Fairy Tale: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  “Then climb on my back and ride Boppy like a pony.”

  I shut my eyes for a long time and tried to suppress a grin. When I opened them, Boppy was kneeling down in front of me with his well-muscled back exposed. He gestured at me to climb aboard, and against my better judgment, I complied.

  The heat of his body radiated through me as my nearly-naked flesh pressed against his muscular back. He grabbed my legs under each arm and glanced back at me grinning as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “You’re light as a feather! We’ll be there in no time,” he squealed and took off like a bolt of lightning. The scenery around me changed into a blur.

  “You really know how to say just the right things,” I whispered more to myself than to him. I shouldn’t be doing this. Lillim Callina did not accept piggy back rides from blue, shirtless elves while wearing only her bra and panties. Still, part of me was enjoying the feel of him this close to me, which was a little odd, sure, but what else was I supposed to do?

  The thing that really bugged me was not this. It was Kishi. What happened to her after she came out of the lake? Was she looking for me, or, worse yet, should I be looking for her instead of riding around on the back of a half-naked elf?

  We stopped so suddenly that I very nearly lost my grip and went tumbling to the ground. The only thing that kept me from falling onto the pulsating purple earth beneath Boppy’s feet were his hands on my thighs.

  “We’re here,” Boppy said.

  He stood on a ramp that led up to a temple that looked like it was carved from an immense sapphire. I swallowed and resisted the urge to steal it. I mean it looked giant now that I was a foot tall… but if I was big again that basketball-sized sapphire could buy a lot of enchiladas. I sighed and banished the thought. I wasn’t going to steal from Boppy. Probably.

  Stubby blue shrubs with glistening leaves poked up all around us, lining the pathway itself. Other than those shrubs, which dotted the landscape for miles and miles, I didn’t see anything discernable. Not that it mattered anyway. Every time I moved it seemed like I was transported into a completely different part of Fairy. I really hoped Kishi was okay because I had no idea where I was or how I was going to find her.

  Boppy’s hands rubbing my thighs brought me back to reality, and I moved to disengage myself from him. He held on for a second before releasing me. I dropped to the ground beside him, slightly irked that, in my newly shrunken form, he was over a head taller than me.

  “I don’t want you touching me like that again,” I growled.

  Boppy smiled as though he hadn’t heard me and pointed at the temple. “That is where we live. That is where the Eldest will be. We must hurry before it is too late.”

  “Too late for what?”

  “Too late to save your friend from being eaten by the Breaker.”

  A tremor somersaulted down my spine. Kishi had been captured by a Breaker? What the hell was a Breaker? Whatever it was, I didn’t think it was some weird elvish term for ice-cream and cake.

  “That seems bad,” I said grabbing Boppy’s face and making him look at me, which was difficult because he kept hopping from foot to foot. “What’s a Breaker?”

  “A monster that the prophesized one is supposed to destroy on her quest to bring balance to Fairy.”

  Chapter 4

  Kishi climbed onto an underground island, water cascading down her nearly-naked body as she took a step onto the bank. Torchlight illuminated the immense cavern, making shadows dance along the walls like a macabre procession. The grey-green sand beneath her feet sloped upward as she made her way forward. Pale, white bones littered the ground around her as though some creature had flung them away following its meal.

  Her left hand trailed along the head of an axe-blade tattooed in startling relief on her left thigh as her eyes flitted to and fro. A shiver ran down her spine when she reached the top of the hill, and a small sound escaped her lips. She clamped her right hand over her mouth to muffle it.

  Lying atop a massive pile of bones and decaying flesh was a creature which looked like a ridiculously large porcupine. One large blue-black eye stared at her. Kishi took a step backward away from the creature, and its eye followed her movement. It moved, a tremor running along the length of its body as it stretched its enormous bulk and opened its mouth. A long, purple tongue snaked out of a maw bigger than a garbage can. Millions of needle-like teeth glinted in the torchlight as the creature roared.

  The sound shook the cavern, and Kishi took off running back down the hill. Her chest heaved with the effort as booming footsteps echoed behind her. She dove back into the water as the porcupine thrashed into the surf behind her.

  Kishi’s left hand went down to her thigh and closed over the flesh where the handle of the axe was painted on her skin. Pain flashed across her face as she tore her hand outward in a burst of green light. The axe gleamed brilliantly in her hand, its emerald blade slashing through the water as she turned.

  The giant porcupine darted forward, clamping its razor sharp jaws down around her entire left arm, shoulder and all. Kishi screamed a mouthful of bubbles. Her eyes widened as she grabbed onto the creature’s mouth with her other hand and tried to wrench herself free.

  Her skin began to burn with green energy as the water turned crimson. Her eyes glowed like emerald stars as the creature’s teeth raked the skin from her arm. The dagger drawn on her wrist slid down into her hand. The bronze blade was large and imposing in her hand as she drove it into the creature’s snout. The monster thrashed its head violently side to side, ripping through her flesh.

  Kishi screamed again. The creature reared back, planting its massive legs in the silty lake bottom and flung her backward. Kishi flew out of the water and landed hard on the ground inside the cave. She rolled over to her side, blood gushing down her arm in torrents as she pulled herself to her feet.

  She grabbed onto her left shoulder, trying desperately to staunch the bleeding. Blood ran through her fingers even as she shoved emerald energy into the wound. Dioscuri field healing at its finest.

  The monster burst out of the water, the hilt of the dagger stuck up outward through the top of its weasel-like jaws. All around the wound small cuts marred it, as if the beast had pawed at the weapon and, consequently, torn itself to shreds.

  Kishi readied the axe in front of her, the blade glowing with soft green light. She backpedaled, her toes sinking into the soft dirt beneath her feet as blood dripped from her left arm, leaving a crimson trail in her wake. Her back touched the stone behind her and a shriek escaped her.

  The creature’s tongue burst from its mouth, and Kishi threw her axe up to block. The thick, purple tongue slammed into the flat metal of the blade. Her arm strained, shaking with the effort as the thing tried to yank her forward. The axe slipped from her hand, and the tongue snapped back into its mouth with a wet thud.

  Kishi smiled, a strange grin stretching her lips wide as she reached back with her right hand and grabbed onto the hilt of an enormous javelin that went from the center of her neck down to the heel of her right foot. She launched herself forward, tearing the ebony weapon from her flesh in an explosion of black light.

  The porcupine dove toward her, and she dropped into a roll, coming up beneath the creature and ramming her weapon upward into its unguarded torso. Blood spewed from the wound as its massive bulk fell downward onto the javelin. The creature’s eyes opened wide and blood gushed forth as its tongue fell listlessly out of its mouth. The tip of the blade blasted through its back as Kishi released her hold on it and whirled around, grabbing her dagger by the hilt and tore it from the monster’s jaw in an explosion of blood and thicker bits.

  Her eyes were empty as she almost casually brought the dagger’s blade down on the creature’s tongue, severing the vile muscle in a spray of blood. The beast shrieked as Kishi grabbed hold of the tip of her javelin and tore it sideways out of the already gaping wound that had been inflicted. It fell twitching to the side as she pressed the weapon back
into her flesh, the bloody image imprinting itself on her skin.

  Once all of her tattoos were back in place she turned and dove into the water. She pulled herself onto the shore, coughing and sputtering. Eight bright green bows with arrows like bolts of lightning, all knocked and ready to fire, stared back at her. The dark elves holding the weapons all wore black uniforms with green capes and sashes. The bows bobbed menacingly in front of her. Their skin was as black as pitch, and they were all seven or eight feet tall. Even though they all appeared slender, and waif-like, I was betting they were stronger than they appeared.

  “We have reason to believe that you have attacked and killed one of our Queen’s creatures. What do you have to say for yourself?” The lead dark elf stepped forward, a curious smile stretching across his face. His sea-green eyes sparkled with amusement as he ran a hand through his blond hair. It fell to the middle of his back in a golden wave, swishing as he took another step toward her, one hand dropping casually toward the hilt of his sword.

  “Um… sorry?” Kishi offered with a shrug of her shoulders, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she ventured toward them out of the lake, water cascading off her body in glistening rivulets.

  “So you admit it?” the leader asked, sweeping his hair aside to reveal one pointy ear with a silver ring in the top and a gold ring in the lobe. “You admit to killing the creature that dwells beneath this lake?” he added, leaning his ear toward her.

  “Assuming you mean the giant weasel that just tried to eat me? Uh… yeah,” Kishi said. The words had scarcely left her mouth when she dropped to her hands and knees in the water.

  A bolt of green energy cleaved through the space her head occupied only moments before, and the leader glanced back over his shoulder at one of the other elves. He shook his head minutely before turning back toward Kishi.

  “Hold up your hands and don’t move. You’re coming with us, Dioscuri!” he commanded, pulling a gleaming, curved sword free of his scabbard and pointing it at her. “Do not try to resist!”

  A horde of uniformed dark elves, some with bright green bows, others with various types of projectile weapons, from javelins and darts to even slingshots rushed toward her from the huts and bushes. Evidently, there were more of them. Many more of them.

  “Oh, and stop watching us,” the dark elf said, turning to look straight at me and grinning.

  The scene I was watching exploded into static, like a steam pipe rupturing and filling my vision with fog.

  “Damn it!” I snarled, looking up from the glowing orange crystal in front of me as smoke poured off of it. “Who are those people and where have they taken Kishi?”

  “Those are the Queen’s men. Very, very bad,” the Eldest said with a shake of his head. He was taller than the other blue elves, standing almost eighteen whole inches. His bright blue eyes shimmered beneath a mop of curly blue hair. He wore nothing save a thin, flower-print skirt that swished as he walked around.

  “The Queen? Queen of what? How do I find her?” I asked, glancing back at the orange crystal, trying to will it show me more. Grey smoke curled and fell back against itself inside its jagged edges, and I resisted the urge to hurl it at the Eldest. Boppy had taken me to meet the Eldest, and at my request, I was brought to the viewing room.

  A giant orange crystal jutted from the ground beneath our feet like a living thing. As I watched, the crystal melted back into the pulsating floor, color washing out from its perch in a wave. I turned back to The Eldest. “Well?” I asked.

  “The Queen of the Hot and Bright,” he said, and his voice was clipped, almost hurried as he hopped back and forth from foot to foot in that same way Boppy did. Like he was both nervous and had too much energy.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “That really doesn’t give me much information,” I replied. I hadn’t ever heard of a Queen of The Hot and Bright before and, even though it didn’t sound like someone I wanted to meet, I was relatively sure it should have been in one of the many classes I’d taken on Fairy. Had it been one of the essay questions I skipped because we only needed to answer two out of five for the final?

  No, I was relatively sure I’d have remembered the title. So why hadn’t I heard of it before?

  The Eldest glanced back and forth around the room, as though trying to make sure nothing was listening in. He leaned very close to me, so close that I could feel his cool breath on my ear as he spoke. “She’s the Queen of the Sidhe.”

  The light around us seemed to flicker, glowing a little brighter for the span of a moment. I swallowed and felt a chill run down my spine despite the warm air in the room.

  “So those people who captured Kishi are Sidhe?” I asked.

  Terror flashed across the Eldest’s eyes. Without a word he reached out and clamped his hand over my mouth. “You cannot speak of them, cannot call them by what they are or she may awaken,” he cautioned.

  “Who may awaken?” I mumbled into his hand.

  “The Queen,” he replied, the words slipping out from beneath his teeth in a hiss. He put one finger to his mouth and watched me, beady eyes boring a hole into my face until I nodded. He released me, which was good because his hand tasted like salt and mildew.

  “You mean she’s not awake yet? How is she ordering those guys around then?” I asked after wiping my tongue off with the back of my hand.

  “With dreams,” the Eldest said. He gave me one of those looks that made me think that he suspected I was very dull indeed. I sighed and sat down on the floor.

  Honestly, I didn’t know a whole lot about the Sidhe. That wasn’t my fault though. They were one of those mythical creatures that no one really liked to mention because to talk about them was to invite disaster. Even amongst the Dioscuri, mentioning the Sidhe was not done.

  If the Sidhe were so scary that you couldn’t even talk about them, how the hell was I supposed to track them down and save Kishi? I was twelve inches tall, and it wasn’t like I could go to the local gas station and ask for directions. What was I supposed to say anyway?

  “So where are those that can’t be named, and how do I find them?” I asked with a sly smile.

  The Eldest narrowed his eyes at me to show how little he was amused by my antics. “Once you destroy the Scáil, I will help you find your friend… and not a moment before,” he said.

  He waved his hand, and a large tome appeared in it like, well, magic. Without another word, he thrust the volume at me. I took it from him and nearly screamed. My face stared back at me from the cover. That wasn’t good… wasn’t good at all. I’d almost forgotten about Boppy and his silly stick figure prophecies, but now, with my own face looking at me, I was pretty sure he was right… even if he was a pretty terrible artist.

  “That doesn’t look a thing like me,” I said, trying to hand the book back to him.

  “You know,” the Eldest said with a smirk, “that is exactly what it said you would do on the very first page.”

  I glared at the tiny blue elf and rifled through the book. He was right, the first, and only, line in the book said “and she will make a joke about it not being her and try to give it back so she can go after her friend.” The rest of the book was completely blank. I snarled and turned it back to the first page and stared at it. More words appeared.

  “If you’re reading this,” it said in flowing calligraphy, “then you are the prophesized one. These pages will fill in as you complete your tasks. Beware for they are innumerable and immeasurably difficult, but you will succeed… or die trying. Whatever works for you.”

  “Why couldn’t you just tell me what I have to do?” I growled at the book.

  “Because that would ruin all the fun,” it replied.

  I slammed the book shut and glared at the Eldest. “So what do I need to do first?”

  “Visit those who cannot be named and restore balance to Fairy.”

  Chapter 5

  The Court of the Hot and Bright was, to put it mildly, hot and bright. Wavy lines of heat wafted off the giant, gild
ed door guarding the entrance. It was a massive thing, standing over twice my height, and I was instantly grateful I’d been returned to my full size by the Eldest.

  Softball-sized rubies glittered along its silver-inlaid surface, but there didn’t seem to be any particular design to their placement. Rather, it seemed as though they were set into the door more as an afterthought meant to convey great opulence and wealth.

  There were six guards total, three on either side of the door, clad in luminous golden armor from head to toe. Brilliant sapphires gleamed in place of the eyes, noses, and mouths on their Kabuki-esque masks. A large, coppery fin ran from the top of their heads down to the center of their backs.

  Each one held a small, golden roundshield in the hand closest to the door and a long, silver spear in the other. Vivid blue and red feathers trailed from the spears’ hafts and, near as I could tell, the tips were encrusted with diamonds. Scabbarded short-swords were strapped to each of their legs, and I could just make out what looked like a crossbow slung over each shoulder.

  “Well, you guys are certainly loaded for bear,” I muttered with my hands out in front of me in that universal, I mean no harm way. “I mean, here I am clad in only my underwear, and you guys are wearing full body armor. I feel like we are progressing some very bad adventuring stereotypes.”

  “Our lady wishes us to be prepared for all things. She did not dictate how you are to dress in her lands, Dioscuri,” said a voice behind me.

  I whirled around to face another similarly dressed guard. The only difference was that this one was wearing a maroon cape that fell to his ankles. It was cinched tightly around his neck by a silver emerald-encrusted medallion.

  “Good thing too. We don’t wear capes because this one time a Dioscuri got his cape caught on a doorknob, and the vampire he was after disemboweled him before he got himself untangled. Since then, we haven’t been allowed to wear loose-fitting clothing.” I grinned at him. “It’s why the Dioscuri fighting suit is skin tight.”