The Changeling (Book One of The Síofra Chronicles) (7 page)

"Cassie, look!" he exclaimed, withdrawing his hand and pointing it at the water.

I turned and looked at the water, momentarily blinded by the white light that had filled the Pool.  I jerked my hand back out of the water and the light dissipated at once, but there was no dream dancer.  She was gone.

"You did it!" Aleksander cheered, pride filling his voice. "You learned how to nudge a soul.  This is fantastic. In a nightmare situation, you not only have to contend with everything you did here, but with the nightmare world created by the dreamer.  It’s not easy, but I will show you how when you’re ready."

A grin split my face wide open as we both sat up, and I pitched myself into him, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him to me.  Aleksander stiffened and then returned my embrace, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his chest, sending my heart fluttering.

"I can't believe I did it!" I said happily, feeling almost giddy in my excitement. 

"You were made for this, Cassie," he said, his warm breath tickling my ear as he held me tighter.  

His words resonated in me, and I felt a spark of pride unfurl in my chest.  I untangled myself from his arms and grinned at him. 

"So you think I'd be good at this?"

"I think you're going to make an amazing Fae," he replied, his eyes shining brightly with emotion.  "This is your calling.  I know it.  Look at how easily you called that light to you. The fact that you can feel love so strongly speaks volumes about you, Cassie."

I would never tell him that the thoughts that had consumed my body and sent the good emotions into the ball of light that had rested in my palm had only come when I thought of him.  

Chapter Eight

I was surprised to find myself alone on the beach for once.  In the weeks that had passed since my birthday, Aleksander had always been there to greet me upon my arrival, but for once I had fallen asleep early.  I sat down on a large rock and watched the sea for a while, willing myself not to be impatient and thinking of all the wonderful things I had learned since I had finally accepted that everything he had told me was true.  I was a changeling. 

It was strange to think that my soul was different than everyone around me, and except for those moments that I spent among the Fae instead of dreaming, it was easy to convince myself that it was a crazy break from reality probably brought on from the stress of being away from home for the first time in my life and trying to muddle my way through playing grown up when I didn’t feel like a grown up yet.

I soon grew bored waiting for him and decided instead to walk along the shore and try to catch a glimpse of the kelpies playing in the surf again. 

The kelpies made their home in the depths of the sea, but Aleksander had shown me places along the cliffs where they liked to frolic on the beach, their beautiful horse-like bodies graceful and entrancing as they ran along the sands.  He had warned me not to get too close, as they were capable of shifting forms and working their magic upon unsuspecting mortals as they made their way between the worlds.  I wasn't exactly a mortal anymore, but I wasn't willing to find out how well their magic worked on semi sort-of mortals, so I followed a path up to the edge of the cliffs and settled in to watch them from a safe distance.

I wondered how exactly they managed to move between the worlds when the Fae couldn't.  Perhaps there was a weak spot between the dimensions in the sea that Fae couldn't reach?  Truthfully, I wasn't even sure how it was that I managed to pass through the barriers between the worlds when Aleksander couldn't.

The Kelpies were hypnotically beautiful creatures, and I pitied the unsuspecting mortal who fell under their spell, only to be dragged back here and forced to be their servants. They were amazing to behold, but it still astounded me that such graceful and beautiful creatures could mask such a terrible nature underneath.

A voice interrupted my thoughts, startling me. "Beautiful, aren't they?"

I turned and saw a handsome young man standing next to me and was unsettled that I hadn't heard him coming.  He had hair so blond and pale it appeared white in the moonlight and cheekbones that seemed to be carved from marble. He might have looked appealing except for his eyes. They were as green as mine, but there was something about the shape. It was as if they were too large for his face, too long and harsh. I had to tear my gaze away from them and felt horrible for staring.

"They are," I agreed.  His full lips pulled into a welcoming smile.  I climbed to my feet and offered the stranger my hand.  "I’m Cassie."

He stared at my hand curiously but made no move to take it.  I let it fall limply to my side, my face coloring in embarrassment. 

"You may call me Niall," he replied politely.  "If I may be so bold, what is a young Síofra such as yourself doing without a Caomhnóir at her side?" His strange eyes glittered with interest.

"I think I fell asleep early," I said sheepishly.  "I waited for a while but he hasn't come yet, so I figured I would come watch the Kelpies while I waited."  I chewed my lip and wondered if perhaps I should have waited longer. I promised myself that as soon as I could ditch the stranger I would head right back down to the beach and wait patiently for Aleksander.

"Hm," Niall said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.  "And which of the Caomhnóir has been tasked with your keeping, young one?" 

I bristled at his words, as if I were a wayward child running amok.

"Aleksander," I said.

"Ah, yes. I am acquainted with him," he replied, his eyes lighting up and a broad grin stretching across his face.  "He was near the piskie nests when I saw him last.  Has he taken you to see them yet?"

I shook my head. “I’ve never even heard of a piskie.”

"Ah, no matter," he chirped, discarding his earlier distaste and grabbing my hand, tugging me forward.  His palms were cold like ice and I flinched at the contact, quickly pulling my hand from his grasp.  "I'll show you the way.  Piskies are wondrous creatures.  All Síofra should learn about the them."

"That sounds great.”  I didn't want to go anywhere with Niall.  Something about his smile was unsettling, but if he knew where Aleksander was, it was best to play nice and find him.

He gestured for me to follow him and led me down the path toward the tree line. I hadn't been to this part of the woods before, and I noticed how different it felt.  The air was colder and the shadows seemed deeper, more sinister.  The canopy of leaves overhead was so dense that it obscured the moonlight that normally lit the landscape until it was as bright as high noon. I shivered and ran my hands over my arms, trying to warm my skin.

"Not much farther now," Niall smiled patronizingly at me.  "Keep up.  We wouldn’t want you to get lost in the Wandering Wood now, would we?"

I nodded and followed him, trying not to tremble with the growing sense of unease.

We came upon a dense thicket near a stream and Niall gestured toward it.  The shrubbery was thicker here, looking like untrimmed hedges blocking my path.

"Here we are," he chirped.  "Last I saw Aleksander, he was heading this way.  They'll be right through that hedge.  I would take you all the way but I'm afraid I must be going. I have tarried from my journey long enough. Push through the greenery, and if the piskies give you any trouble, you can tell them that Niall sent you."

“Thanks,” I said, trying to be polite, grateful that he was heading off. I’d feel much better without his strange eyes on me. 

He flashed me a toothy grin and disappeared back into the tree line, turning to give me one last amused wave before he was gone. 

The greenery was so thick I had to feel along the edges for a place where the branches thinned enough for me to move past.  The branches scraped my face and my shirt snagged on another and I turned to tug it free. The material gave faster than I was prepared for and I fell the rest of the way through the hedge, landing flat on my back with
an oomph.

"Ow," I moaned, rolling to my side and wincing at the pain in my back from the hard landing. I rubbed at the sore spot, trying to will the pain away, and pulled myself to standing, checking out my surroundings for Aleksander. 

At first glance, it appeared I was alone in the small clearing.  It was ringed in thick hedges with small lights interspersed among the leaves.  If I were back home, I would think they were Christmas lights, but these looked like tiny little lanterns. 

I leaned over toward one of the hedges, inspecting the light, and heard soft, sweet music playing.  It was delicate and vibrant at the same time, and I felt the sudden urge to move my body along with the music, as if I would only dance, all would be well.  I closed my eyes and allowed the music to wash over me, wrapping around me and soothing my rough edges.  When I opened them again, I saw that I wasn't alone.

Tiny little lights of red and green floated around me, and I blinked, surprised.  I held out a finger and allowed a green light to touch it, leaning in to inspect it, and gasped in shock.

It was a little person!  The light was shaped like a small human with gossamer wings affixed to its back like a dragonfly. It was beautiful, and I stared in fascination as it emitted a low anxious buzz, as if it were yelling at me for disturbing their revels. So this was a piskie.  I wondered why Aleksander had not brought me here to see these creatures. Niall had been right, and I felt guilty for feeling so uncharitable about the strange Fae. They were wondrous.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand," I told the chattering piskie in my palm.  More of the bright piskies alighted upon me along my shoulders and arms.  "I'm looking for somebody. My Caomhnóir?  Niall said he might be here."

The angry buzz erupted from all of the lights now, and they darted about wildly, agitated.  Sharp pain ripped through my scalp as several piskies grasped strands of my hair and began yanking and tugging at it.

"Ow! Stop that!"  I batted them away with my hand, but the buzzing only increased, growing louder and louder, filling my ears.  They were swarming faster now, angry and violent, and I darted toward the bushes and pushed my way through, desperate to escape their attack.

A sharp burst of fiery pain roared up my arm and I screamed, trying desperately to dislodge a piskie that had its sharp needlelike teeth sunk into my arm.  I swatted it away and pulled my arm into my chest, holding it tightly as if the pressure would ease the ache. Pain burned and traveled up my arm, radiating into my shoulder and my side.  The buzzing increased again and I knew they were swarming again, preparing to attack, so I did the only thing I could.

I ran.

I sprinted through the trees toward the beach, willing myself to wake up but finding that I was unable to concentrate as the fire raged in my body and the panic clouded my mind.

I burst through the trees and hit a large obstacle, knocking us both to the ground. I cried out as I landed on my already injured arm, and rolled myself into a ball, desperate to protect myself from the swarming sprites. 

"Cassie?" Aleksander's voice registered over the panic, his fingers running over my face and body, checking for broken skin and bruises. 

I sobbed when his fingers touched my arm, the pain throbbing and burning at his touch. "Please don't!" I bawled. "Don't touch my arm!" 

The buzzing grew louder as the piskies broke through the tree line behind me, but they stopped short when they saw Aleksander.

He took in the their sudden appearance and then looked down at where I lay curled in the sand crying, my wounded arm pulled tight into my chest.  His face blackened with rage, his eyes flashing as he held out his hand, and a bright light flared in their direction. They barreled into the light full steam and bounced off as if they were hitting a wall.

"Did you do this?" he demanded. 

The buzzing abated and the strange chattering began again. The little piskie gibbering at Aleksander was no doubt blaming me for not allowing them to rip out all my hair.  They weren’t wondrous at all. They were terrible, horrible little demons.

"Niall?" he asked the sprite, his face paling as he looked back down to me. "When did you talk to Niall?"

"Earlier today," I gasped, the burn in my arm spreading now to my chest, making it hard to breathe. "I waited for you, but when you didn't show up, I went to the cliffs to watch the Kelpies.  He was there and said he had last seen you near the piskie nests and took me there.  He said to tell them he sent me." 

Aleksander let out a string of words in a language I didn’t understand that sounded an awful lot like profanities and dismissed the piskies with a glare and a warning before examining the bite marks on my arm.

"Niall is no friend of yours or mine—or the piskies for that matter.  Fae cannot lie but that doesn't mean you can trust them, especially not the Unseelie," he said, ripping off a section along the hem of his shirt and trying to fasten what looked like a modified tourniquet above the bite.

"Well apparently nobody told him about the ‘no lie’ thing because you weren't at the piskie nest." I winced as he tightened the fabric, cutting off my circulation in a belated attempt to stop the fire blazing through my veins.

"It wasn't a lie," Aleksander said flatly. "The last time I saw Niall, I was near the piskie nests.  What he neglected to tell you was that this was after he’d terrorized the poor things, stealing all their wine and hiding their instruments.  Nor, I imagine, did he tell you that this was almost two seasons ago. He didn't lie to you. He just wasn't honest with you."

I blinked at him.  His face looked odd. 
Blurry and distorted, like looking in a cheap metal mirror.  I felt lightheaded and queasy, as if I had had too much alcohol to drink and was going to be violently ill.

"It burns," I
said, rubbing my chest with my other arm like I could massage the pain out.  "In my chest, it burns."

Aleksander paled. Or at least I think he paled. He looked so odd. His eyes were huge and luminous, much too large for his face.  Laughter spilled from my lips, and I reached to touch his features, wondering if he knew that his face was all out of sorts. I needed sleep.  It had been so long since I had really slept.  I was always here when my body rested, and when it
wasn't, I was in my normal life. Going, going, going—never a chance to rest. 

"I feel like a clock that hasn't been wound," I
sighed  as he scooped me into his arms and held me against his chest. It was warm, and I rested my head wearily on his shoulder as he carried me away from the beach.  "I feel like I'm running out of time, winding down, slowing down until I stop."

"You're not running out of time, Cassie," he said brusquely, his voice thick with something I couldn't pinpoint with my head so fuzzy and unclear.  "We have all the time in the world.  Although I can’t say the same about Niall when I get my hands on him. The Queen will be hearing about this."

"I like your hands where they are," I sighed and snuggled into his chest, feeling myself drift. 
Do faeries dream
? I wondered.  I had the distinct feeling that I was about to find out. "I'm so tired..."