” they replied, assuming a ramrod straight military position.

“Good. Now…”

“Before you get started, sir,” interrupted Chloe, “I must ask: how does one kill a Daemon. With physical force, or with Magic?”

“Either. But seeing as you are not versed in the subtleties of Magic…”

“Sir, I apologize,” said Chloe, “but, like you said, we don’t have much time. If you’re going to teach me fighting techniques and weapons drills, there’s not much of a point, because I’ve seen those Daemons. There’s no way we could hope to survive a physical encounter with them.”

“How then do you expect to defeat the Daemons?” asked Meric. “Urthrang is right. Magicians study for years before they are able to combat the Daemons and hope to survive.”

“Not with Magic. With guns.” Chloe’s statement echoed through the room.

“Guns? What is guns?” inquired Dredik.

“What are guns,” replied Avner. “They’re a type of weapon that we’ve developed back on earth. They shoot bullets – small metal  projectiles – at incredible speeds with amazing accuracy. One could be hundreds of feet away and still instantly kill someone with a single shot.”

Dredik cocked an eyebrow. “Intriguing. And you have these guns?”

Avner looked back to Chloe, who nodded affirmatively. “Back at my house, we do. And even better, Christopher and I have plenty of experience hunting with them.”

Urthrang failed to keep his grim exterior as a smile managed to crack his typically military face. “This does indeed sound like an excellent plan. It requires no training and utilizes the strengths that you already possess.”

“Ain’t no Daemon gonna get away from me,” said Christopher. “Whada I aim fer if I wanna kill ‘em?”

Meric pointed to his head and his chest. “Here, and here. In most every way, Daemons and Faeries have very similar physical makeups to humans. Their skin is rather thick, though, especially on their abdomens where it turns into armor-like scales.”

“Jus’ like huntin’ grizzly. Looks like I’m gonna go shoot up some Daemon today,” grinned Christopher. He looked like he couldn’t wait to get the pursuit started.

Chloe, sensing his anticipation, knew it was time to go. “I think that’s all we need, then,” she said simply. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to stop the Daemons before they make it back here. I guess you’ll know after thirty days, right?”

“I’m sure that in thirty days, the hour will come and pass and we’ll be able to overthrow the King and set the Faerie Kingdom to rights once more,” said Urthrang. The confidence he felt was projected in his voice.

“I wish I could come with you,” said Meric, “if only to have the chance to seek vengeance on these Daemons that killed my fellow Keepers, but it seems I must pass that responsibility on to you.”

Chloe would have gladly taken Meric along, but she knew it was out of the question. This was a task for the three Humans alone.

“If there were anyway for you to come with us, Meric, we’d have you along in a heartbeat,” said Chloe. “But, I know it cannot be. We will seek vengeance on your behalf. Blessings be upon you all.”

“And also on you,” replied the Faerie.

Chloe’s heart began to pound inside her chest. Taking their hands in hers, she nodded to Avner. “Alright, boys, let’s Slip ‘n Slide.”

A moment later, the Humans vanished into thin air.

~     ~     ~

Meric, Urthrang and Dredik had spent about a minute gathering their belongings and were almost headed out the door when Drake burst in, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

“Drake!” called Urthrang, a hint of worry in his voice.

“The humans! Where are they! They can’t go…”

“You’re too late, they left, naught but a minute ago…”

A terrified look came over Drake’s face. “We’ve got to go! Now! Something terrible has happened… very terrible… the Fabric of Time, I got back to the Tower, and the Fabric of Time…”

“Take a breath, good Gnome!” said Dredik. “There you are, now what’s wrong?”

“The Fabric of Time… when I arrived back at the Tower, something amazing and unheard of had happened. The Fabric essentially looped back to the moment when all of us returned to the past.”

“And the problem is…” said Meric.

“The problem is that the last thirty days never happened! I mean, they happened in our minds, but physically, nothing got accomplished. It’s like we all, and I mean all – everyone in the Faerie Kingdom – just had a dream about the last thirty days of our lives. Don’t you understand! This means that the next thirty days haven’t happened already! We don’t know what’s going to occurr. We thought that we could just go back and live out those same thirty days, well, we were wrong. Nothing happened to us then, but now, well, who knows! We don’t know what’s going to happen! We don’t know what the King is going to do! Anything is possible now.”

Meric suddenly understood the danger they were all in. “The Humans. They could be walking into a trap. The Gate might not be unguarded”

“If I were the King, and my prisoners had just escaped, the first thing I would do would be to black off their one chance to get back to their world,” agreed Drake. “They would have been home free thirty days ago, but now, the King might have had just enough of a head start…”

“Then we must go rescue them!” shouted Meric.

“No! It’s too late! We must regroup and…”

A cry from the central hall stopped Urthrang midsentence.

“Meric! HELP!”

It was Chloe. They had made it back.

The Dryad rushed back to the hall, followed closely by Drake, Dredik and Urthrang. A very scared Chloe was supporting her injured brother, and Avner, standing a few feet away was in shock.

“Christopher’s been shot!” cried Chloe. An arrow was protruding from his side, buried nearly six inches into his abdomen. The boy was unresponsive and was rapidly bleeding out.

Drake approached the boy, the concern quite evident on his face. “We’ve got to get him to Fortuna quickly, or he will die.”

The uncomfortable situation didn’t evaporate after the prayer, either, as all the Faerie studied their guests, some with friendly glances, others like they were attempting to burn through a brick wall with their intensity. It took Chloe a second to realize that they were probably expecting her to speak. She coughed nervously.

“Well, now that all the fun is over, I suppose some introductions are in order… not that you probably don’t know who I am already, but, in any case, it can’t hurt.”

The Faeries’ reacted minimally to Chloe’s stammering attempt at a sentence. One sweet, older looking female smiled and gave a ‘Please, continue,’ motion. She didn’t have the chance.

“My, oh my, we are forgetting our manners, Drake! Introductions, indeed! Here, here we are, all of the Order gathered together, and the Humans know naught of names or anything! My apologies!” said the Gnome, bowing deeply.

“May I introduce the members of the Order of the Sanctuary!” Drake began to point them out, one by one, alternating female and male, oldest to youngest.

“Timor the Gnome – Keeper of Books for the splendid Library of Lantes, Ariahnis the Naiad – priest in the Temple, Fortuna the Were – herbalist and healer of maladies galore, Urthrang the Dwarf – highly decorated officer in the King’s Army, Hirza the Dwarf – learned scholar of Lantes, Gli the Troll – resident guide and mapmaker, Lamanos the Dryad – servant in the King’s court, Dredik the Were – member of the King’s personal guard, Vulta the Troll – daughter of a Zelka the Matriarch, yours truly, and Mahlon the Naiad – prophetess and daughter of Ariahnis.”

Chloe tried to pick up on all of the names, but she knew the chances were slim that she would be able to recall more than half of them in a few minutes. She did, however, focus on memorizing their faces, realizing it would be good to know her allies in this world in which danger and Daemons lurked at every corner.

“Right,” said Chloe. “First, let me say thank you for the hospitality you’ve shown to us, and for sheltering us from whatever’s out there. My name is Chloe Abbot. This is my younger brother, Christopher. We’re both from Gunnison, Colorado, part of the United States of America, on Earth. On Terra Firma, ancient Terra as you call it, I believe. Gunnison is a small town, up in the mountains. Mostly just ranchers and such in the area. Otherwise, nothing too exciting.”

Chloe paused and glanced at Avner. For some reason, she didn’t hesitate to introduce her younger brother, but she wasn’t sure if Avner would want to speak for himself or not. It didn’t help that she knew nothing about him, either. After he said nothing, Chloe continued.

“And this is Avner LeFay. He’s from the future.”

This statement caused a considerable stir amongst the order. “The future? As in, you two didn’t arrive at the same time?” asked Drake.

“No, we came here at the same time. Apparently, he left earth 80 years after we did. It was the year 1917 when we left, and…”

“1997 when I did,” concluded Avner.

“We met in the void between the worlds.”

“Ah, the first clue,” mumbled Drake. “Tell us everything you remember about arriving here, please. One little detail could be all we need to understand what is going on, and reveal just what our next move is,” Drake said. “We need to know why you’re here… there is purpose in each of the Master Weaver’s designs. You three Humans are here for a reason. It was no accident that brought you to the Faerie Kingdom.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting?” said Avner. “Because, it’s not. We’re still here, and we need to get back to our own world.”

“I agree, Avner LeFay,” replied Drake. “It is of the utmost importance that you get back to Ancient Terra as quickly as possible, for there are Daemons running amok on your planet as we speak. They must be stopped! But we Faerie have been banished from Ancient Terra for many ages. I’m afraid it will be up to you three to save your fellow humans, for you can be sure, the Daemons are just as eager to dine on Human souls now as they were in ages past, when we where the only defense you Humans had.”

“And you expect us to destroy these Daemons?” scoffed Avner.

“As I said before, young Human: You would not be here if there were not a divine purpose, for where there is a purpose, there is a plan, and where there is a plan, there is hope! We have faith in that purpose. It is up to us to discover the plan. Why don’t you bother with the hope.”

“Whatever,” said Avner, in a foul mood.

“Avner,” scolded Chloe, once again assuming her motherly voice.

“It is alright,” said Drake, hoping to ease the tension. “Come, we have much to discuss. Please, enlighten us on how you came to be here in the Kingdom? Every detail! I’m sure it is quite a tale.”

Chloe took a deep breath. “Christopher, feel free to add anything that I left out.” After taking a moment to think about where she would begin, she settled on her narrative’s course and dove in.

“My story begins with my older brother, Charlie. He was recently shipped overseas to fight in a war, a terrible war. Many nations of our Earth are fighting each other, and the casualties are heavy on all sides. I wanted to help, somehow, so I decided to sign up for the Red Cross as a nurse. It’s a volunteer organization that serves the wounded soldiers and civilians. My father said no, so I ran away at night. I’d gotten only a few miles from my house, up in the mountains of Colorado, when I heard wolf howls very close. They began to chase me, and I lost control of my horse. Somehow, I ended up on the ground… it was all a very dark blur… when Christopher my brother showed up. We were in a clearing, with a pool of water behind us, and a line of trees on either side, nestled down in a little valley. The wolves were still nearby, and Christopher and I found ourselves cornered and retreating towards the back of the valley. It was quite dark, but all of the sudden, the sky started to go pitch black, like the stars were getting shut off one by one, and everything disappeared. The ground, the sky, there was nothing. A complete void.”

Christopher interjected his own comment. “Did ya see the wolves? Right before the dark covered everythin’ completely, I coulda swore that I saw the wolves in the clearing, standing up on their two back legs… Maybe it’s nothin’, but it startled me.”

Drake raised an eyebrow. “I take it wolves in your world don’t stand up on two feet with any regularity?”

“Never,” replied Christopher.

“And did you see the wolves as well, Chloe?”

“No, I never saw them. But if Christopher says that’s what he saw, then I believe him.”

“Oh, I am not questioning the veracity of what he saw, by any means. Just seeking to understand the context of the situation. And the wolves never harmed you?”

Both Chloe and Christopher shook their heads.

“Hmmm…” mulled Drake, “I wonder… Dredik?”

The dark skinned man with bright green eyes and a sleek but powerful body stood up and took off his robe, revealing a well sculpted chest. His tightly braided strands of hair reached down to below his shoulders, bouncing lightly with his motions. There was a sudden blur, and then right before their eyes, Dredik was gone, and in his place, a coal black panther. Chloe and Christopher instinctually jumped up. Big cats were some of the fiercest predators in rancher country.

“It’s quite alright, I assure you. Please, be seated. Dredik is perfectly safe. To you, at least. See?”

The panther glided up to Chloe and nuzzled his head against her leg. A soft purr rumbled from his belly, and his tail twitched excitedly. Chloe braved a pat on the head, and seeing as she still had her hand, worked up the courage to rub his head behind his ears. The same green eyes peered back at her.

“Aw, he’s just a big kitten,” said Avner sweetly. He really meant no insult, but the Order cringed and Dredik tensed. The panther snarled, turned to face Avner and jumped through the air, his forepaws landing on Avner’s shoulders, shoving him and his chair to the ground.

Avner was too terrified to even shout. His breath began to come in ragged gasps as the large ‘kitten’ stared him down, teeth bared. Avner tried to wiggle free of the panther’s heavy paws, but the only result was getting pinned to the ground even more. Avner felt a sharp sting as the panther’s claws poked out.

“Dredik, that is enough,” scolded Fortuna, an older woman with dark hair and a large, beak like nose. The Panther backed off, and gave a final snarl for good measure.

Avner thought otherwise. The adrenaline was still coursing through his body. “I’m sorry, so sorry… didn’t mean too…”

The panther stood up on its two hind legs. Christopher nodded in recognition. Another blur, and Dredik was back in human form, robed and laughing with a deep, hearty chortle. “No offense taken, young human. Next time, however,” he said, voice laden with mock seriousness. He walked over to the Human lying on the ground and helped him back up.

Drake chuckled. “Well, now you’ve learned. Never insult a Were, especially in their animal form. They can be quite wild, you see. But no harm done.”

Christopher had watched the whole incident smugly. What a dadgum fool! Was what he thought, but what he actually said was, “Ya mean a Were can just change into any ol’ animal just like that?”

“Not quite,” said Dredik. “A Were, from a young age, identifies with one of his parent’s species and is limited to that animal for life. I am a Werepanther. Fortuna, here,” he said, gesturing towards the woman with the beak-like nose, “is a Werehawk. Over time, our Human features merge with our animal forms, such that one can, with enough practice, identify what animal a Were can shift into based on their Human form.”

“But you are not Humans?” asked Chloe.

“We are not,” replied Fortuna

“So, ya reckon what I saw wasn’t wolves…”

“…but Werewolves!” finished a still shaken Avner.

“You know of Weres on Earth?” inquired Dredik.

“No, but of Werewolves, we have many stories,” replied Avner. “They are men who, in the light of the full moon, transform against their will into vicious, ravenous wolves and terrorize any and all to be found. They’re usually part of horror stories. Just fairy tales, though.”

Dredik laughed again. “Fairy tales?”

Chloe quickly explained. “On Earth, fairies are just imaginary creatures, usually tiny little people with wings on their back. We call any story that has to do with mythical creatures a ‘fairy tale’. It seems, though, that much of our make-believe is based on what was once real.”

“I see. You Humans have strange ways of twisting the truth over time,” said Dredik.

“Drake, is that even possible?” asked Urthrang, getting back to the issue at hand. “The Faerie were purged from Ancient Terra in the Great Flood. There’s no way there could be any Werewolves on Ancient Terra…”

“That’s it!” interrupted Chloe. “Noah’s flood! That’s what we call it. According to the story, Noah was warned of the coming flood, and he built a boat, an ark, so large that it held Noah, his wife and the rest of his family, and two of every animal. What if two Werewolves were really onboard that ark? And they’re descendants have survived all these years?”

“I suppose that is a plausible theory,” acknowledged Drake. “Although I’m not entirely sure why two Weres would do such a thing.”

“Chloe, if them two wolves were Weres, do ya think they meant fer us to end up in that valley?”

A look of understanding dawned on Chloe’s face. “We were herded, Christopher. They knew. That’s why they didn’t attack. They were just pushing us back, into the Gate. It wasn’t an accident. They wanted us to come here.”

“A mirror image,” said Drake. “While someone on our end has been scheming to get the Daemons to Ancient Terra, someone in your world was trying to get Humans here.”

“Do they know something, then?” asked Avner. “Something that we don’t? How would they even know to send Humans through the gate, unless it was just some sick experiment.”

“No, they wouldn’t use Humans like that. You were, you are, our greatest treasure and our highest calling is to protect you.”

“Huh. Some kind of protection,” retorted Avner. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this hasn’t been the best tour of a foreign country I’ve ever been on.”

“I didn’t say ‘most enjoyable’, young Human. But you would not be here were there not a good reason.”

“Besides, the Werewolves had nothing to do with you getting here, Avner,” spoke up Chloe.

“What do you mean?” inquired Drake.

“It was me. I told Avner how to get here. Go on, tell them about the letter, Avner.” Chloe gave Avner a half hearted wave.

Avner dug around in the pocket of his jeans. “I got this in the mail earlier today, back on Earth.” Avner got up and walked the letter over to Drake. “Apparently, it was written in 1947, fifty years before I got it. It’s written with her handwriting, and it has her signature,” said Avner, pointing towards Chloe. “Somehow, she knew everything, my name, when I was going to get the letter, what I was wearing, everything.”

Drake was puzzled. “I can’t read this, I’m sorry. The symbols, they are foreign to me.”

Avner was taken aback. “Wait, but we’re talking to each other. I… I never realized how weird it is that we can understand eachother. I mean, English isn’t exactly an old language…”

“English?” Drake was confused.

“Yeah, it’s what we’re speaking now.”

“No we are not. We are talking to each other in the Faerie Tongue. You are speaking to me in the language of the Faerie.”

“No, I’m not!” replied an incredulous Avner. “I don’t know any other languages. Just English. That’s it. No Spanish, no French, no Greek, no Faerie. Just English.”

“Hold it!” cried Chloe. “Let’s do a test. Drake, do you have some writing in Faerie that we could look at?”

“Not on me, why?”

“Lamanos, do you?” said Chloe, rolling her eyes.

“Indeed, one moment,” replied the graceful Dryad. She got up, and returned a few moments later with a parchment which she unrolled and handed to Chloe. “This is some poetry that I have written. It is nothing much, but it is writing.”

It took Chloe only an instant to confirm her suspicion. “Look, Avner, these symbols don’t mean anything to me either. Somehow, even though we can all speak the same language, our writing is different. Our mind somehow might have made the switch, but it can’t change anything physically – the ink strokes on the paper are only that. The words in our minds, however, those are more abstract.”

“But how?” asked Avner.

Chloe shrugged. “I can’t tell you that. I can only tell what I see. For now, let’s just be grateful that we can communicate at all.”

“Bruuum! You say that there are more than one language back on Ancient Terra?” asked Hirza the She-Dwarf. Chloe smiled at the familiar rumbles that Bruk had made when speaking with her.

“Thousands!” replied Avner. “And you mean there’s only one language here?”

“Fascinating!” said Hirza. “For the most part, we all speak Faerie. We Dwarves have a non-spoken form of communication called Hammenarrus, the trolls their own tribal dialects, the Weres can speak with their species in their animal tongue, the Dryads with the winds, etcetera. But, the one language that we all share is the Faerie tongue.”

“And I’m speaking it to you right now?” said Avner.

“Right now.”

“Weird.”

Drake coughed. “Ahem. Well, now that that’s out of the way, would you mind enlightening me with the contents of the letter?”

Avner took the letter back from Drake, and began to read it out loud. It still sounded preposterous, and yet, here he was. The Order listened intently, clearly as fascinated by the letter as he was disturbed. After its conclusion, he folded the letter and returned it to his pocket.

“So I did exactly what the letter said. I followed the path to the clearing, and the stone was there, just like the letter promised. I found myself almost pulled towards it, like a magnet, and…” Avner paused and glanced at Chloe. She knew what happened next. But he couldn’t tell the rest of them. Not yet.

“… and in a few seconds, the world disappeared and I was in the same void as Chloe and Christopher.”

“That is remarkable, indeed,” said Drake. “It seems there are a few clues here as well. First, Avner, again, your being here is no accident. Clearly, the Chloe of the future knows that you are meant to be here. So, me must trust her judgment and hope it to be excellent. Second, Chloe, it would seem likely that you, at the very least, are able to return home to write this letter. Third, and perhaps most importantly, is the detail about the black stone in the middle of the ruins. That explains why you, Avner, have met up with Christopher and Chloe in spite of the eighty years separating your existences.”

The three Humans looked at each other, confused and wondering if they were missing something that they should have known.

“Please, we don’t follow your meaning,” said Chloe.

“Ah, but of course,” said Drake. “Forgive me, there is much I forget that you do not know yet. Hirza, will you care to share a brief history with the Humans on the Gates?”

“Certainly,” replied the She-Dwarf.

“Hirza is our resident scholar and historian,” commented Drake. “She knows these stories better than anyone alive.”

Hirza rose from her seat and stood in the middle of the room, facing the Humans. She was shorter than Chloe, going up to about Chloe’s shoulders, but quite stocky and sturdy. Neither a beautiful creature nor homely, she was more akin to a short, jolly grandmotherly person than anything else. Her hair was grey, probably quite long, but rolled up into a tight bun in back. When she spoke, her voice was clear and full of authority and wisdom. The Humans listened, enthralled.

“In that time when the Faerie still lived on Ancient Terra, there came an age, after generations of war, when we finally dwelt in relative peace, for the Daemons had been eradicated for the most part, and the land freed from the blight of their existence. Yet, in spite of the apparent serenity, a much more dire threat was about to strike the Faerie. The Faerie King, a Sylph – a Faerie of the air – had two twin sons, and through perhaps the most costly innocent mistake in our past, it was never known which was the older of the two. This led to much strife and discord between the brothers which naturally spread to the Kingdom. It seems that, having no enemy, we turned upon ourselves. In our moment of vulnerability, the Great Deceiver came to each of the brothers, disguised as a fair counselor. Warned of the other brother’s betrayal, the Great Deceiver persuaded each of the brothers to build a secret weapon that would turn the tide of battle. Sharrah, the brother of the South, constructed a Gate of pure alabaster, the Gate of Space. The Faerie who passed through it were given the ability to manipulate Space. Sharrah quickly assembled an army and marched both on the King on Lantes Isle, and his brother Ashmiel in the North. Ashmiel’s own gate of obsidian was ready for use, and he too hurriedly formed an army, this one with the ability to manipulate Time. However, Sharrah was betrayed by the Great Deceiver in the end, and upon attacking his brother and the King, became a Daemon himself, along with every single Faerie who pledged allegiance to him. The true Faerie were undone and overwhelmed, and would have been destroyed utterly, had not the Almighty Judge intervened. The faithful Faerie on Lantes Isle, this very isle which you are now on, survived the deluge, as did the Daemons. The Sylphs, however, were never to be seen or heard from again. And now, we, the children of those Faerie, have inherited their gift and ability to manipulate Time, while the spawn of the traitors remain able to manipulate Space. We have been at war ever since – nearly ten thousand years of uninterrupted strife.”

Hirza resumed her seat. The stillness in the room that followed was so deep, one could hear the crackle of the candlelight. Clearly this was a dark part of the Faerie history. Each of the Faerie were lost in thought, pondering the burden and guilt that had been passed down from generation to generation. The Humans could see the pain etched on their faces, as if they themselves had been the traitors and taken part in the rebellion. The trio sat in respectful silence, and mulled over what part they would have in the epic history between these two divergent kingdoms. For the most part, they prayed it would be very little. Whatever was necessary to get them home, that was all. This was a struggle too big for them. It even seemed to be too big for the Faeries to handle.

The old but hale looking Gnome called Timor broke the silence. Her voice echoed the weariness of a faithful servant who saw no end in sight, and yet clung to the hope that sustained her. “May the Granter of Mercy ever find us faithful, even in these darkest of days.”

“May we ever be faithful,” echoed the Faerie.

Chloe felt a strong compulsion to repeat the phrase too, but resisted, feeling that it might be out of place, or that she would be unwelcome to partake in the Faerie custom. In the holiness of the situation, she could hear her small, weak, trembling voice repeating the words, only to have it come out as some laughable, trite phrase, rather than the sincere plea that burst forth from the Faeries’ mouths. She sighed deeply, both ashamed that she had lost the opportunity to join with them, and that she had even considered herself worthy to offer up a prayer half so meaningful.

Avner was the first to speak following the fair. “So, that explains the time difference, I guess,”

“It does?” questioned Christopher.

“Think about it. The black stone I was sitting on must have come from the Gate of Time. That stone brought me back to 1917, to the moment that you and Chloe were in the clearing. I was in the right place, somebody just had to make sure I made it to the right time, so they grabbed a stone from the Gate of Time and placed it there. And I’d be willing to bet it was you who moved it or should I say, who’s going to move it there.”

“I concur,” said Drake. “It all fits. This is, indeed, how all three of the Humans came to be in the Kingdom. But, there is more to your story, I suspect? What of this void between the worlds? And of your time here, in the Faerie Kingdom?”

Chloe picked up the story where she had left off. “So, there Christopher and I were. We hadn’t moved an inch, but everything around us had disappeared. It was dark, but not cold, and very quiet. A mist began to swirl The very sound of our breathing seemed out of place. Then, one by one, the stars came out, all around us, in front, behind, above and below. Some were so near, it seemed we could have reached out and touched them, although I think it would have been improper to do so. It wasn’t long until Avner appeared, although we had no idea who he was or what he was doing. Still, he knew my name.

“After that, we could start to make out shapes – the pool of water, trees, and at the far end, the Gate. That was where the Daemons appeared from, their red eyes glowing evilly in the starry void. We were terrified. Our bodies refused to move. They passed us by, staring at us, but they did not attack. One reached out a fearsome claw and plucked up a star, and squeezed it until it exploded. I felt in that moment that a worse crime had never been committed. Then, the Daemons were gone, into the darkness.         “While we were still unmoving, two more bodies came out of the darkness, not from the Gate, but from the void beyond the Gate. It was myself, and Avner, although we looked quite different. We were dressed in different clothes. Medieval clothes, not that you would know what that would mean. And I just felt different. More… confident… more competent. The other me walked up to me and simply placed a hand on my shoulder. That was all. Then they too left and disappeared, the same way the Daemons had. There were a few moments of stillness, and then the Gate began to pull us towards it. It was like we were attached to ropes and being dragged along, utterly helpless, unable to fight back. The pool rushed by, the trees, and then, with a final pull, we were through the Gate. I don’t remember anything after that. I blacked out.”

“Me too,”  agreed Avner.

“I remember feelin’ that odd tug the moment I was through the gate, but that was all. Musta fainted,” added Christopher.

“The flux,” stated Drake. “That’s what we call it. What happened next?”

“Well,” continued Chloe, “I regained consciousness at some point, when I was flying on the back of a rather large bird. There was a Troll flying it in front of me. The view was amazing, if not a little terrifying. The Troll’s name was Bruk. We had a hard time understanding each other. He seemed to think I was a Faerie, and I of course, had no idea what was happening. Soon we approached Lantes Isle, and upon landing, the Watchers were all killed by the palace guard. That didn’t make me feel any better, but we were escorted to the Palace, and that’s when I saw you for the first time, Drake.”

“Right,” said Drake. “Now, the King. Would you please describe him for the Order?”

“Sure,” said Chloe. “He was dark. Not handsome by any means…”

“He was downright hideous,” interrupted Avner. “Wrapped in shadow and cloaked in evil. He didn’t feel the same as the Daemons in the void did, but there was a hint of it. And his eyes. Blood red, glowing, and vicious.”

Drake nodded. “I see. But, none of you said anything.”

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. “We didn’t see any of the Faerie reacting, so… wait. You mean that he doesn’t look like that to you?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Drake.

“But you said he is a Daemon?”

“He is. However, he has disguised it from us. Apparently, to all Faerie, he appears as one of us. You three, on the other hand, could see through the disguise. That is what tipped me off.”

Chloe squinted her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Since your arrival on Summus Terra, I have had visions. They come to me unexpectedly, and I find myself looking through your eyes. I believe it is related to my new position as Mender in the Tower of Time, but that is another tale for another day. The first vision I saw was through you, Christopher, when you were on your way to Lantes. The second time was in the palace, right before you left, Chloe. I saw the King through your eyes, and that’s when I knew that we were all in grave danger.”

“So,” said Avner, “our pilots weren’t possessed by Daemons, where they?”

“They were not,” replied Drake. A shadow passed over his face.

“And the other Faerie in the palace, the one who disappeared?” asked Chloe.

“The Chief. He had a lock placed on his soul. He too was innocent. And I fear that he will not be the last.”

“Drake, what did you mean when you said it had been thirty days?” asked Chloe, changing the subject.

“In the City, when I found you Humans and Meric? Just that. We’ve been looking for you for thirty days. That’s how long it’s been since the morning we met at the Palace.”

“But… but…” stammered Chloe. “That’s not possible!”

“It’s not even been a complete day,” chimed in Avner. “We were escorted to a nearby cottage, where we spent the morning, before the guards came in and dragged us off to a jail cell. We were unconscious for a time, but not thirty days! Not even one day!”

Drake and the Order seemed as puzzled as the Humans. They were sitting, pondering what possibly could have happened, when Meric spoke.

“The dungeon. We were being held in fast time. The King meant for an entire day to pass without the Humans getting worried. In the meantime, he would be free to continue with whatever plan he had concocted.”

“You mean that while we thought it was still the same day, outside, thirty days just whizzed by?” said a disturbed Avner. “Great. Thirty days of my life, gone! Just like that! In jail, too…”

“Actually,” said Ariahnis, “to your body, only one day has passed. Your life has not lost any of its length, simply by being held in fast time. Think of your life like a set number of heartbeats. In fast time, slow time, normal time, it matters not – your heart still beats at the same rate.”

Avner wasn’t reassured. “Yeah, well, I think my heart rate has been accelerated from the moment I’ve gotten here. That’s not going to help any.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. Really, Avner could be rudely pessimistic. “So, you’ve been looking for us for the last thirty days then? But why?”

“Because,” said Drake, “your lives were in danger. And because we believe that you three Humans were sent here to help us fulfill our purpose: to defend the true Faerie Kingdom in its darkest hour. We know what you can do.”

“Now, Drake, don’t scare them! They’re just children,” reprimanded Timor, the elderly Gnome.

“They may be young,” agreed Drake, “but they have abilities that none other on Summus Terra have. Am I right?”

The Humans stared back at Drake, unblinking.

“Time and Space. Like a Faerie and a Daemon in one.”

In the instant that followed, before any of the Humans could respond, there came a startling noise that broke the tension. Mahlon, the young female Naiad that had been sitting directly next to Avner and who had hitherto not spoken a single word, suddenly lurched out of her seat and fell prostrate on the floor, giving a brief cry, not of agony, but more of surprise.

“Mahlon!” cried Ariahnis, her father as he jumped out of his seat to his daughter’s side. She placed a hand on his knee and squeezed it gently.

“It is alright, father… I…”

Mahlon quickly picked herself up off the ground, stood up straight and spread her arms wide. A bright light burst out of her eyes, white and hot, and her long hair began to whip about her face and behind her.

Hirza sprang into action, grabbing the parchment on which Lamanos’s poems had been written and pulling out a quill pen from within her robe. Her face was taut with concentration. Except for her, the rest of the order got off their chairs and kneeled on both knees, head bowed and hands clasped.

When a violent tingling sensation washed over Chloe, she figured it wouldn’t be a bad thing to do so as well and motioned to the two boys. They didn’t need to be told twice, joining her in an instant. Something holy and dangerous had just entered the room, a presence altogether powerful and intimidating and so beyond Chloe’s understanding that she could only bow in awe.

Mahlon opened her mouth to speak, and the voice that sprang forth was unlike anything Chloe had ever heard: deep, rich and more alive than life itself. This voice was the fountainhead of life, ageless, immortal, eternal and infinite. The words that were spoken didn’t merely ring out, echo and dissipate into the air but became embodied and existent and creative. What was spoken, became.

“Faithful servants, you have done well. Now, the final test is upon you, for behold, the end of all that you know is come. Yet I have provided a way unto Sanctuary. And now, behold, you shall not only find a means of salvation for the Remnant, but you shall prepare the way for the reunion of all the Peoples of Terra, under one heaven. This is how it shall come to pass: the Three Children of the Inheritance shall pursue and destroy the Three Hunters; the Lost races shall return and save the Rescued; the moment of your victory shall turn to defeat; and this cursed ground shall be abandoned to the faithless. Hear the word of the Master Weaver of all Time and Space: the absolute destruction of Evil is at hand, and the Life I have promised shall begin!”

With that, Mahlon fell to the ground, sprawled out. She groaned and sat up, a wild expression in her eyes. “They’re coming. I have seen a vision of the future. They will be here in an hour!”

“Who, Mahlon? Who?” urged Drake.

“The Daemons. Legions of them. They will return through the Faerie Gate in one hour!

“Unless we can stop them,” growled Dredik.

The Three Children of the Inheritance, thought Chloe, feeling a grim determination well up within her. She knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had a role to play in this war. The Voice had decreed it so. She would embrace it. That’s us. Christopher, Avner and Me. We’re goin’ to stop those Daemons dead in their tracks.

“And so we shall,” said Chloe.

“Something’s not right!” hissed Avner. “This hallway doesn’t end!”

He scratched a mark in the door nearest to them. The deep gouge stayed in place for a second, and then disappeared. The door remained exactly the same as it had been just before.

“Not good,” said Chloe.

Christopher was studying the walls, tracing his hand along it. “It bends,” he said. “We’re in a circle.”

“There’s no way out?” asked Chloe.

“There has to be. We got down here, we can get out. It’s just got to be behind one of these doors.”

“But they all look the same! And we can’t mark them off either.”

“How about a bread crumb trail?” asked Avner.

“With what? No bread here!” replied Christopher.

“No. I was thinking more of… Chloe’s hair?” He said this with much trepidation, unsure whether or not Chloe would be willing to part with some clippings.

“Good idea, Avner,” said Chloe. Avner flicked open a small set of scissors and trimmed a lock off. It fell to the floor, and then, just as the scratch on the door had, it disappeared entirely.

“Well, there goes that one,” said Christopher.

“No haircut for me.”

“Alright, well, let’s keep walking, at least,” said Avner.

They had only taken a few more paces when a voice cried out.

“Humans? Chloe? Christopher? Avner?”

The humans were startled. Where had the voice come from? And did they dare reply to it? The three humans looked at each other nervously.

“It’s Meric, the Dryad… Is anyone out there?”

Chloe’s eyes spread wide. Meric? What was he doing here?

“Meric! It’s Chloe. Where are you?”

“Over here!” came the reply. Ahead of them.

“Are you out of your mind!” hissed Avner.

“Look, we’re not making any progress. Besides, I think we can trust him.”

“You think, huh? I need to know! So far, there haven’t been too many Faeries who’ve turned out to deserve my faith.”

Chloe thought hard for a moment. She remembered his eyes, felt a flutter in her stomach, and that was enough. “Alright, I know we can trust him. He’s as much in the dark about what’s going on as we are. Besides, we’re going to need some help once we get out there.”

Avner nodded.

“Meric, keep talking. We’re coming to get you.”

“Praise the Holy One! What’s going on? Why are you here? I thought the King was going to send you back through the gate!”

The Humans were running towards the source of the sound. Christopher stopped short. “Avner! I feel something! Right here, in front of this door. I can slide again!”

“That’s our exit! Stay there, Christopher.”

Chloe and Christopher continued to dash towards the source of the voice, finally arriving at the door from which Meric’s voice came. Avner hastily picked the lock, and swung open the door.

The Dryad appeared to be in terrible shape, bruised all over, and several cuts on his face and arms. Chloe looked him in the eye, and felt the same sudden throb as the first time.

“Time to go,” said Avner, helping the Dryad up.

“Thank you, Humans. Something is very amiss in the Kingdom, I sense.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more,” said Avner. “But no time for that now, we’ve got to get out of here. Can you move?”

“Yes, I think so,” replied Meric.

“Let’s roll,” said Avner. Chloe thought that was the strangest thing the boy from the future had said yet.

The Dryad and the two humans dashed back to Christopher. He was standing impatiently at the door. “Quick, throw me the pocketknife,” he called while they were still at a distance.

“Don’t need to!” shouted Avner. “Could you slide now?”

“”Yes!” came the reply.

“Alright, Chloe, you’re with you’re brother. Meric, hold on tight.”

When they had all arrived at the door, Avner spoke. “Christopher, we’re going to the clearing next to the tower, where we landed.”

“Right!”

“Are you sure about this?” asked Chloe.

“No!” shouted Avner.

“What’s going on?” Meric was tense.

“Just hold on! Now, Christopher!”

With a sudden rush, they were off, flying through space – through the ceiling, through a couple hundred feet of earth and then through another few ceilings. They had been deep underground, a dungeon that nobody was ever meant to escape. Of course, the dungeon hadn’t been designed to keep space sliders in.

They came to a screeching halt instants later, standing on the cobblestone path in the middle of the clearing. Chloe panted heavily. Meric looked sick.

“I love that!” said Christopher grinning.

“No time for that now!” said Avner. “Meric, we need to hide, get somewhere safe!”

“Follow me…” said Meric. Chloe didn’t think he was in any condition to lead anyone more than a few feet. It turned out to not matter at all. Someone brushed her shoulder, and she instantly slipped into slow time.

The world froze all around her. Chloe spun to see who had touched her.

“Drake?” It was the Gnome that had been in the palace with them.

“Yes, its me. Where have you been! Never mind, hurry, there’s no time. You are all in grave danger. We’ve been looking for you for almost thirty days! The King is really a Daemon, and he does not intend on letting you return home. But we’re going to get you there!”

“Thirty days?” Chloe was incredulous. “A Daemon? Who’s ‘we’?”

“Not now! No time! Do you trust me?”

Chloe had to make a split second decision. She prayed it was the right one. “Yes,” she said.

“Good. Now, touch the rest, bring them into Slow Time with you. We have to get you to the safe-haven that we’ve prepared.”

Chloe nodded, and touched the her brother and Avner, while Drake touched Meric.

The boys were confused again. “No time,” she hissed. “Just trust me again. Drake is going to take us to a place of safety. Follow him.”

“This way!” And Drake was off and running, with the Humans and Meric behind him. The short Gnomes wiry legs pitter pattered against the earth, kicking up little dust clouds. Chloe thought the whole experience was rather eerie, dashing by people and objects frozen in time. As they wound their way through the city, every once and a while, she saw a Faerie moving very slowly, and she wondered if they too were in a faster Slow Time. Once she even saw a Troll moving quickly enough, she figured they must be near the same Time. But the Troll didn’t look like he posed a threat. He merely glanced at the party and continued on his way.

They wound through the streets of the city, in and out of alleys, across bustling roads full of unmoving people and even through some buildings.

Chloe couldn’t sense anyone chasing them, but the urgency was the same. She felt hunted, like a rabbit evading the predator, scurrying around from cover to cover, doing her best to stay hidden and untrackable.

A few blocks later, Drake ducked into a courtyard and dashed inside the open doorway. Chloe felt quite winded as she followed and screeched to a halt, nearly running into Drake. He was in a room of many other Faerie. Chloe quickly counted ten others in the room. Trolls, another Gnome, a Dryad… Several other races were represented that she didn’t recognize.

When they had all gathered in the room, mostly still out of breath from the run, Drake spoke.

“Meric, Humans, we have little time. May I introduce the Order of the Sanctuary. We are a secret Order, charged with protecting the Kingdom from any threat, most specifically from a threat that was foreseen some 2000 years ago, namely the betrayal of the Kingdom by its King. That time has now come, as the King, our King, has been revealed to be a Daemon. Humans, you can confirm this?”

“I… I believe so,” said Chloe.

“Can you be sure? What color were his eyes?” asked one of older females with beady eyes and feathers in her hair.

“Red, blood red.”

“It is true then,” continued Drake. “The vision I saw through Chloe’s eyes was accurate. Humans, we vow to do all within our means to safely return you to your world. But know that you are hunted creatures. Your very existence is a threat to the False King. He is coming for you. Before he was content with imprisoning you until his plan was over, but now you must die. I ask you once again, Humans. Will you trust us?”

The three Humans looked at each other. Although they had very limited options, they were still indecisive.

Drake tapped his foot. “I’m sorry, but there is no time. What is your choice?”

Avner and Christopher both looked to Chloe. It was her call. “I’ve trusted you this far, I can do no less.”

“Good. Now, if you want to survive, I’m going to have to kill you first. But…” he raised a hand to calm the Humans. “Don’t worry, it’ll only be momentary, and then you’ll be back good as new before you know it, and your chances of making it back to Terra Firma will be much greater. I’ll see you in  a moment… Well, actually I won’t… Ariahnis here will explain everything to you. Farewell, Humans, and blessings be on you!” And then Drake was gone.

Now that they were in a room of complete strangers, Chloe felt much less secure. There was something in the little Gnome’s full-steam-ahead approach that told her she was safe. Now, not so much.

“Humans, you are most welcome here. I am Ariahnis, Priest of the Most High. I must say, your timing, while certainly it strained our sanity, is impeccable.” The fluidity of the man’s voice was calming.

Avner however was practically clawing at Chloe’s arm. “Kill us? What did he mean?”

“It’s alright, son. Avner is it? Drake is heading back to the Tower of Time. Once there, he is going to perform surgery on your lifethread. He is going to cut it, actually all of ours, and attach some very special strands in their places. Strands, that, when in place, will render us invisible to the rest of the Kingdom, unless we should choose to reveal ourselves, and unable to be tracked on the Fabric of Time, again, unless we choose to reveal ourselves. Quite harmless, I assure you, and one hundred percent pain free.”

Avner didn’t seem appeased. “It’ll be ok, Avner,” whispered Chloe.

“You must be thirsty, may I get you something to drink?” asked a gorgeous young female that Chloe assumed was a Dryad.

“Please,” Chloe replied, in awe of the lovely creature’s face.

“We’re going to die, and you’re worried about being thirsty?” said Avner.

“Avner, it will be alright. I’ll be right here. Now, have a drink,” Chloe said.

Avner grabbed a goblet from off the tray that was offered. The water was sweet and pure, cold and refreshing like water straight from a fresh spring in the mountains. It calmed his crazily beating heart, and he took a few deep breaths.

No sooner had he finished the water than the Faerie around him began to fall to the ground, completely limp, and disappear from his sight, all in a matter of seconds. Then Chloe and Christopher right next to him. The next instant, he felt a little snap and fell to the ground, quite dead.

~     ~     ~™        ˜

“Ya know what,” said Christopher groggily, “I really hate this whole wakin’ up in a different place than I remember last thing.”

Christopher was lying on a bed, face up.

“I know what you mean,” said Chloe.

“Better than not waking up at all, I suppose,” replied Avner.

“There is that to be grateful for.” Chloe, only a little dizzy, and certainly not the worst she’d felt yet here on Summus Terra, hopped off her bed onto the ground. She’d taken only a couple of steps when the gorgeous Dryad walked in.

“Oh, good, you’re all awake. We were beginning to wonder how long it would take for you Humans. None the worse, though, right? And my name is Lamanos. This is my home. Consider yourselves very welcome guests.”

Avner and Christopher couldn’t speak, overwhelmed by the Dryad’s beauty. Chloe too, found it difficult to say something. She’d never thought of herself as anything less than average in appearance by any means, but in comparison to this creature, she felt like she had all of the attractive features of a potato sack.

Lamanos was tall and shapely, and her movements were the epitome of elegance. Her long, straight hair was a golden amber and hung loosely below her shoulders. The smile on her face projected such joy into the room that Chloe could have sworn the sun beams danced. On top of her head rested a graceful circlet of branches, of which the bark was white and papery.

“You’re the Dryad of an aspen tree, aren’t you,” was all that Chloe could manage.

“I am a Dryadess of an aspen tree, yes! These trees are back on your Terra?”

Chloe loved the way her voice sparkled. She couldn’t help but smile. “They are. Aspen’s are my favorite, especially in Autumn, when the mountainside is covered in their golden foliage… is that why your hair is…?”

Lamanos nodded. “Indeed. A Dryad or Dryadess’s hair color always matches the season of their home tree. It is now the middle of the Ebbing Season. You will see many Dryads with their red and orange and golden hair. Please, you mentioned Autumn, where is this place with its groves of Aspens?”

“Oh,” said Chloe, “It is not a place, it’s merely our name for the season when the harvests are held, and the trees begin to color and drop their leaves… Wait! What happens in winter to your hair! I mean, the season after Ebbing?”

“In Deeping Season? Why, it merely turns white, or black as the case may be for some. Unless you are the Dryad of an evergreen. They tend to not have seasonal changes.”

“Thank goodness, I was afraid…” Chloe felt embarrassed to say what she was thinking. “I was afraid your hair would actually fall out.”

Lamanos’ joyous laughter filled the air. “Oh, dear Child, you do make me feel quite full of life in these dark times.”

Being called a ‘child’ by Lamanos stung Chloe. The Dryadess didn’t appear to be any older than her mid twenty’s.

“But come now,” Lamanos continued, “It is time for the Order of the Sanctuary to convene, and you, all three of you, are summoned. I’m sure you have many questions for us, as we do you. Come now!”

Avner and Christopher followed like obedient puppies. After a short walk down a hallway and down a wide, curving staircase, they arrived in the main hall of the house where thirty days ago Drake had first delivered the news of the Humans arrival on Summus Terra.

Chloe hadn’t noticed Lamanos’s outfit before, but now she saw that she was wearing the same crimson colored robe that nearly all of the other Faerie in the room wore as well. The only exception was Meric, who hadn’t changed yet from the military outfit Chloe had first seen him in. Seeing the Dryad brought back that heartbeat-skipping, blush-inducing feeling, and as much as Chloe wanted to look away and make it stop, she couldn’t. Her eyes were locked on him, begging for a glimpse into those deep, beautiful pools.

Not even a glance. Meric’s gaze was devoted solely to the other female walking into the room. Chloe felt a trickle of jealousy course through her veins, which she instantly regretted. Come on, now, Chloe Abbot. His eyes don’t belong to you. He can share ‘em with whoever he wants. Just wish he’d share ‘em with me too… she added as an afterthought.

The Faerie were all seated as they entered, but Drake the Gnome rose and greeted them. “Humans, welcome to this meeting of the Order of the Sanctuary. We have much to discuss and learn from each other. I see you came through the operation quite alright?”

Chloe nodded, unsure of her role in this foreign setting.

“Good. Well then, please, be seated, and let us begin by offering up a word of thanks to our Maker.”

“Chloe, exactly what’s goin’ on?”

“One minute, Christopher, that’s all I want…”

“No, Chloe. We need t’ talk. Now.”

With a sigh, Chloe opened her eyes. “You’re right, I suppose.” Chloe rubbed her eyes, and then stretched out. Christopher was still standing, arms crossed. The other boy who called himself Avner, had taken a seat on a tall stool, a blank expression on his face. His legs dangled down, not quite long enough to touch his toes to the ground.

“Now, what the heck is goin’ on?” asked Christopher again, this time with more of an edge to his voice.

“Christopher Abbot! You will watch your language!” Chloe scolded, assuming her most motherly tone, glancing over at Avner. No reaction from him.

“Well?” pushed Christopher.

“Haven’t you figured this out yet?” replied Chloe.

“Why don’t you spell it out for me. You seem t’ have caught on quicker than either of us.”

“Well, I had help, I’ll admit it. Bruk and I talked before we landed… before he was…”

“Killed?” finished Christopher. Avner shuddered. Chloe merely nodded, the sight of the arrow hitting his body still fresh in her mind.

Christopher, noticing his sister’s pause, offered what he thought was a word of encouragement. “Chloe, its alright. The King said that he was possessed. Whatever that means…”

Chloe nodded again. “Possessed. By a Daemon. I know that’s what the King said, Christopher, but… I don’t know. It just didn’t feel right. Anyways, you want to know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

Chloe paused to gather her thoughts. She hoped Christopher would take this well. “We are… on another world – Summus Terra is what the Faeries call it.” Her brother didn’t even bat an eye, so she continued. “We were apparently brought here when Three Daemons walked through a Gate on Summus Terra. The Daemons passed us, remember, in the starry darkness, before we woke up in this world? I think there must be a Gate like theirs back on earth, or at least the remnants of a Gate, in the valley where we were cornered by the wolves. When the Daemons entered the Gate on Summus Terra, they opened a portal between our two worlds. The Daemons got taken to Terra Firma… I mean, Earth, and we got taken to the Faerie Kingdom.”

“Right… Faeries? Daemons? What is this, some kind of storybook world?”

Chloe shrugged. “Apparently. Trolls, Gnomes, Dryads, they’re all here.”

Christopher shook his head vigorously. “I must be dreamin’. I don’t believe it.”

“You’re not dreaming, Christopher. This is real. I’m real, and you’re not going to wake up. Think about it! The Faeries and Daemons used to live on our planet! The fairy tales we used to read are inspired from real, live, actual creatures!”

“And what happened to them on Earth?” asked Christopher pessimistically.

“Bruk said that there was a war, and God, or, at least, I’m going to call him God, stepped in and said that enough was enough. The flood wiped them all out, except for a few faithful Faerie, who were brought here.”

“Huh.” Christopher seemed unconvinced.

“In any case, it seems we’ve arrived at a bad time for the Faeries. But, the King said he’ll get us home as soon as he possibly can. He’ll take us back to the Gate, and just like that, we’ll be back in Colorado.”

“I don’t trust the King,” said Christopher. “Did ya see his eyes? He looked like…”

“Like a Daemon. I know.”

Chloe and Christopher Abbot turned their heads. Avner had spoken for only the third time, and first since they had been shown to this quaint little cottage near the palace.

Avner got off the stool and walked towards Chloe. His tousled, dark hair bounced with every step, and for the first time, Chloe had a good chance to inspect him in the light. His hair, for one, seemed very out of place. It was long. Like a girl’s. And the more she looked at him, the more she realized that there was something totally unfamiliar about this boy. His clothes were peculiar, particularly his shirt, which featured a brightly colored picture right in the middle of his chest. On the picture was a very muscular man in a humorous blue outfit that was skin tight (to Chloe’s slight discomfort). He wielded a shield like it was a weapon, and if the picture had suddenly sprang to life, Chloe was sure the man would be yelling quite loudly.

“I got the same feeling,” continued Avner. “But the Faerie didn’t seem to have a problem with him. And while he felt… dark, I suppose, he didn’t radiate the same evil that we felt back in the darkness.”

“Still, he was rather intimidating, don’t you think?” asked Chloe.

A muffled cry sounded a few yards away, in the next room. Chloe’s eyes followed the sound, and gasped when Christopher, who had been there just an instant ago, was suddenly gone.

“Christopher!” Chloe sat up straight, on the lookout for the next surprise.

“I’m here!” came the reply. A few seconds later, his head popped around the corner. “Sorry, I don’t know what that was. I’ve been feeling odd all morning…”

“What what was?” inquired Chloe.

“I’m not sure. I just felt a tug. A pull. I’ve been fighting it all day. I think I just lost.”

“What do you mean?” asked Avner.

Christopher shrugged. “I don’t know! I just suddenly appeared in that room over there! One instant, I was here, the next, BANG! Tumbling over the bed in that room!”

Avner’s face displayed his curiosity. “Do you think you could try it again?”

“What!?” said Christopher, incredulous. “Do you know how odd that was for me?”

“I know, I’m sorry. But, just… appease my curiosity.”

Christopher shrugged slightly. “Whatever. Yeah, that little pull is still there. I s’pose I could…”

“Oh!” Chloe jumped a little, as she actually saw her brother disappear this time. Another thump could be heard from the other room.

“Ow! I ran into the far wall that time!”

Christopher quickly returned to the parlor, none the worse for overshooting his destination.

Chloe was appalled. “You mean you just vanish, like that, and reappear there in the other room?”

“No, not exactly. I mean, it’s the strangest feeling! It’s like the ground is moving beneath me, and I’m staying stationary…”

Avner nodded. “I wondered.”

“I still don’t get it,” said Chloe. “There’s a wall between us and that room. You just go through it?”

“Actually, it’s more like it bends around me as I go by. Here, let me show you!”

Chloe gave a little squeak as Christopher reached out and grabbed her arm. Chloe didn’t have a chance to pull back before she felt a small tingle rush through her arm where her brother’s hand was placed, and then the world was flying by her. Only about 20 feet of it, to be honest, but that was more than enough for Chloe to experience it. The ordeal was over before she could bat an eye, but she had gone right through the wall as it opened for her, and now she was sitting on the far edge of the bed, and she hadn’t even moved a muscle.

“That!” she said, short of breath as the adrenaline rushed through her body. “Was crazy!”

Avner suddenly appeared right next to both of them. “That was great!” he declared enthusiastically.

“Wait, you can do it too?” asked Chloe.

“Sure can! It’s just a matter of finding the source of that tug, and then telling it where you want to go! Come on, try it!”

Avner gave Chloe a mischievous grin and disappeared.

“Wait!” she cried.

Christopher vanished as well. Chloe growled, then closed her eyes, hoping to sense the same sensation she had experienced with Christopher. She scrunched up here eyebrows, and tightened her jaw muscles, but nothing worked. She could feel the tingle every once and a while, briefly teasing her before dancing away, but wasn’t able to latch onto it and control it. As she chased it around in her mind, Chloe bumped into a much larger sensation, very similar to the one that had thus far evaded her grasp. This new found feeling, on the other hand, was perfectly docile and willing to be controlled.

Gotcha! Thought Chloe. The tingling rippled through her body, but she didn’t leap into the parlor like she had expected. In fact, nothing happened.

Except that it had gotten deadly quiet. “Christopher? Avner?”

No reply. So she walked into the next room. The two boys were there, sitting on the sofa. Not moving. It was as if they were frozen in a very lifelike and natural pose. She walked up to them, and touched her brother.

He felt alive, although he certainly didn’t look it. He didn’t breathe, or blink or so much as move a muscle for an entire minute. Chloe even tried to feel for a pulse and couldn’t find one. Still, he felt warm enough.

I wonder… Chloe giggled slightly, as the King’s words came to the front of her mind. ‘If you were to slip backwards in time…’ the King had said.

I ain’t gone backwards in time, she thought, but I might’ve stopped it! Chloe then set about repositioning her younger brother and Avner on the sofa. She rolled Christopher over on his belly, and then maneuvered Avner so that he was sitting square on Christopher’s back. And just to prove her point, she rearranged all of the furniture in the room as well.

She was thinking of what else she could do to totally shock the boys when a brilliant idea came to her. She ran over to the bowl of fruit that sat on the table and picked one up. She was too distracted to care what kind of fruit it was or wasn’t. It was only for a test anyway. She gave it a light toss towards her brother’s head. To her utter delight, as soon as the fruit left her hand, it too stopped in midair.

Perfect! she thought. All five other fruits soon followed the same fate as the first, from different angles and at different trajectories. Soon, her own little barrage of Faerie Fruit was flying towards the boys. The finishing touch was the pitcher of water.

As soon as she let go of it, she realized that the heavy crystal pitcher would certainly hurt Avner, above whose head it was perched, when it fell. Try as hard as she might, she couldn’t think of a way around the problem, and, not wanting anyone to get injured in her little joke, she reluctantly pulled the pitcher away. To her utter amazement, the water remained behind, a perfect mold of the interior of the pitcher. Chloe was bewildered and dazzled. The structure of the water caught and reflected the light all over the room, a glorious rainbow of diamond sparkles and muilti-hued vibrance. It was, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful sights Chloe had ever seen.

Now I’m gonna have that minute all to myself.

After basking in the serenity and silence for what felt like several minutes, Chloe decided it was time to get on with her prank. It took her only a moment to find that newfound sensation and release her hold on it.

The compiled result was better than she could have asked for. The instant confusion in the two boys’ faces as they found themselves in a very different position than the one they had just been in a moment ago would have been hilarious in and of itself. That look quickly changed to shock when the pitcherless water splooshed on Avner’s head, and the fruit pelted Christopher relentlessly. After the third OW! from her brother, Chloe realized she probably could have been a little more gentle with the fruit. Still, the entire event had Chloe rolling on the ground with laughter. The boys were flailing there arms, and trying to orient themselves to their new surroundings. They finally managed to separate as a very wet Avner rolled off onto the ground.

“What was that!” he shouted.

Chloe could only laugh and shake her head.

“CHLOE!” Christopher wasn’t really upset. His sister knew him well enough to know that deep down, he thought she’d pulled quite a good joke. It was the way his lips turned up at the corners – a smile making its most valiant effort to overcome the indignant expression he’d assumed that clued her in.

“Oh, that was great!” chortled Chloe. “You should have seen your faces!”

“I’m soaked!” said Avner, running his fingers through his hair. “What did you just do?”

Chloe put on a smug expression. “You boys can jump anywhere you want, I can mess with time. That simple.”

Christopher, rubbing his temple from where a particularly hard thrown and hard skinned fruit had hit him, shook his head. “I don’t get it…”

“I,” Chloe said tauntingly, “slipped – I believe that’s what the King called it – into a time where I moved around as I pleased, but you two remained in place. Never even blinked!”

Avner’s eyes went wide as he realized what had happened. “You moved us? And threw fruit at us? And dropped water on me!”

Chloe nodded, her grin still spreading from ear to ear. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by five fruit all attacking her at once. “Ouch!” she yelled.

“HA!” said a triumphant Christopher. “Seems yer not the only one, big sister!”

Chloe’s grin quickly faded to consternation as she realized she no longer had a unique ability. “No fair!” she pouted. “I can’t… whatever it is you do…”

“How about slide?” said Avner. “Slip in Time, Slide in Space. Slip ‘n Slide, get it?”

Chloe and Christopher’s faces told Avner that they most certainly did not get it. Then, like a bolt of lightning, he remembered the letter in his pocket. And the terrifying sight that he had, for a short time, been able to push from his memory.

“Oh,” was all he could manage.

Chloe saw the shadow return to his face, and was instantly at his side. “What’s wrong, Avner?”

The color left Avner’s face, and he sat down promptly. The mood in the room had darkened considerably in those few moments. The excited, rambunctious, carefree spirit had vanished into thin air as the cloud of depression and fear returned.

Avner took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Nothing. I just remembered something…”

“What?” asked Chloe.

Avner closed his eyes for a moment. When he reopened them, he reached down into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out an envelope, which he handed to Chloe.

“Here, read this.”

Chloe took the letter and began to read it. Here eyes changed from a concerned squint to wide-eyed wonder the further into the letter she got. By the end, her jaw was hanging open. Christopher nudged his sister meaningfully.

“It’s a letter, written by me, to Avner.”

Christopher didn’t seem concerned. “Huh. Nothin’ too strange about that, right?”

“Christopher, the letter is dated 1947.” Christopher raised an eyebrow. “And it’s my handwriting.”

“Wait, so yer from the future?” Christopher asked Avner. “Like 30 years?”

Avner shook his head. “More like 50 years…”

“Wrong again,” said Chloe. “When we left Colorado, it was 1917. And you got this letter…”

“August 14^th, 1997.”

The trio sat in stunned silence. Chloe and Avner looked scared. Christopher, after a few seconds of confusion, spoke up.

“So… who’s the next president of the United States?”

“Christopher!?” shouted Chloe. “You can’t do that!”

Avner agreed. “She’s right. We have to be very careful not to mess things up. I’ve seen stuff like this on TV. Visiting the past and changing events of the future can be very, very bad. Even the tiniest of decisions can cause drastic problems!”

“Tee vee?” inquired Chloe.

“Shoot,” said Avner. “Forget I said that.” Avner looked like he was afraid he would vanish at any moment.

“Fine,” said Christopher. “Take all the fun out of it. What’s in the letter?”

“Directions. On how to get somewhere. And what to bring.” Chloe’s brow was creased as she tried to decipher the meaning of this new twist.

“Yeah, the only problem is it brought me here!” said Avner. “Why the heck did you want me here?”

“I didn’t!” retorted Chloe. “I mean, that wasn’t me, it was the future me!”

“Well, then, the future you must know somethin’ the present you don’t,” said Christopher seriously. It made sense. Avner had to agree.

“So what’d ya bring along?”

Avner pointed to his boots. “New hiking boots. And my pocketknife. Hidden in my boot.”

“Pocketknife?” said Christopher. “That’s not good… anyone else got a feelin’ that we’re not going home right ‘way?”

“Why do you say that?” said Chloe.

“What d’ya need a hidden pocketknife for, sister?”

Realization dawned on Chloe. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

The door of the cottage suddenly burst open. Wood splintered everywhere.

“Too late,” said Avner, shuddering. “You can’t change the future…”

Six armed Kingshadows stepped over the threshold. A big troll stepped forward.

“Change of plans,” he growled.

~     ~     ~™        ˜

Chloe woke up, head throbbing once more, in a very different room than the one she had just enjoyed, up until the arrival of the armed Faerie. Dad gummit!

“Hello, sleepyhead.”

Chloe turned to her right to see Avner, slumped up against a stone wall. The dim lighting obscured most of his facial features, but the voice was his.

“Christopher?” she asked.

“Still out cold.”

“Where are we?”

“Looks like a prison cell to me.”

Chloe noticed that her hands and feet were bound with a thick rope. “Well, this is looking hopeful…” she muttered. “Wait! Can you slide out?”

Avner shook his head. “No luck. It’s liked its being blocked or something.”

Chloe closed her eyes and tried to locate the Time slipping feeling. It too was gone. “Mine too.” Avner wasn’t surprised.

“How long have we been unconscious?” she asked.

“Not sure. I woke up about 15 minutes ago. But I don’t know anything other than that.”

“Why’d they do this to us? It doesn’t make sense!”

“I don’t know. I wish I did.”

Chloe was able to wriggle over to Avner and join him sitting against the wall. Somehow, his presence was comforting.

“Chloe? Can I tell you something? I… I don’t want anyone else to know.”

“Sure. I’ll keep quiet. What is it?”

“When I followed the directions on your letter, I ended up in a little valley, and I sat down on the stone, just like you said. Well, actually, I had to sit down on the stone. It was like a magnet. And then, just before the darkness took over the sky, I saw something. Terrifying.” Avner shivered. Chloe moved closer so that their shoulders were touching.

“A body appeared, Chloe. It was in terrible shape, all mangled and disfigured. It’s back was to me, but then it rolled over. It was me, Chloe. I saw myself. Dead.”

Chloe gasped. “Avner…” was all she could say.

“I’m going to die, Chloe. I know it. I’m going to die, and my body will disappear from this awful place, and I’ll end up back in Colorado, cold, lifeless…”

“Avner! Look at me! You are not going to die! We’re going to get back home, alright?”

“You can’t change the future, Chloe. It’s going to happen!”

“You said yourself that we have to be careful about what we do. You said the smallest decisions could change the biggest things in the future. We can change this!”

Avner shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. I saw my future. Chloe… I’m… I’m scared to die…”

Chloe didn’t know what to say. “Don’t talk like that, Avner. We’ll figure this out.”

Avner looked into Chloe’s eyes and saw a deep sadness. She knew the truth as well as he did. Chloe saw a deep-rooted fear.

“But I’m going to get you out of here, Chloe. If it’s the last thing I do. You and Christopher both. Chloe…” Avner paused, overcome with emotion. “Thank you for being here for me. In the darkness between the worlds, in the Palace, here… you don’t even know me…”

“Apparently, I do, Avner LeFay,” she replied.

Christopher groaned. “Chloe?”

The older sister sighed. She always had to be around to be there her younger brother. Still, she was glad he was here. “I’m here, Christopher. How do you feel.”

“My head… ouch, hurts like heck.”

“Christopher…” she warned, referring to his choice of words.

“Alright, time to go,” said Avner, reaching down for his boot. He pulled the pocket knife out, flipped open the blade and started to saw away at his bonds.

“Good thinking, Chloe!”

“Why, thank you! I’m glad somebody finally recognizes my excellent intuition.”

“Ha ha,” said Christopher, not laughing in the slightest.

In a few minutes, all three were free of the bonds that held them. “Now what?” said Christopher.

The three Humans began to investigate their cell. It was solid stone, except for the heavy wooden door with a barred window. Avner tried to stick his hand through the bars, but wasn’t successful.

“Here, let me,” said Christopher. His arm fit, but barely. “There’s a key hole,” he said.

“That’s our best shot,” said Avner. “The hinges must be on the other side.” Avner pulled out a few more tools on his pocketknife before finding the right one. In one hand he held a toothpick, in the other, a small blade.

“You know what to do?” asked Avner. Christopher nodded affirmatively. He tried to peer down the door for a moment before jamming the toothpick into the lock. He wiggled it around for a bit, and then a small click indicated success. Next, still pressing in the toothpick, he jammed in the small blade and twisted.

Pop!

“Good job. Let’s go!” said Avner.

“Wait! What’s our plan, even if we get out of here?”

“Trust no one, and try to blend in. We’ll have to improvise from there. And stick together. Christopher, let me know the second you feel the tug again. I think its being blocked right now.”

Avner swung the door open, and peered into a very dark, uninhabited hallway.

Without a word, the Kingshadows guarding the entry to the throne room swung open the sturdy doors. Drake attempted to make eye contact with the humans as they walked by to no avail. They were quickly ushered into the King’s presence. Only then were Drake and the Chief allowed to enter. They did so quietly and as inconspicuously as possible. There was a definite tension in the air.

The chamber was oddly dim. Red tinted shades covered the windows, giving the room a fiery glow, and the corners disappeared in the smoky haze released by the incense that assaulted Drake, numbing his mind. Four pillars on either side of the throne stretched upwards to the high ceiling, which was also obscured by the clouds that wafted through the room.

The King was the only other Faerie present. Drake thought it curious that there were no advisors or counselors. At the very least, he thought that the rest of the Conclave would have been present. Where the leaders of the other Faerie races were, Drake knew not.

The King sat perched on his throne, with a cool indifference. The seat of his power was, as the histories told, the same throne that had been commissioned by Gammaron the Benevolent, the King who had founded the Order of the Sanctuary some two thousand years before. Carved out of a single block of marble, the throne was a majestic combination of art and function, emanating supremacy, beauty and stability to all in the room.

The King himself seemed to project the same atmosphere, perhaps drawing from the throne’s power, but certainly graced with a commanding physique and nearly supernatural allure. His Majesty was of the Naiad race and only a few years past his youth, with fair, blond hair and eyes that reminded one of the clearest natural spring water that ever bubbled forth, high in the mountains, singing and gurgling as it danced its way down the to the valleys to the delight and refreshment of all. His pale skin contrasted sharply with the dark robes he wore. Other than his  crown, there was nothing that specifically indicated his royal status.

The King had one eyebrow raised, studying the unfamiliar people who had entered the room. Drake, especially affected as he was by the incense, found it impossible to read the King’s reactions or lack thereof. Even without the incense dismantling his cognitive abilities, it would have been difficult for any mortal to read the King’s mind and intentions. He was the living incarnation of a brick wall. His face remained utterly passive, his eyes wandered slowly from point to point, and his body stayed as relaxed and comfortable as if he were reclining at the supper table with friends.

The Kingshadows, Meric, Humans, Drake and the Chief walked forward and stopped a few paces away from the throne. As was expected of them, they knelt on one knee and lowered their heads. Drake glanced up to see one of the Human boys still standing, until the female pulled him down somewhat roughly.

“Rise,” said the glassy, sparkling voice of the young King. As one, the group stood. The same human boy who was slow to bow started to fidget nervously. Again, the girl intervened to calm him, placing a hand on his.

“Guards, leave us. Meric, Dryad of Grindlewood?”

Meric stepped forward, with neither an arrogant expression, nor a defeated posture as the Kingshadows silently stole away and disappeared. As soon as the door closed with a dull thud, the incense suddenly ceased, and a gentle breeze blew in, whisking the haze away. Drake’s mind cleared, and he was thankful it did, because he realized how very little of a memory he retained of the last few moments.

“Your Majesty?”

Drake took a deep breath. Meric had violated a Forbidding, and the punishment for such crime was serious. He sincerely wished the Humans didn’t have to observe as one of their first experiences in the Kingdom the banishment or locking of Meric’s soul. It would surely be terrifying.

The Gnome risked a glance at the Humans. The other boy, not the one that the girl was constantly reassuring, looked like he might be ill. Every now and again, when Drake looked closely, he could see the slight vibration of his body as it wiggled back and forth in space. This one, he mused, must be especially vulnerable to the flux… Drake remembered that many youngling Faeries had difficulty controlling their time shifting as well, and often popped back and forth between different times, even getting lost by jumping to a different moment at the same location. The boy seemed to be keeping it under control for the moment.

“Meric, I want to commend you for your heroic actions at the Gate.”

Drake snapped back to reality. He was completely taken aback.

Meric looked equally surprised. “Your Majesty… I am grateful for your kind words, but please, I can not remember a single thing about the attack after it was begun. And there is no honor in being the only survivor on the losing side.”

“On the contrary, loyal Dryad, it was your actions that gave the Watchers enough time to arrive and stop the Daemons. However, their failure is not your own.” Here the King moved his head slightly to glare at the Chief, who wilted under his intense gaze.

“Meric, there was nothing you could have done that you did not do. Rest assured of that.”

Drake was in disbelief. It wasn’t that he wanted the Dryad to be sentenced. Banishment was horrible. Having a lock placed on your soul was unfathomably terrifying. But the law demanded just recourse for the violation of a Forbidding. He had expected nothing less. Maybe imprisonment. It wasn’t as if Meric had intentionally killed all the Watchers. Most would have been killed by the Daemons in any case, so a reduced sentence might have made sense. But this? The Dryad was actually being rewarded for his actions!

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“Now,” said the King, and an edge came to his voice, “We have some guests. Who are you, and where are you from?”

None of the Humans volunteered right away. After a few uncomfortable moments, the female spoke. She looked horrified, like she was staring at a ghostly apparition.

“Please, sir, uh, your Majesty, we… I mean, myself, and my brother here, we’re from Colorado. Gunnison, Colorado. My name is Chloe. This is Christopher. And, uh… we don’t know who this is…”

The boy that Chloe was holding hands with just nodded.

“Not know the third one? Yet quite friendly you with him, I see,” commented the King. The boy dropped his hand.

“Please sir, he’s scared.”

“Am NOT!” retorted the boy.

“Your Majesty, we all are. It’s been a terrifying journey.”

Christopher suddenly exploded. “Why’d ya kill ‘em! The ones who brought us here?”

The Chief startled. The Watchers? Dead?

The King took the outburst in stride. “My good son, it was a regrettable but necessary incident. I received word while awaiting their arrival that they had all been possessed.” The King hissed this last word and let it sink in.

“By Daemons!” he concluded.

Again, Drake was thunderstruck. This just wasn’t right, how this entire situation was playing out. And yet, if the Chief was the traitor, it made sense…

“There wasn’t anything you could do for them, then?” asked Christopher quite cheekily.

The King didn’t seem to be bothered. “Unfortunately, no. They were too dangerous to be kept alive. You know what they say. Once a Daemon, always a Daemon.” The King gave an eerie little chuckle.

“Ah,” he continued after his personal little joke, “and the third one. You are?”
“Avner LeFay. I’m not from Colorado. I’m from Iowa. But I was just in Colorado. And I should probably be getting back soon.”

“But you’ve only just arrived! Surely you must want to see the City! Have you ever been to Lantes Isle before?”

Chloe interrupted. “Your Makesty, I’m not sure you understand. We’re not from Summus Terra. We are not Faerie.”

The King cocked an eyebrow again. Avner and Christopher both turned to look at Chloe. They were equally astounded. Faerie? Summus Terra?

“You’re Majesty, we are Humans. From Ancient Terra. Terra Firma.”

The Chief inhaled sharply. Drake felt the smallest triumphant grin slip onto his face. He had been right. Of course, this also meant that the Daemons really were on Ancient Terra.

“I see,” said the King, taking the news in stride. “Humans. From Ancient Terra? You mean that… Humans are…”

“Please, your Majesty.” Drake spoke up. “Ever since I noticed their appearance on the fabric of Time early this morning, I have been pondering this puzzling development.”

“Speak up, good Gnome. But who, again, are you? Your friend here, I recognize – the Chief Scribe of the Tower.”

“My name is Drake, your Majesty, and I am the new Mender, for my predecessor died…” Drake realized that it might not be wise to mention the Rend, as the King had taken great pains to overlook that fact. “during the events of this morning.”

“Drake was chosen by the Mender before he perished as the chosen heir,” affirmed the Chief.

“My condolences, and my congratulations, Drake the Mender. Please, you have something to say?”

“Your Majesty, the Faerie have long believed that when Ancient Terra was reborn as Summus Terra, the old world was destroyed. All Humans, and everything on that Terra was wiped out in the deluge, and the only the Faerie on Lantes Isle survived.”

The King interrupted. “In addition to the Daemons.”

“Yes, our own personal plague, it would seem. However, consider the possibility that Lantes Isle did not resurface on the same Terra and was simply renamed to denote its second beginning, but rather a completely separate Terra altogether. That first Terra is still out there!”

“One on which Humans still live. Is this what you’re implying?”

“It is, your Majesty. And the Gate…”

“Acts as a portal between worlds. When the Daemons passed through, the Humans were brought here!”

The King caught on quickly. He seemed to consider what he was hearing, and then smiled and spoke. “Well, this is news indeed! Humans! In the Faerie Kingdom. Our two peoples meet once again!

“Your majesty, please!” said Chloe. “I’m sure this is a momentous occasion for you, but you must understand. We have no memory or knowledge of the Faerie, only those tales that have been handed down for generations. This is a strange world to us, and we need to get back to ours. Can you help us?”

“Why yes, I suppose there would be no real problem with that.” Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. “I must consult with the Conclave, of course. And perhaps the Lowly Priest will have some special insight. I assure you, we will do our best to get you back to your own home. And perhaps establish relations between our peoples once more! In the meantime, come, you are our guests, and you are in need of nourishment and rest. I shall have accommodations made immediately! Guards!”

“Thank you your Majesty!” replied a grateful Chloe. This was the best news that she had heard all day. She was anxious to get back home, continue on her journey and pretend that the whole thing was just a bad dream. Perhaps she’d wake up and find that she’d hit her head and that the whole thing was merely a dream. She could hope!

Drake noticed that while Chloe seemed appeased, her brother, Christopher was far from it. Still dealing with the instability, he thought. Then he remembered that there were still two important points that needed to be discussed. The guards entered, and the King beckoned one of them over, and whispered in his ear.

“Your Majesty, there are two matters that still require your attention. And I believe they may have some impact on the Humans here.”

“You may proceed, Mender.”

Drake took a deep breath. It was time to present the evidence and expose the Chief for what he really was. A Daemon, disguised as a Faerie. A traitor.

“First, your Majesty, is the troubling news that surrounds how these three Daemons came to be in the Kingdom in the first place. As you may know, whenever a Daemon incursion on Faerie soil occurs, the Fabric of Time records it. The mark is unmistakable and quite obvious. I followed the Daemon’s trail far back in time, almost a season. Since they used no magic, their presence was barely noticed on the Fabric. And quite suddenly, their trail ended. Their should have been a mark at that point, when the Daemons crossed into the Faerie Kingdom. There was no such mark. Someone altered with the Fabric of Time to hide their presence. Someone who had access to the Tower.”

The King narrowed his eyes. “You are saying, Drake the Mender, that there is a conspirator within the Kingdom?”

“Within this very room, your Majesty!” The King gripped his throne as if for dear life. Drake pointed at the Chief. “Think about it! His Watchers failed to stop the Daemons. Since when does that happen? The Watchers are the most elite strike force in the Kingdom. It turns out they were, in fact, Daemon possessed themselves. And he could have made any adjustments to the Fabric of Time at any moment.”

“Drake, you can’t be serious!” cried the Chief. “I would never…”

“I wouldn’t have ever suspected it of you, Chief, had not this very morning one of my closest friends turned into a Daemon before my very eyes and try to kill me. He was your spy, wasn’t he? Sent to eliminate the one person who could expose you!”

“No! Drake, Your Majesty, It’s not true! There must be another…”

“SILENCE!” yelled the King, sitting up straight and suddenly becoming an imposing figure. “The evidence clearly is against you. I hereby strip you of your title, your life, and your soul!”

The Chief’s mouth hung open, frozen in shock. He looked as if he was about to run, but found himself glued to the floor. Every muscle in his body refused to move.

“Your soul is locked in this moment for all eternity! Here you shall be bound, with none but your own evil mind to keep you company, free from physical harm, subject only to the tortures of your own creation.”

And then the Chief was gone. Nothing remained of him. He simply vanished, tied to that microsecond for an eternity of self-damnation.

Drake took a deep breath. He was glad that was over with.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” said the King to the Humans.

“What… what happened to him?” asked Avner, shocked.

“He has been permanently bound to that moment in time. If you were to slip backwards in time, you would still see him there. His life will continue to exist as long as Time itself continues, never to escape or communicate with anyone again.” The King’s voice, and his face, was grim.

“That’s horrible!” said Chloe.

“Yes it is. But it is a punishment reserved only for the vilest of criminals. Now, let us clear our minds of that unfortunate incident. It is over now. Drake?”

“Your Majesty?”

“I believe there was one more matter that you wished to speak with me about.”

“Ah, yes. The second matter is about the Daemons. What shall be done about them?”

“The Daemons? The ones who passed through the portal?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“I do not see what can be done! They are out of our hands. You know as well as I do that we, the Faerie, cannot pass through the Gate. We are forbidden to pursue them. They must be the Humans’ problem to deal with now, as unpleasant as that sounds. Humans, there are no Daemons in your world?”

Chloe shook her head. “Not like the ones we encountered on the way here.”

“Well, it shall be a… new experience for your world, then. Still, it is only three Daemons.”

“And what if they return?” asked Drake.

The King caught his drift. “Ahhh… I understand now. Still, we’ve never had Humans in the Faerie Kingdom before. Perhaps the Gate is one-way, like a mirror? Or mayhap it is only open to the Humans when it’s opened on our end?”

“It is a possibility, your Majesty,” replied Drake. “Still, so is the Daemons returning with an army of Humans!”

The King breathed deeply and nodded. “Of course, you are right, Drake. The guard shall be redoubled. If anything tries to get through that gate, they’ll have a contingent of Faerie to deal with, armed to the teeth and waiting to spill some Daemon blood!

“But now, Humans! You must be exhausted. Kingshadows, please show them to their quarters, and Meric as well. He deserves a hero’s treatment. Accompany him as well! Humans, if there is anything I can do for you, to make your brief stay as pleasant as possible, let me know. I expect to have this situation resolved in a day. I will act as quickly as possible. And Meric, please, enjoy a few days off. Blessings be upon you all. Drake, may I have a moment?”

™        ˜

Drake suddenly found himself looking through another person’s eyes. The pulse that coursed through his veins was different as well. The sudden shift in perspective threw him off, but he quickly focused and realized he was still in the throne room. He could see his own body off to the left, standing quite still and glassy eyed. How strange!

The body he was in turned to go. And then it spoke in a female voice. “Thank you, Your Majesty!” Drake’s vision followed Chloe’s line of sight.

He panicked. Sitting on the Throne was a Daemon. It was dressed in the same robes, and even appeared to look like the Naiad that Drake had seen moments ago through his own eyes. But the unmistakable glint of red shone in its eyes. The truth dawned on Drake.

The Chief wasn’t the traitor.

It was the King himself.

~     ~     ~™        ˜

“Drake?” asked the King again, concerned with the lack of reply as one of the guards escorted the three Humans out the door.

“Sorry, your Majesty. It’s been a long night and day…” mumbled Drake, as he returned to his own body. He’d just experienced another vision, this time through the eyes of Chloe. I must be connected to the Humans, somehow.

Drake’s pulse began to accelerate. This was bad. Very, very bad.

“I understand, Drake. Go home, and get some rest. When you are able, you can return to your duties in the Tower – your new duties as Mender and Chief Scribe. I need a Faerie I can trust, Drake, so I’m putting you in charge of the Watchers.”

“Yes, your Majesty… please, sir, I’m feeling rather faint, may I…” The King’s words barely even registered for Drake.

“Of course! You are dismissed.”

The second guard motioned to Drake. He turned and followed, heart pounding and yet heavier than it had ever felt. On a whim, he slipped backwards in time, and slowed down to a near standstill.

He walked over to the Chief and as he touched him, brought him into slow time with him. “I’ll come back for you. I’ll find a way. I’m so sorry,” he whispered. It was all he could do. In the next instant, the Chief would be locked away for eternity, unless there was something Drake could do to stop it.

Drake quickly returned to the present and slipped out of slow time, turned his back to the King and walked out of the throne room.

As exhausted as he was, he knew the Order of the Sanctuary must convene once more. The Kingdom was on the brink of destruction.