Fire and Ice (9 page)

“What happened here?” I kicked at the dead leaves blanketing the ground. “It's spring; these trees look more like late fall.”

Adrius examined the barren limbs, but didn't say anything. He must have noticed I was shivering because he stopped to pull off his jacket and wrap it around my shoulders. I inhaled deeply, quietly relishing his lingering warmth and delicious scent.

“It's not much farther,” he said, taking my hand again.

The mist was inching its way up, enveloping my legs in a smoky haze. An agonizing howl rang through the trees. Was it the wind, a wolf? I couldn't tell. This was beginning to seem like a really bad idea. But Vervain was almost impossible to find this time of year, so if he knew where to go… Anyway, it was way too late to turn back now. We were alone in the woods, out of screaming range, so if he ended up being some psycho, I was already screwed. Whatever secret he held behind those intense olive eyes, I didn't think serial killer was it.

We climbed up a steep rocky hill. It struck me as odd there should be something like the side of a cliff in the midst of a forest, but before I could say anything, something cold and wet landed on my face. And then again. I peered up at the night sky, expecting rain and was shocked to find snow.

“This is crazy! It's snowing!” I had to shout over the howling winds. “How can it be snowing?" Goose bumps traveled down my spine and I shivered. The snow quickly became heavier, and before long the ground was completely white. Since when did we get snow at the end of May? Drearyton Cove was in the midst of its mildest spring yet and while it was not unheard of to have the occasional hailstorm, a blizzard dropping three feet of snow was a record first. The temperature was plummeting by the minute. The winds were churning at a furious rate, gusting in huge gales, whipping a steady stream of flurries in our faces. My teeth chattered uncontrollably. Adrius seemed oblivious to all of it, pressing on like a man on a mission, he pulled me up the rocky slope.

“Where are we?” I hollered. Adrius didn't hear me or he didn't know, either way there was no reply. He just tightened his grip on my hand, crushing my knuckles together in a hold which might have hurt if my fingers hadn't been frozen.

A gust of wind tore through the trees, sending flurries swirling into the night air. Suddenly, I was engulfed in a blinding whiteout. The flash blizzard blazed around us whipping my hair in frenzy. Every part of me was freezing, and I struggled to keep moving forward. My hand slipped away from his; numb from the cold, it took me a moment to realize he was no longer holding onto me. I squinted through the whipping flakes, searching for him.

“Adrius? Adrius! I can't see anything.” Ice pelted my face, stinging my cheeks and forehead.

“Lorelei?” He sounded so far away.

“Where are you? I can't see you.”

I took a step forward, but didn't meet with the ground. Instead I found myself falling, tumbling down the steep hill we had just climbed. My body plummeted uncontrollably, until I slammed onto solid ground, striking my head against something sharp. I couldn't feel my fingers or toes, and my lungs threatened to explode out of my chest. Panic rose in my throat, choking off any air. Freezing to death became a very real and terrifying possibility. I gasped for air, each chilled breath more painful than the last. Drifting snow blanketed me at an impossible rate, burying me alive in cold. The burning in my limbs subsided, leaving me numb from head to foot.

High above me, naked limbs curled and coiled in distorted knots, reaching for me through the wailing flurries. They slithered and wound themselves around the snow-covered trees, as though draining any remaining life from them. A pair of thick thorn-infested vines coiled around one another, piercing and ripping their flesh in a morbid tango. Was I hallucinating? Maybe this was what hypothermia was like. I wanted to scream, but couldn't.

I lifted my head and tried to look around, carefully avoiding the serpent-like vines moving deftly against the wind. Warm fluid seeped down my forehead, burning a trail to my cheek. Wiping it away with the back of my hand, I recognized the sickly sweet scent of rusted metal and salt, which made my stomach roil. My head dropped back to the ground and I stared in paralyzed horror as my vision blurred, before fading from white to black.

****

It was silent when I opened my eyes. The room was bathed in soft buttery sunlight streaming in through an open window. I blinked, trying to focus in the brightness. The faint scent of cloves and roasted chestnut lingered in the air. It was warm… too warm. Across from me were voices in hushed tones. One familiar, the other I didn't recognize.

“How long will it take before she wakes?”

“Not long now, son. She has to adjust to the air here. It's lighter than what she's used to.”

“This is making me crazy, Hawthrin. How long can I go on like this? I mean, I can't get her out of my head. She's all I think about.”

Was that Adrius? Who was he talking about? Couldn't be me. Was I hearing things correctly or was I dreaming. I closed my eyes, straining to listen over the blood rushing in my ears.

“You have to do something. Too much is at stake.”

“Adrius, you know there is little I can do in this matter. You brought her here. We must let things play out from here. One cannot pick and choose between prophecies. For one to come to pass, all must come to pass.”

“This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't know the full prophecy. You carefully left out my part in it. You know I can't control it…”

“You will control it. Or… you will not.”

There was a deep sigh, I think it came from Adrius. “But if she does this, and anything were to happen to her…”

“That, my boy, is beyond your control I'm afraid.”

A door creaked open and the muffled voices ceased.

“Shame on the two of you.” A female voice joined the others. “She needs her rest, you shouldn't be disturbing her,” she scolded. “Fine job you've both done. You've woken her.”

The knocking of hard shoes against hardwood grew steadily louder until it reached me, and then stopped. Someone was standing over me. My eyelids cracked open, taking in a slender face framed by long dark hair and golden eyes. I frowned. Who was she? Then it occurred to me I had no idea where I was. It was a struggle to sit up and a stabbing pain shot through me. My head ached and my limbs were weak.

“Take it easy, dear one. You're not yet fully healed,” she said in a voice which sounded like wind through the trees.

Memories came back to me like snapshots; the performance, my mother, the forest, losing Adrius. Where was he? Panic rose, but I consoled myself with the reminder I'd heard his voice. He had to be okay. I looked up at her again, opening my mouth to ask about him. My lips were dry and chapped; it felt like I'd swallowed sand. I tried to speak but what came out was garbled. She leaned in to offer me a sip of clear liquid which seemed like water, and her salt and pepper hair fell away from her angelic grandmotherly face. It was then they came into view, the long slender ears that tapered to a long thin point.

I gasped sharply, sucking in more air than my recovering lungs could hold. When I finally stopped sputtering and coughing, I attempted to jump out of this strange bed and demand some answers. But my body wouldn't cooperate. Heavy limbs pinned me down, immobilizing me.

“Lorelei? Are you in pain?”

Adrius was suddenly there, leaning over me, his brows furrowed in concern. He looked nearly unrecognizable… otherworldly, in a literal way.

“Wh-what's going on? Who is she?” I pointed, my hand gripping the bed sheets.

“It's okay. You're safe here,” he soothed, sweeping hair away from my face. I turned away slightly and he immediately dropped his hand. The smile in his eyes faded.

“What do you mean I'm safe here?” I rasped. “…Safe from what? Where are we?”

Before he could answer, the woman shooed him away with a terse glare.

“No, wait.” I wrestled with the blankets entangling my legs. A gentle hand held me down, while a sharp sting bit into my arm and I watched in horror, unable to move as the strangely beautiful alien woman depressed a syringe, injecting me with some sort of green liquid. “Just relax… Prince Adrius will not be pleased to see you upset, my lady.” She studied my face closely; her faint smile tinged with sadness. Again, I slipped into darkness.

But this time I wasn't alone. The flutter of wings rustled faintly, my heart quickened and my flesh prickled. A voice whispered on the wind, “Do you want to see me again?”

The overbearing scent of herbs spread abruptly as I stood motionless in the middle of this strange room, dressed in nothing more than a gauzy, moon-colored nightgown.

A voice in my head whispered,
Yes
.

Then he appeared. The temperature fell as he approached me with a feral grin, his eyes glinting like silver bullets in the darkness. I shuddered. He circled slowly, a cat stalking his prey. He moved in closer, taking a deep breath inhaling my scent. He continued to circle me and I spun around to keep him in sight… partially out of fear, partially because his eyes were mesmerizing.

My blood froze in fear of what came after his game of cat and mouse. The corners of his lips curled into a thin smile and I waited, ignoring the sinking sensation in my stomach. Hands clenched at my sides, my breathing rapid and shallow. He took another step closer without seeming to notice. A part of me wanted his touch. After all, I'd called to him somehow… hadn't I? But this overwhelming urge to get closer to him terrified me. Staring into depthless mercury eyes, half in anticipation, half in dread, I watched a pale hand reach out and lift a lock of my hair. He sniffed it, the chill of his breath raising hairs on my nape, and let it fall. There was a voice, like a phantom melody, his words like frost against my skin.

“I knew you would come to me, my Ilyandra. Now we can be together. …Forever.”

It was so familiar. Could it be happening again? His long icy fingers wrapped around my throat. I woke up to the sound of my own screams.

I stared up at Adrius blankly. Not sure what was real anymore. He perched next to me on a bed carved from a massive tree, layered with lemon and sage colored blankets which felt like cashmere against my bare legs.

“I get how difficult this must be for you. But you have to admit, deep down some of it must feel like truth.”

“Yeah… There is no depth deep enough for this.” My hands swept the air. “To seem real. Ever.”

I looked at him. I
really
looked at him. I'd never dreamed he was anything other than human. Or that anything other than human was even a possibility, in spite of my Faerie encounter. He was too perfect to be human. No teenage boy could have his impossibly sculpted features… depthless eyes… his incredible speed. Was this the same guy who merely a day before had been a constant distraction in art class? Even now I could picture him, in dark jeans, black trench coat open, hinting at taut muscles behind the damp cling of his white shirt. The drizzle had darkened his hair to midnight and a few stray wet locks hung over his eyes. Rain-soaked in the middle of a forest, he was still a vision.

Seated beside me was another version of Adrius altogether. Dressed in woodland hues, a sleeveless bronze tunic overlaid a billowy-sleeved laced shirt and olive suede-like pants, laced with thin cord. His dark hair almost touched his shoulders, baring the same slender ears as the nurse, tapering to a thin distinctive point. How had I missed them before? His eyes hadn't changed; they were as captivating as I remembered, reaching into my heart and uncomfortably grabbing hold.

Was he real? Was any of this real? Perhaps it was all a dream or a vivid hallucination. Maybe hypothermia
had
set in. I'd heard it could cause this effect on a person. I pinched my arm just to be sure.
Ouch. Definitely felt that.

“So… you're a prince.” The full impact of the nurse's words dawned on me.

He nodded.

“…and an Elf.”

Another nod…

“So, you're basically saying my trip down the rabbit hole, landed me in Middle Earth?” I moistened my lips with a nervous laugh.

Adrius offered a patient smile. "
Lord of the Rings
, right? Tolkien gave a fairly accurate account of our world in many aspects."

"Uh-huh…" I scanned the sparsely furnished room. The bed was centered in the round room, with vine and moss covered stones, and an open ceiling, filtering in pale sunlight. Easing myself up, I wandered to the open window. “So where are we?”

“Some might say not here, not there, but the space in between.” My vacant stare prompted him to continue. “Right now, we're in Mythlandria. Home to Elven-kind, Fae, and other benevolent beings of the Nevermore. The Elsarian realm is divided into territories, some inhabited and some wild. And some, like Noctria, are ruled by evil. The high elves of Mythlandria have been charged with maintaining peace and order among the territories.”

I frowned, doing battle with my mind as I tried to make sense of it. Logic dictated all of this was impossible. Yet my senses said something else. There was no doubt I was not in Drearyton any longer. The colors here were so vibrant they hurt to look at. Not at all like the bland monochromatic landscape of home. Flowers in screaming shades of fuchsia and electric blue climbed over hedges. Coiling vines clung to the stone walls and branches. It was nothing like where I was from.

Out of the corner of my eye something moved, like a cat only much larger and green. Its body was camouflaged by the leaves, but I'd swear it looked like a
girl
. It darted out of view too quickly, leaving me wondering if I'd seen anything at all.

I sighed. “Suppose I suspend my disbelief and pretend all of this is possible. How did we get here? What are we doing here?”

Adrius shifted, for a moment he seemed uncomfortable as though unsure how to answer. Drawing in a deep breath, his eyes narrowed, piercing mine. “Neither you nor your parents are who you believe them to be. You are a royal Sidhe, descended from an ancient line of faeries of the Seelie Court. They rule the summer on the Faery Islands. The Unseelie Court fey rule The Island of Winter which borders on the Shadow Court. The Shadow Court is essentially a sect of the Unseelie, harboring its darkest and most demonic fey. Ruled by the son of the Unseelie queen, his court holds the only passage to the underworld. The Summer Court stands for goodness and light, the others… serve the darkness. Needless to say the two have been at odds since the beginning of everything.

This time it was my turn to be confused. I frowned. Seelie, Unseelie… a descendent of faeries, what was he talking about? “I don't get it. What are you trying to say exactly?”

“That you're a Faerie Princess.” He said it with a perfectly straight face.

I burst into hysterical laughter, as though on the brink of madness. "This is crazy I mean, do you have any idea
how
crazy this sounds?" I shook my hands as I paced. “You're telling me that you're an
elf
… that
faeries
exist! And that
I'm
one of them?”

Adrius eyed me mildly, taking my freak-out in perfect stride. “I think you know what I am, Lorelei. The question you are struggling with is what you are.” A strange sensation filled my stomach. Maybe fear, exhaustion… excitement? I couldn't tell.

“Am I going to sprout butterfly wings and fly around with a magic wand too? You can't seriously expect me to believe any of this!”

Inside I was screaming,
This is impossible… it can't be real
. But he was here standing in front of me, seemingly flesh and blood. Even if I could dismiss everything else as a vivid hallucination, the heat and electricity coming from his perfect body was undeniable. It was too disturbingly physical to be a dream.

Living in the real world and reading about fantasy was one thing. It was another altogether when you could no longer separate them. If all of this was real, then asylums could be filled with perfectly sane people who couldn't find a way to merge both worlds.

“Butterfly wings and wands.” He laughed. “You're thinking fairytales, but you'll find real faeries don't come close to matching that depiction…With the exception of sprites and pixies.” His face lit with a playful smirk. "…kidding.”

“Great. Lose the butterfly wings, add a tattoo. Got it… But you haven't actually answered my question. Why did you bring me here? Why was it so important I be here?” My eyes narrowed. “Why aren't you surprised…?” Words were failing me again. “This is too much,” I mumbled turning away. I needed a moment to collect the tornado of thoughts and shut out the encroaching insanity that threatened to take me over. My stomach lurched again, and for a moment I thought I might throw up. Or pass out. But Adrius caught my wrist, gently drawing me back to him. A ray of sunlight streamed into his eyes, illuminating them in a golden shade of green.

My forehead hurt from being locked in a frown, “It's almost as though you were expecting me or something?”

He was still holding my wrist. I tried to pull away, but he didn't let go. His face inches from mine. A dark shadow flickered briefly in his amber-flecked eyes. Had I not been staring at him so closely, I might have missed it. For the first time since arriving in this tropical place, I felt a shiver. He stared with an intensity I felt in my bones — with his eyes — those indescribably, all-penetrating eyes, clear and translucent in the natural light. His gaze locked mine with uncanny directness, and I felt as if he had opened me up, baring my soul to him. It was unsettling to say the least, and I stiffened in his grasp.

For a second he looked confused, but he must have picked up on my reaction, and eased up on whatever he was doing because the uncomfortable probing sensation diminished.

“You are fulfilling a prophecy set in place long before your physical birth, Lorelei. A prophecy that changes the fate of the world, both yours and mine. Because of it, you will find everyone here has been expecting you.”

I squinted at him. “Hold up. What do you mean prophecy?”

He exhaled a long sigh. “There is a prophecy, Lorelei, one which has stood in existence for many centuries. And you are a part of it — an important part.”

I continued my blank stare, so he took the hint and elaborated.

“It is destined that the Una Elcta… descended daughter of the
Tuatha
Dé
Danann
would arrive. She will save the land from the icy hold of dark magic by preventing a war. And in the end preside over the freed lands as their queen. It has been written in the Halls of Truth for centuries.”

“I don't understand. A war with who?”

“Octahvia. The Ice Witch. She rules Noctria, a land encased in ice, and after an unending feud with the Elves, she has decided her territory is no longer enough for her. She is coming after Mythlandria. Prophecy states you are destined to stop her." He paused. "And until it has been fulfilled, you will remain here in the Nevermore.”

“So I'm your prisoner.”

“No, it's not like that.”

“Really… ‘Cause, that's what it looks like to me,” I countered, holding up my wrist with his hand still clamped to it.

“You are not being held captive, Lorelei.” He let go.

“Well, what then?
Hotel California
… where you check out any time you like but can never leave? Just tell me how to get out of here.”

He stood, shoulders squared, feet slightly apart, trying to remain calm, but the white knuckled fists at his sides revealed more than he wanted me to know. “Do you have an obscure media reference for everything?”

“I can't believe you would do this to me. When you know how important it is for me to get home. You know what's at stake.”

He looked away, his shoulders falling slightly. The tension between us stretched tighter. Sorting through my tangled emotions was nearly impossible. All I knew for sure in that moment was I felt betrayed.

I paced in front of the window. “Let's see if I've got this right… you led me here, wherever this is, and now I'm trapped indefinitely.” I stopped pacing to look at him. “You promised to help find Vervain for my mom. What about that?” My voice pitched up an octave. “Was it just a lie to get me here?”

“No. It was always my intention to help you. That will never change,” he spoke softly.

“Bull! I trusted you…”

He stepped in front of me, blocking my path. His eyes were intense, unreadable. And for the first time he actually frightened me. “Don't.” His expression was deadpan. “There are things you don't know about me, Lorelei. It would be wise for you not to trust anyone while you're here. Not even me.”

Screams of frustration tore at the back of my throat. I wanted to cry, but I clenched my hands until my nails dug into my palms, biting back any more tears. They weren't getting me anywhere.

“I don't believe any of this. I am not a Faerie, I'm human. You have the wrong person and I'm getting out of here now.” My voice wavered.

"You have to at least consider the possibility. I can prove it to you, if…"

"No. Stop!" I shook my head.

"Lorelei—" Firm hands gripped my shoulders.

"Adrius, please," I whispered, suddenly drained. “Just don't. Don't say anymore. It's too much. I'm close to losing it already… and you're making it impossible to tell what's delusion and what's real and… I can't deal with all of this."

I lowered my head, covering my face with my hands. Adrius stepped toward me gathering me in his arms. Burying my face in his chest, I sobbed. It felt like home, like I'd finally found peace in his embrace. But then I remembered… nothing was what it seemed. Not even him. This was not my home and he was not the teenage boy I'd been crushing on. Fresh tears welled up as he held me.

He sighed, long and low. “I'm sorry. It was never my intention to upset you. I let myself become overwhelmed by our concerns, and I forgot how this must seem to you. It was thoughtless. Please forgive me, Lorelei, I don't want to ever cause you any pain.” Gentle hands traced circles on my back.

I found too much comfort in his arms. As though being there erased the nightmare which had become my reality. I was too safe, too comfortable with him. It didn't make sense. Not now. Standing this close to him made it impossible for me to think. I needed some space. Stiffening, I moved out of his embrace.

“My mother is dying, Adrius. I have to get back to her.”

“I know.”

Wiping away the last of my tears I pleaded with him “You have to help me get home. Please. Just tell me how to get out of here.” If begging was what it would take then so be it.

“I wish there was more I could do.”

“Oh, you mean more than nothing?”

“Just listen…”

“No. You know what?” I searched his face then looked away. “You should go."

Adrius paused, a confused look crossed his eyes then faded. “Of course,” he replied gently. “Everything will work out, Lorelei.” But when I glanced up, the anguish that flashed in his olive eyes implied the opposite.