Zora's Dawn (Defender Book 1) (13 page)

They both
settled into silence, Marcus sipping his coffee and Zora enjoying her tea while
the rest of their group chatted quietly. It seemed that they were the only two
who were not morning people. Zora wondered if she was going really going to
wake each morning at dawn, it was not a prospect she relished. Maybe she could
wake, recharge or whatever, and then go back to sleep. She could maybe open her
curtains and a window and get her sun fix that way. She shrugged, she really
could not see her sleeping patterns changing no matter what Axel said.

Bringing
her focus back to the group she saw that Sunny and the fairy guard were clearing
off the table. Axel stood and just like that commanded the attention of
everyone. “We will leave in two hours everyone, so get ready and we will meet
here on the veranda.”

Sunny
cleared her throat nervously and Axel turned his attention to her. “Yes Sunny,
what’s bothering you?”

“Axel do
we have a place to arrive at? Like, we won’t just materialise in the middle of
a street or a building or something?”

Smiling at
her Axel replied in a soothing tone, “We will arrive in the grounds of one of
my mother the Queen’s properties. The guard there knows we are coming and will
be waiting for us. Do not worry Sunny, nobody will see us arrive that should
not and we will certainly not materialise in the middle of a wall or some such
thing, if that is what you were worried about.”

Sunny
looked relieved and left with the fairy guard and all the dishes. Zora was also
relieved, she had worried about that too but didn’t want to say anything. She
was still nervous about the new mode of transport but was trying to convince
herself that it must be safe since Axel had been using it for hundreds of years
without any obvious problem. She followed Sunny off the veranda, feeling the
need for a shower after the nightmare of the previous night.

Two hours
later they were all assembled on the veranda, Zora and Sunny at least feeling
very nervous about what was to come. Axel assigned luggage transportation to
the other four members of the fairy guard, Samantha having already been given
the duty of transporting Powers. Sunny was standing with Marcus and looking less
than happy to be with him. Zora was standing a little behind Axel and wishing
she was anywhere but right there.

Axel had
decided that the fairy guard should go first, and as Zora watched they all
began to fade into the rainbow mist. She stared most closely at Samantha and
Powers, wondering if the rainbow would change at all with the addition of
Powers. She shuddered a little watching them dissolve, not looking forward to
finding out what that was going to feel like. As she watched Samantha and
Powers disappeared into the swirling mist. As before it was coloured gold,
silver and green, but this time there was a sprinkling of a new colour, purple.
Was that Powers? Or just an indication that Samantha had a passenger?

Axel took
her hand. “Little Zora, the colours you see in the fairy guard mist, what are
they?”

 Puzzled,
Zora nonetheless had no difficulty remembering. “They all are mostly gold with
some silver, but Cameron and Samantha also have some green, James has some red,
Arthur blue and Clare aqua. But just now I saw purple in Samantha’s mist and
I’m sure it wasn’t there before.”

Axel
nodded in satisfaction. “As I thought, you can see the full spectrum of them.
Remind me to explain the colours to you soon. The purple you saw was Powers,
that is his aura. Open yourself and you will see it around him. You should do
some research on aura colours little Zora, it will teach you a lot. But it does
not exactly apply to fairies.”

As
happened so often with Axel, his answer simply created more questions and he
clearly was not about to explain any further. Sighing internally Zora added to
the already long list of questions on her mental list.

Axel
meanwhile was giving instructions to Marcus. “When you arrive the resident guard
will be there to greet you. Remember Sunny will be disoriented so give her some
recovery time before you move into the house. We will join you shortly anyway.”

Marcus
joined hands with Sunny and moved her closer, until she was aligned against
him.

She looked
up at him worriedly. “Is there any danger of your cells and my cells mixing if
we touch?”

 Marcus
threw his head back and laughed with far more amusement than the question
warranted, at least in Zora’s opinion and no doubt Sunny’s too. “Like in that
movie
The Fly
? You are worried you will arrive with my hair or fangs
perhaps? That was just an imaginative movie, it doesn’t work like that. I simply
need contact with you to be able to transport you and the closer you are the
easier it is. I promise you will arrive safely and intact. Don’t worry, I’ll
look after you.”

Sunny
gulped and nodded. At Axel’s raised eyebrow she managed a smile – a grimace
more than a smile really but she stayed where she was.

Marcus
looked down at her. “Ready?” Looking ready to faint Sunny tried a casual shrug
but didn’t speak.  “Right, let’s go!” So saying they began to shimmer into the
mist. Zora was sure she heard a squeak from Sunny just before they disappeared.

Zora
decided to focus on the mist and not that squeak; this time she noticed more
colour than before. The mist was still white, but she could see now that there
were flecks of colour in it, some were blue which she knew now was Sunny and
some were more silver than white. As she watched the mist thicken and swirl faster
Zora wondered if aura colours applied to vampires or if they had special rules
like the fairies.

“The rules
for aura colours apply to vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters as they do to
humans. Remember we the fairies are of Gaia, all rules are different for us.”
Axel reached for her hand and drew her closer as Marcus had done with Sunny.
Zora tried to be relaxed about it but it was hard to do. And of course Axel
knew what she was thinking so she couldn’t lie to him. “Relax little Zora, it
is a strange feeling but it does not hurt and it will be over very quickly.
Okay, let’s go.”

Zora at
first felt nothing and began to relax but then she realised why Marcus had said
it was fracturing. She felt a tugging sensation, and while Axel was correct in
that it didn’t hurt, it did feel very uncomfortable. Her body felt like it was
being pulled apart which, she realised, it was and that was a terrifying
thought. She had closed her eyes but now she opened them and looked down at
herself. Big, big mistake. Where was her body? All she could see of her lower
body was a swirling mist and even as she watched her torso began to waver and
dissolve.

It was a
horrible feeling, like she was a pencil drawing that was being erased. Their
joined hands disappeared and Zora felt a jolt of sheer panic as she felt her
physical connection to Axel vanish. She was being sucked into a void, a
beautiful void, silver and gold and white with accents of pale yellow, but
there was nothing to hold onto. She felt her mind scream as she disappeared,
but then with a pop her physical connection to Axel returned.

Zora
stumbled as sensation returned fully and she opened her eyes to see a formal
garden that was definitely not Powers yard. Standing in front of her wearing
identical expressions of concern were two people she did not know, members of
the resident guard she supposed. Over to her left Marcus was practically
holding up a pale and shaking Sunny. Zora swallowed as she felt a wave of
nausea rise and her stomach threatened to evict all of her breakfast. Her legs
felt like jelly and her knees buckled, it was only the strong arm of Axel
around her waist that stopped her from falling to the ground.

“Little
Zora, remember to breathe or you will faint. You are feeling the effects of the
displacement, they will not last for long. Just take long slow breaths and you
will feel better very soon.”

As he
spoke Zora realised that she was in fact holding her breath and forced her lungs
to work again. With each slow and careful breath she felt her strength
returning and the nausea recede. Soon she felt strong enough to stand
unassisted but Sunny was still looking very shaken.

Axel
scrutinised her with an assessing look. “You seem much better now little Zora.
You would like some water? Or perhaps a cup of tea would be more appreciated.”

As he
spoke he began walking her toward the remaining member of the resident guard who
was waiting to greet them. He was a tall slender man with jet black hair and
startling green eyes set against copper skin. He greeted them formally before
leading the way up a wide graceful staircase to a lovely shaded veranda. Now
that she was feeling better Zora could see that this was a beautiful stately
Queenslander home. It was a home befitting royalty and she for one was feeling
a bit anxious in case she broke any of what where clearly antiques.

The guard
led them into the house and settled them in a cool and elegant drawing room.
Everyone else was already there, looking relaxed and comfortable. Powers she
noted was still a bit pale – she couldn’t decide if she liked knowing he
struggled with the trip or felt anxious at this evidence that it didn’t get
much easier with practice.

Sunny
entered soon after, still looking very pale. However she brightened as the
guard entered with tea and coffee and delicious looking finger food. On seeing
the food Zora realised that she was starving, the effects of mist travel she
supposed. A reluctant smile on Powers’ face and a rather undignified snort from
Axel took her attention from the food, and she wondered uneasily if Axel was
amused or offended by her flippant thought. The fairy in question was reaching
for a napkin which he used to wipe his flushed face.

“Did you
just snort coffee out your nose?” Marcus was wearing a huge grin, Powers also
but the rest of their group was looking understandably puzzled.

“You know
I often feel like I’m missing something with you all. Like I’m being left out
of a joke and frankly it’s rather annoying.” Sunny frowned in the general
direction of everyone.

Marcus,
who was of course sitting beside her, took her hand which diverted Sunny’s
frown directly at him. He winced a little, she really did look quite ferocious.
“You know that there is a bond between a Guardian and his Defender, yes?” At
Sunny’s nod he continued, “Well part of that bond is that Powers can often read
Zora’s thoughts. And Axel, being the fairy prince, can read anyone’s thoughts.
He is checking on Zora’s state of mind because of her new status as Defender
and her subsequent rather steep learning curve.”

Sunny lost
her irritated look, replacing it with an expression of deep commiseration which
Zora did not like at all. “Zora, that has to be terrible for you! Powers can
read your mind? Man, it sucks to be you! But I don’t get what was so funny before?
I mean, Axel snorted coffee out his nose!”

Marcus
shrugged, and looked at Axel with one eyebrow raised in enquiry. These alpha
men sure did use their eyebrows a lot thought Zora inconsequentially.

“Well
little Zora here is really a delight, she has such a unique way with words. She
has named our method of travel ‘mist travel’, which really is very apt. I don’t
know why we haven’t been calling it that all along.”

Marcus
grinned in appreciation along with the fairy guard, but Sunny looked confused. “Mist
travel? I don’t understand. I would have called it blink travel, I mean one
minute you’re there and the next you’re gone. Where’s the mist?”

Axel
smiled gently at her. “Little Sunny, you have many talents, some of which you
do not know about as yet. Seeing the manifestation when we use our abilities is
not one of them, but it is an ability which Zora has. When we travel we use something
that looks like mist and Zora can see it. That is why she called it mist
travel.”

Sunny sat
in thoughtful silence for a few minutes. Zora, seeing where her thoughts were
going developed an intense interest in her coffee cup and waited. “When you say
you use a mist, do you mean the mist is the method of transportation?”

Marcus
looked like a proud teacher. “Exactly Sunny. The mist is what allows us to
dissolve and reappear.”

“Dissolve
and reappear?? Like we become just mist and then reform? That’s not at all
reassuring. Did you see this Zora?”

Zora
nodded. “Yes, that’s what I see.”

Sunny
stared at her, aghast. “You can see us dissolve, like melt away into nothing?
And you still did it? God, I don’t know if you’re brave or stupid! I’m totally
never dissolving again, just for the record.”

Axel and
Marcus just shrugged. Zora knew it was because Sunny would be using mist travel
as needed whether she wanted to or not. Before any more could be said on the
subject Axel clapped his hands sharply which brought the resident guard almost
instantly into the room. They began clearing away the plates and cups while
Axel addressed them all.

“We will
go to the first site very soon, so all of you should go to your rooms and
freshen up before we leave. We will come back here in one hour.”

Sunny
stared at him suspiciously, not moving from her seat. “How are we going to get
there Axel?”

Grinning, Axel
replied, “Oh not by mist travel Sunny, although you may wish we did. We have a
driver who will be here soon.”

Regular
means of transport, Sunny looked relieved while Zora felt the same but as a
matter of pride tried not to let it show on her face. They all started to file
out of the room but Sunny stopped in the doorway, blocking the way of Zora as
she did so.

She swung
around and addressed Axel. “Hey Axel, what do you mean I have talents I don’t
know about?”

Axel just
smiled, “You will see Sunny when the time is right.”

Sunny
stomped her foot in frustration and uttered a decidedly unladylike word before
flouncing off after her assigned guard. Zora followed more slowly, wondering
what Axel meant and if it had anything to do with the blue aura which had just
now flared brighter with Sunny’s frustration. The fairy prince certainly had a
way of withholding information, which tied in with what Powers had told her
about their need to know policy.