Emerald City Dreamer (59 page)

"
I'm done suffering," Sandy finally said. "I'm getting help."

Pogswoth glanced at her sword. "I can see that."

She could see the cycle clearly now, and herself just a link in a long chain. Pogswoth had been warped into this... this... thing by his liege lord. Haun had been abused, too, by a stepmother taking revenge on the fae for her stolen child.

And now, now here she stood, towering over the pathetic monster, with an instrument of torture in her own hand. She herself had left so much damage in her wake. It was a choice; it had all been a choice. A choice she didn't have to make anymore.

"
Cure Jina!" Hollis shouted, adding a third cut.

"
Jina is the sun. If I can't have her, she will never see daylight. Never!"

Hollis grasped the korrigan's ankle and dragged him off the bed. The rags fell from his crushed and torn face, and he hit the back of his head against a loose brick.

"
Stop," Sandy said.

"
I can make him do it," Hollis said. "Just give me an hour. No one has ever withstood--"

"
No," Sandy said. She made sure her tone invited no further argument.

She briefly considered leaving him here, but the bones in the wall testified against him. There was no other way she could prevent this faerie from taking more lives. His nykk might live on, just like Ezra; maybe the process of dying would change him. Or limit, however briefly, his ability to harm others.

Sandy batted Hollis' sword to the side with her own. If she was to kill him, she would do it herself.

Pogswoth closed his eyes.

She swung back the blade and brought it down against his throat as hard as she could. The iron seared cleanly but not completely through the korrigan's neck.

"
We leave him here," Sandy said, letting his blood seep into the trash on the floor. "Let his bones join the others." She wiped the blade clean on a rag and blew out the candles.

When they exited from the end of the long hallway, Sandy turned back and the door was no longer there. Neither was the graffiti.

This author wishes to express sincere gratitude.

First to my family. Roland & Jocelyn Lindsey are my wonderful life-partners. I can barely enumerate the ways they support me: They put up with my crazy hours. They are my patrons, feeding me while I try this weird artistic venture. They believe in me.

And to our kids, who put up with much of the same from me. They are also all great artists, and I value their opinion. Elizabeth has done the chapter sketches, as well.

I am extremely grateful to my parents, Dann and Wanda Flesher, who endured love scenes and embedded swear words to edit this manuscript. They were my first editors, who bought me my first copy of Strunk and White, and it is their voices I hear when I correct my own grammar and style mistakes.

I'd like to thank my life-friend Jen Peters, who read two versions of this manuscript, and has always been a fan of my writing, even way-back-when. It is her encouragement that made me believe, even after years of not writing, that maybe I have something worthwhile to say.

Cloud City Wordslingers, my critique group, is largely responsible for this novel not sucking. Stephanie Herman, Andrew Williams, Andrew Rosenberg, Justin "Boswell" Boswell, Mila Webb, Shannon Peavey, Steve Wilson, and Folly Blaine.

You are all very wonderful, but I'd especially like to mention Mark Andrew Edwards, for running the group, and most importantly for being my harshest critic. Emerald City Dreamer is a hundred times better because of you.

I'd also like to mention my old writers group, back in the late 90's, Roundtable Writers. They helped me polish my craft.

Beta readers really helped me hone the last draft, and aside from those already mentioned, include Jon Lavendar, Dan Strohl, and Danielle Aditi.

Ana Cruz designed a beautiful, eye-catching cover. A thousand thanks to her.

Caoileann Appleby was extremely helpful for finding and correctly using Irish Gaelic terms and phrases.

Many of the settings in this novel are based on real places. Gargoyles Statuary inspired a scene and a fictitious character based loosely on the store owner, Gayle Nowicki. Thanks to her for permission to use her likeness.

Thanks to Jess Latham for the font, "Little Trouble Girl", which I used on the cover title.

I'd like to thank Amazon for shaking up the publishing industry and giving me a platform to publish my books. And to other skilled indie writers who are part of a movement.

And to all my writing influences, my favorite authors, all the people who have supported me over the years, and everyone and anyone else I forgot to, or did not have room, to mention.

Most of all, thank YOU for reading this novel. Triple-thanks if you leave me a review or feedback somewhere online.

All words used in this novel are intended to be contextually understood or explained within the story. This glossary is included to assist, and also to provide word origins for the curious. Most fae terms are Celtic in origin, and some try to express concepts that are difficult for human beings, especially modern humans, to understand. Also included are urban terms that may be more common to the Seattle area or confined to certain subcultures.

There are as many dialects of Gaelic as there are villages in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany in France (did I leave anyone out?) As such, there are many ways to pronounce these Gaelic-based words. Given the difficulties in finding resources, there may be inconsistencies. I lean towards using Irish Gaelic, but not always.

Remember, the fae are older than the modern versions of these dialects. They may say things a little differently, so let's not question them too closely, or they may take our tongues.

Aisling
(ASH-ling) - A dream or vision, a time of creation during which there is an outburst of toradh. Also synonymous with "toradh".

Alfar
- An ancient race of Scandavian fae, near-gods. Related to the Irish Tuatha De Danann.

Anime
(AH-neh-may) - Japanese animation.

Blaosc
(BLAY-osk) (shell) - The faeborn term for their human bodies.

Blas na haislinge
(blas naw ASH-ling) - The taste of the dream, the flavor of the toradh.

Brugh
(brew) - The inside of a faerie house, fort, castle, or other type of living area. The outside is sometimes called a Sithein (sheean) or knowe. Synonyms: Dwelling, barrow, lair, fairy mound, fairy fort (ringfort, rath, cahir, lios, dun, cromlech, cairn, tumulus are also historical, Irish, but thought to be haunted by fae), rath (earthen mound), dolmen (portal tomb or standing stones), fairy-bush (or fairy-tree), menhir (single standing stone),

Burner
- Someone who attends Burning Man and participates in Burning Man culture.

Cauldron of Phlogiston
(FLOG-eh-ston) - A magical cauldron of fire.

Ceile
(KAY-luh) - A human vassal. Humans are also duine chlainne.

Chrysalis
(KRIS-uh-lis) - Any major transformation time in a faerie's life. Can happen to any faerie, nyyk or faeborn, no matter how old, more than once. When the fae are strongly affected by pressure from the dreams of humans, enough to change the very nature of their being, they will go through a chrysalis.

Claiomh Solais
(cleev SOL-ish) - Shining Sword.

Claiomh Haislinge
(cleev ASH-ling) - The Sword of Dreams (or Visions).

Cold Wound
- A wound caused by iron that is resistant to healing.

The Dream
- Like Tir Nan Og, but personified. The collective dreams of all people. It has a will.

Draiocht
(DREE-ahkt) - A fae word for magic spell.

Dreamer
- A human who creates; a particularly talented artist, musician, writer, or other creator, often with a vivid imagination, who frequently exudes a high amount of toradh. Dreamers are often flighty, ungrounded, or eccentric. Often told by other humans to get their head out of the clouds.

Dreamless
- An extremely banal or mundane person, opposite of a dreamer. Think tax collector, strict school administrator, or accountant.

Dreamtide
- The tendency for some fae to be swayed by the desires of strong dreamers, or dreamers they are in love with.

Duine chlainne
(DIN-uh KLIN-uh) - A single member of the clan, as in my duine chlainne.

Enchant
- Luring a human, committing them to the service of a faerie or a brugh. Or casting glamour on a human in a way that affects their mind.

Elf door
- A faerie passage through a wall into a place that may or may not exist in reality. There may or may not be a real door to accompany the elf door.

Elfin
- Of the elves, or like an elf.

Fae
(FAY) - Of or relating to the faeries.

Faeborn
- A faerie born into a human body. One of a faeborn's parents must also be faeborn. The other could merely be human. Alternately, a body can be taken over or possessed, but this is much more rare, and usually only the case in animals and plants (i.e. Cait sidhe and dryads), since the human will is far too strong.

Faecast
- What a faeborn really looks like as a faerie. To most humans, a faeborn will appear human. Other faeries and those with faesight, or those who believe with all their might, will see the faecast.

Faesight
- The ability for a human to see faeries and the fae realm with little or no effort. It can be an in-born talent, a blessing/curse from the fae, or obtained via a spell, magic item, or faerie ointment.

Faestruck/Faestrike/Faestroke
- Cursed with glamour in a way that changes the physical aspects or health of the victim.

Fiagai
(FEE-uh-guhee) (soft "g") - A fae term meaning faerie hunter.

Fraternitatis Frumentarii Ferrumcrucian, Frumentarii Ferrumcrucians
- A Roman Catholic secret order of faerie hunters founded by Emperor Zeno in the 5th century CE.

Fuil siochaire
(FU-el SICH-air-uh) - Fairy blood.

Furrow & Fey line
- The ethereal paths used by fae to travel, both between points in the real world, and through Tir Nan Og.

Geas
(GESCH) - A spell that establishes a binding promise, but can also be like a taboo, in the sense that there are things which simply "are not done" (because the magic keeps it from being done). It not only binds the person, but nature and fate as well.

Gentry
- Nobles. A more "modern" term, used in the past 1000 years.

Glamour
- Fae convert toradh to glamour which they can then use for illusions and spells. It is a by-product of their feeding process.

Glyph
(GLIFF) - A magical symbol.

Gyoja
(GEE-oh-ee-yah) (soft "g") - An ancient Norse priestess.

Ilk
- Classification for fae, like brownie, redcap, etc. Different from a "breed" or "type", in that traits are not genetic, and sometimes the ilks blur together... For instance it is not always easy to tell the difference between a pygsie and a brownie. This word is chiefly used by the fae - humans prefer more solid, technical terms like "classification" or "breed", but these terms lead to confusion. Some fae are completely unique, they are the only one of their ilk.

Indie
- Independent filmmakers, musicians, writers, and other creators not affiliated with major publishers, record labels, or film studios. Also "indie culture", the culture surrounding indie artists.

Knowe
(NOH) - A faerie dwelling, much like a brugh.

Leanai
(LAN-ah) - Children (infantile)

Leanai a cailleadh
(Lan-ah ah KAH-lah) - Lost and Forgotten, Lost Child, or Lost One - These are faeborn who do not know they are fae. They often think they are crazy, and often turn unseelie.

Lia Chlainne
(LEE-uh KLIN-uh) - The stone of clan. An ancient stone covered in carved spirals.

Lowborn
- Commoners.

Mo chlainne
(MUH KLIN-uh) - My children or my clan.

Nasc
(NASK) - A connection of duty or a bond between two people; a power that magically enforces the patron-client relationship. It was once thought of as a sacred fluid, binding both liege and vassal.