JOURNEY INTO THE REALM: The Spell Master (Journey into the Realm Series) (39 page)

***

“Mealtime for the prisoners,” Pyra said in an angelic voice as she entered our cell.

Em had decided to wait until after we ate to work on wing control. She said strength would help to ease the coming pain. I balked at the idea of eating stale bread again, but I knew trusting Em’s instincts was in our best interests at the moment. She was my teacher. I had to respect her wishes.

I still had difficulty resisting the enchanting morsels. I wanted nothing like I wanted fairy food. Nevertheless, I inhaled deeply and plugged my nose. It didn’t work, though. Even when I stopped breathing, I could still smell the heavenly aromas. The spell of fairy food was impossible to ignore.

“Would you like something to eat, Emera?” Pyra asked, going through her usual routine.

Em shook her head. “No, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped asking me after seventeen years.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “White witch.”

Pyra’s eyes flamed with annoyance. She dropped the tray of food on the floor and dramatically stomped toward Em. The fairy food was only a few feet away. I only wanted one bite….

“I’m growing tired of your attitude, you dirty little beast,” she snapped bitterly. “It’s not anyone else’s fault but your own that your family doesn’t care enough to save you.”

Her words froze me in place. The fairy food was no longer my object of desire. I know Pyra’s words had hit home for Em. The elfen had expressed to me countless times how insignificant she felt because Queen Taryn would only go so far to keep her alive. I wanted to slap the smirk right off Pyra’s lovely face, but instead I waited for Em’s reaction.

Em closed her eyes, trying to fight back tears, but they came anyway; I could see them begin to silently fall from her eyes and down her cheeks. Then she shook her head and got up so that she was face to face with Pyra. Em wasn’t as strong as the Element fairy, but the determination and anger in her dark eyes made her threatening enough.

“Never repeat those words to me again,” she demanded.

“Why? What will you do to me?” Pyra asked gently.

In an instant, Em was in her Saker Falcon form, which freaked me out because I had never seen her shift. She screeched and raked her talons across Pyra’s shoulder. The air fairy cried out in pain and propelled a gust of wind at Em, sending her knocking against the wall. I gasped and ran to her aid. She changed back to her elfen form and rubbed her head. She was hurt, but still alive, and that was all that mattered to me.

Pyra was still moaning over her wound when I turned to face her. Her brilliant silver-gray eyes stared at me in defiance. I met them with a cold fury. I was angry beyond belief. This beautiful fairy, the kind I had dreamed about all my life, was just as cruel as all the other Element fairies. She had the power to be wonderful, but chose not to be. How was I supposed to accept myself as a fairy when the majority I had met were this
evil
? I hated her for making me feel this way about myself and my heritage. She and the other Element fae like Finn and Ellie gave fairies a bad name.

“Are you going to attack me too?” she asked in a pleased tone, as if she wanted to be slapped.

“I should,” I told her outright.

Her eyes sparkled, and a smile twitched at the corners of her pale lips. “But you won’t.”

I looked down and nodded, ashamed that I couldn’t stand up to her, even though I knew backing down was the wise decision. “No, I won’t. Just leave.”

“I will leave on my own accord, thank you very much,” she replied acerbically.

However, instead of remaining where she was, Pyra turned and flew out of the room. As the door closed, I heard her utter a few words to another guard.

“Reschedule the wing clipping for tomorrow night…and make sure we do the talons this time as well.”

I swallowed and looked over at Em. Her already pale face went stark white. She had heard it too. We didn’t have a week to escape now.

We had less than a day.

***

“I’m so sorry,” Em muttered to me, after we received our ordinary meal of bread and water. “I can’t believe I lost control like that. I’ve ruined everything.” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head violently, as though the action would chase away the memories of her confrontation with Pyra.

“What’s done is done. We can’t change what happened. We just have to get past it,” I said robotically. After all, I had already forgiven her about one hundred times since Pyra left.

“But we have one day, Ramsey.
One day
. We don’t even have a plan,” she protested restively.

“I don’t know what else to say, Em!” I cried, unable to repeat myself any longer. “You screwed up. It’s true. But I’m not going to let that stop us from going home.”

Emera, finished with her frantic pacing, slunk to the ground. “I was so angry with her, Ramsey. I – I just couldn’t stop myself.”

“I know. What she said was terrible, but we can’t dwell on Pyra anymore. We have to focus on getting out of here.”

Em nodded, finally giving in, her livid mood slowly dwindling. “Finish your meal, and then I will teach you to control your wings.”

I winced at the mention of food and drew my eyes to the plate of fetid bits of bread and the dingy cup of water. Reluctantly, I stuffed the food into my mouth before I could change my mind and swallowed mouthfuls of water to wash away the foul aftertaste.

Em nodded approvingly. “All right. First, I’ll teach you to draw your wings inside your body,” she began. “Note that unlike most elfin abilities, shape-shifting is purely physical. No mental thought is involved.”

I breathed in sharply, already nervous. I had spent months learning how to mentally control my ability, then weeks working with Nathan to mentally perform spells. I had no experience whatsoever in the physical department of magic. I didn’t even know magic
could
be physical. My provincial knowledge of magic had consisted solely of mental and spiritual energy.

“To draw in your wings, begin by sucking in a deep, long breath,” Em explained. “Then arch your back slowly, holding that breath while you do so. Roll your shoulders backward. Hold that position as you slowly exhale, and as you do so your wings should furl and disappear within you.”

“That,” I said, with an expression of horror probably plastered on my face, “is probably the creepiest thing I have ever heard. I do not want to know that there are wings
inside my body.
That’s just…
wrong
.” I shivered and hugged myself, trying to stop my mind from conjuring disturbing images.

“Pick your poison, Odd Girl,” Em said fractiously, her tone sharp and unsympathetic. “You either do as we shifters do, or you spend days inside this cell learning how to work a Glamour, sitting idly by as my wings are clipped.”

“Okay, forget I said anything,” I replied grudgingly. “Sheesh, you don’t have to be so dramatic; I just –”

“Ahem,” Em interrupted, gesturing to my wings.

I sighed. “Fine. I’ll give it a try, even though it gives me the willies just thinking about it.”

“The
what
?” Em asked, her forehead crinkling in confusion. “You know what, never mind; I don’t want to know.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes, pushing myself off the floor. I had no choice but to learn how to use my wings if I wanted to get us out of this hellhole.

“I’ll quickly give you a demonstration before you try,” Em said, and before I could respond, she was already shifting. She went through the motions illustratively, although I knew she could have shifted a lot faster had she not been demonstrating. A lot of practice probably allowed winged beings to flow through the motions at a faster pace.

Em’s wings were positively magnificent, all grandiose and powerful-looking. I admired her strength, but my stomach fell as I realized lesson time was over. Now it was my turn. Em nodded encouragement and smiled, and I knew she was acting especially pleasant because she wanted me to hurry. Emera had very little patience.

I gulped, my throat suddenly dry and congested. My palms were sweating profusely and my head felt ready to explode. My pulse was racing so fast that I saw black spots clouding my vision.

“It’ll be all right,” Em said soothingly. “The sooner you go through with it, the sooner you’ll be done.”

I rolled my eyes. Like I hadn’t heard the Band-Aid reference already. I had used the phrase countless times over the years. But those hadn’t been potentially excruciating circumstances; not like this. Even so, I knew Em had the right idea. I had to learn this in order to escape.

I sucked in a long breath. I arched my back. I rolled my shoulders. So far, so good. No change. No pain.

Then I began to exhale, and a swarm of feelings rushed inside of me.

My breath caught in my throat from the sudden agony. My wings were bending and twisting, folding and seeping into my skin. I heard a crunch, and tears sprang to my eyes. My beautiful wings…breaking just to enter my body. I didn’t think I would ever feel whole again.

Em told me to keep letting out air, but it was near impossible to hear her over the waves of pain assaulting my senses. My sinuous appendages contorted themselves further, pushing deep into my back like spears. I cried out, and Em had to cup her hands over my mouth to keep me from alerting the guards. She didn’t seem to care that I was crying and snotting all over her hand, but I knew I would feel mortified once this ordeal was over.

Finally, with one final, sickening movement, my suffering subsided, and I was bathed in silence. Tears continued to spill over my cheeks, my vision was fuzzy, and if Em hadn’t been there to hold me up, I would have fallen. But I didn’t black out. I held my ground, knowing that if I gave up now it wouldn’t be any easier the next time.

Em was beaming at me, and although it was nice to see a smile on her face, her happiness did nothing to comfort me. I didn’t feel accomplished or proud of myself. I felt sick. Sick and hollow. Even after possessing them for only a few days, I hadn’t realized the importance of my wings until now.

I missed them, the yearning inside so sudden and raw that for a moment I could barely breathe.

“You did great,” Em said softly, squeezing my hand.

I nodded, unable to respond. Using my free hand, I tentatively touched my back, the spot where my wings once lay, to find nothing but tender skin. I winced and retracted my hand quickly, wishing I hadn’t performed the motion.

“I have to bring them back, don’t I?” I guessed apprehensively.

“If you want to fly,” she replied simply. “But you can rest first.”

Not needing any further encouragement, I sank to the floor and scooted toward the wall, resting my head against the hard stone but keeping my back from touching any part of it.

“Maybe we could use this time to think of a plan,” Em offered, sitting down beside me but careful not to brush against me. I wanted to thank her for being supportive, but I couldn’t find my voice. I closed my eyes and desperately tried to think of our escape. Nothing at all came to mind. With me temporarily out of commission, without any ideas or solutions, our situation seemed hopeless.

But then it hit me, the answer so simple I had managed to overlook it. I jumped up and ran to the cell door, cursing at the pain my rushed moments caused. “I totally forgot. All this time spent waiting and the thought never crossed my mind. I can use an unlocking spell,” I decided, struggling against the fogginess creeping its way into my brain. I couldn’t pass out now. I had to fight the pain in order to make this work. “I’ll just close my eyes, make the motion, and say, ‘unlock.’ It’s easy!”

“One problem there,” Em intervened. “Our cell is protected from magic. Spells won’t work. A few years ago I had a Woodland fairy cellmate who was labeled as a traitor because she lived in the Elf Realm unprotected. She could perform spells, so I asked her to try an unlocking spell. She performed the spell, but it didn’t work. Then an alarm sounded, the guards came for her, and I never saw her again.” Em sighed heavily. “The door will not open with a spell.”

Having my one hope shut down so quickly was simply too overwhelming for me to handle. I slammed my fists angrily against the wall, scratching them raw. I cursed and brought my hands rapidly to my chest. The sudden reaction sent me stumbling over my own feet, and I began to fall backward. Em raced over and caught me in time, but my fingers caught in one of my necklaces as I tried to re-establish my balance, causing the chain to break and fall to the ground. The pendent made a small clanking noise as it hit the floor.

“That was close,” Em said. “You really should control your anger.”

I didn’t reply because the pendant now lying on the floor had claimed my attention. A brilliant idea finally occurred to me. I picked up the necklace and went back to the door.

“What in this Realm are you doing?” Em asked.

“Opening the door,” I said.

“How?”

“With a key,” I retorted.

“Did that fall damage your brain? Our cell is locked from the outside,” Em reminded me. “You can’t fit a key into a nonexistent keyhole.”

I turned and held out the golden key Nathan had given me before I was taken. “I don’t have to. Maybe spells don’t work, but a fairy charm can. My mother explained them in the journal she wrote for me. The idea of a fairy charm is to transform the purpose of an object to be anything you want it to be. If I charm this key as the one thing that will open the door, it will.”

“Are you sure this will work?” Em asked, not bothering to hide her skepticism. “What will you do with the key once it’s charmed? Throw it at the door?”

“I’m not sure what will happen. I’ve never tried fairy charms,” I admitted, biting my lip. “Nathan said they were too advanced for me. But I read all about them, so I think I have a good chance of succeeding.”

Em didn’t hesitate. “Try it.”

I peered apprehensively at the locked door. “Are you sure?”

“What else are we going to do?” Em asked.

“You’re right.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. To charm an object, I had to hold it tightly in my hands and focus solely on what I wanted the object to do. Then I had to press it to my lips and breathe on it, which was creepy and weird, but Golden fairies apparently had magical breath or something. I didn’t make it a habit to question magic these days.

When the process was complete, the golden key shone brightly for a few moments and felt hot in my hands. The sensation was shocking and nearly unbearable. I almost dropped the key. Then the heat slowly dwindled until I was able to hold the key without any trouble.

“Did it work?” Em asked.

“There’s only one way to find out. Ready?” I asked, exhaling slowly.

Em nodded. “All right, go ahead and do it. Just please don’t get us blown up or something.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll do my best.”

Em didn’t reply, so I turned to face the stone door, key in hand. Trembling, I had to grip the key tighter to keep it in my grasp. I placed it tentatively against the door, waiting for something –
anything
– to happen. I didn’t know what to expect. This was my first time using a fairy charm.

I felt doubt’s heavy weight grow stronger with each unchanging second. Maybe charms were too advanced for me after all. Or maybe our cell was immune to more than just spells.

But then the stone started to
move
, distorting and adjusting until a keyhole formed. Sized perfectly, as if it had always been there, it lay in waiting for my golden key. I stared, dumbfounded, at the magic I had created.

“Ramsey, there’s a keyhole in the door,” Em said, as mystified as I was.

I nodded. “Like I said, charms are stronger than spells.” I was amazed, but I couldn’t waste any time. I had to focus. Taking a deep breath, I inserted the key and turned it slowly, carefully. I heard a clank…

…and the door opened.

“It’s…the door…I can’t believe…,” Em whispered, struggling to find the right words.

“We’re free,” I exclaimed breathlessly.

“Not yet. We still have to get out of the prison,” she reminded me.

“Then let’s go,” I suggested, not wanting to waste any time.

“I’m frightened.”

I nodded in agreement. “Me too. Come on,” I urged, knowing hesitation would do us no good.

I put the key in the pocket of my pants and motioned for Em to follow me out the door. Taking one last deep breath before leaving the room, I plunged into the darkness of the prison hallway. Em followed close behind, and slowly we crept away from our prison cell.

I led us down the dark corridor by keeping a hand on the wall. The stone was rough and cold against my fingertips. Our path was narrow; I prayed we wouldn’t be discovered.

Soon we came to a fork. Each hallway looked the same.

“Which way do we go?” Em asked.

“Uh, um…I don’t know,” I said, with a pained sigh.

“Wait, I think I remember the way I came in when they moved me to our cell,” Em said.

My expression lifted. “Yeah? Which way?”

She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “Left,” Em decided.

“Are you sure?” I asked, eyeing her closely.

She nodded. “I’m almost positive.”

“Almost positive?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s just give it a try, all right?”

“Okay.” I had to trust her instincts. They were our best hope right now. We started down the left hallway, walking slowly and quietly. If any fairies came our way, we wouldn’t have much of a chance to hide or escape.

My heart pounded as we walked through the prison. A few times, we passed other cells holding elves and other creatures. I even saw a gnome or two who reminded me of Mac. Again, I hoped he was okay back home.

Seeing all of the imprisoned elves made my heart ache, but there was nothing we could do to help them. If we stopped now, we would risk getting caught. No matter how difficult it was to hear the moans and pleas, we kept going.

The darkness made travel difficult, but after a while our eyes adjusted to the blackness of the prison. I fervently wished for the light of my wings, but withdrew the wish when I realized a light of any kind would also make it easier for the guards to catch us.