Your reviews have flattered me beyond belief. All I can say is… thank you so, so much. :) I never thought that my story would ever gain the following it has, and I'm just very happy that people seem to be enjoying what I've been taking the time to write.
This chapter took me quite a while to pen. It's one that has taken me a long time and painstaking research to make sure I tie up loose ends and explain a LOT. Here you go, getting to dive into my head for a bit. ;) Now on to chapter 14, in which we introduce a whole bunch about a ton of stuff.
Chapter 14: Magic
Thank you for coming, the Fairy Queen's voice radiated through Kendra's mind. The young woman's senses were overwhelmed with various deep, rich smells of the earth as familiar goose bumps broke out over her skin as a consequence to the stimulation.
It was no trouble, Kendra answered. Bracken mentioned that you wanted to speak with me.
Conflicting emotions washed over the young woman. Concern, love, confidence and apprehension all seemed to be vying for control. I am troubled, Kendra Sorenson, the Queen said. I have a favor to ask of you.
The Fairy Queen? Want a favor from her? Eighteen-year-old Kendra? The very idea surprised her – unfortunately, she hadn't yet learned how to mask the thoughts she didn't want to share, as the Queen reminded her by saying, Not everything is within my own capabilities.
I'm sorry, Kendra responded quickly. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. Please – tell me what you need.
My plight concerns my husband, the Fairy Queen stated. He has made no improvement since he was recovered on Shoreless Isle. I am deeply concerned for him. An intense longing such as Kendra had never felt invaded her emotions. I crave his company again. He is so close, yet he is not whole.
I lack the strength to bring him out of his catatonia, she explained. It is true that it has not been very long since he was rescued, however all of my best healers are mystified. There should have been some sign of recovery by now. Something miniscule, perhaps, but there has been nothing. Powerful sadness emanated from somewhere deep inside of Kendra, and tears started to spill out of her own eyes in reaction to the intensity of the emotion that was being conveyed to her.
Yet there is hope, the Queen continued. I have great reason to believe that he is meant to return to me.
Kendra's sight went temporarily black, and shortly thereafter was replaced with a vision of a fairy lying on a soft cushion. The fairy didn't look battered or bruised in any way, but it was clear that there was no energy inside or around it as it laid still as a stone.
Is that fairy a boy? Kendra inquired, wide-eyed with shock. She'd never seen a male fairy before.
Indeed, the Queen responded. I witnessed him transform from an imp back into a fairy several weeks ago. There is a preserve in Finland where my fourth shrine was recently opened, which is where he has been residing. What is particularly amazing about this is that he transformed with no magical assistance from either my sisters or myself.
How is this possible?
When my husband fell, the male fairies also fell – thus the imps were born, the Queen began. I have never been able to transform a male imp back into a fairy; that power has escaped me. The fact that one of our brothers has returned is proof, to me, that the King is meant to recover. A well of hope seemed to spring up inside of Kendra. Both the fairy and the King are in an inert state. None of my healers have been successful at reviving either of them.
What can I do? Kendra asked. She sensed hesitancy in response.
My favor is large, the Queen answered slowly. I've told you before that you and I draw our power from the same source. I believe that if you and I work together, we can revive my husband. I also believe that if he is revived, the fairy will be as well in consequence. Perhaps more male imps will return as well.
How can I help?
Kendra, it is important that you understand – I do not know if this will work. I hope for it, and I am confident that it will, but I am ultimately unsure. I also must caution you – I do not know what kind of an effect your assistance may have on your person.
The young woman blinked, and the vision of the motionless fairy dissipated. What should I prepare for?
Under no circumstances will I allow you to lose your life, the Queen answered. My conscience would mourn your loss forever. My son would be deeply grieved. Your family would suffer greatly. I do not wish to invoke those consequences.
However, the Queen continued, I feel it important to inform you that on my own, I exhausted my strength in my effort to revive the King. Shortly before I collapsed, I felt that I was close to making a breakthrough of some sort. Not long after I awoke, we found our brother struggling to return to us.
Have you recovered? Kendra asked in unease.
Warm affection flooded her mind. I am whole. Do not fret. I worry for your safety, should you agree to aid me; I will not allow anything lasting to happen to you, but draining your magical energy could cause unforeseen side-effects. I simply do not know for sure.
Kendra hesitated, then said, We draw our power from the same source? If you don't mind my asking – why do you picture different results if we work together?
A valid question. I exhausted my own strength; I did not exhaust the energy of the source, the Queen responded. I feel that if we both draw on our energy, we will be able to better access the source and will have a much better chance of success than if we were to go about it separately. I have already demonstrated that the separate approach does not succeed. I also believe we may be able to control the situation better as a team; perhaps the energy will not flee from me so quickly as it did before.
I can sense your next question, and that one is also valid, she continued. The unicorns in my realm do not have quite the same ability to access the deep well of energy that I do. My eldest daughter is the closest; she will be with us, but will not intervene unless necessary.
Before I conclude my petition, Kendra, I wish to make it clear that I respect your decision. I desire your aid with fervor, but if you are unwilling to assist then I will find another way. I will continuously search until I have discovered a remedy for my husband.
I am honored that you have been so candid with me, Kendra started. I will do what I can. Please – teach me what I must do.
Relief, happiness, nervousness, warm love and quiet peace filled the young woman's body. Thank you, Kendra Sorenson. I will never forget your kindness.
You have helped me in the past when I needed it most, Kendra started. It only feels right if I try to return your favor. I honestly hope we will be successful.
As do I, the Queen responded. Would you be willing to come to me now?
Of course, Kendra said. Are you able to somehow notify my family? I need to make sure they know I am safe.
Bracken has told your family, per my request. He is coming to retrieve you now. We will wait for him to arrive; he will not be long.
Kendra shifted from a kneeling position to a sitting one in order to get a little more comfortable. It really wasn't long before she saw Bracken's familiar form jogging into view. He truly was too handsome for words – more handsome than anyone deserved, let alone herself.
For what my opinion is worth, the Fairy Queen's voice resounded through her mind, I disagree with part of your belief. He is handsome, and you deserve him.
Cheeks flushed brilliantly, Kendra hid her head in her hands. How could she forget where she was, and that quickly no less!?
I'm embarrassed, Kendra thought.
Lighthearted feelings encased the young woman. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, she heard. Love deserves to be celebrated. I can think of no one better for my son.
"I told you she approved of you," Bracken whispered in her ear, causing her to jump with surprise.
"How did you get here so quickly?" she cried out, pressing a hand to her chest in an effort to calm her speeding heart.
Bracken shrugged his shoulders and said, "I have my ways."
I gave him a talisman, the Queen inserted herself into their conversation. With it, he can immediately transport himself over short distances.
"That too," he said, smiling at Kendra and grabbing hold of her hands to pull her into a standing position. "Kendra, words can't describe our gratitude to you. Especially my mother's gratitude. She has borne a heavy burden by herself for many, many years."
"I will do whatever I can," she answered.
Your willingness to help speaks volumes about you, the Queen's voice resounded in Kendra's mind. Bracken, please help her through. I will open the portal.
"This way," Bracken directed, tugging Kendra by the hand and leading her directly behind the tiny fairy statue. He pulled her close and instructed, "Keep in contact with me. This will be quick."
She buried her face in her boyfriend's chest, nervousness edging into her being.
"I won't let anything happen to you," Bracken told her. "Neither will Mother."
Kendra saw a flash of light that lasted for a few seconds. She felt a gentle tug from some unknown force, trying to pull her apart from Bracken. The feeling didn't last long, and was very much unsuccessful in its feeble attempt to separate them. Before she could register much of anything, the light dissipated and Kendra found herself standing with Bracken at the top of a grassy hill, in front of another tiny fairy statue. The hill itself was a gradual one that eventually sloped into a tropical forest in all directions. The scenery vaguely reminded Kendra of pictures she'd seen of Vietnam in her history books. Various hills similar to the one they stood on peaked their heads out from between the trees. They seemed to be in a gigantic circular pattern.
"Is this really the Fairy Queen's realm?" Kendra asked, wonder in her voice.
"Yes," Bracken replied, watching her face to take in her reaction. "Keep in mind that this realm is nowhere near complete. It will be several hundred – perhaps thousand – years to get it up to par with what the previous realm looked like. Even then, it will not yet be the same; but we have plans to make this one greater than the last one. Much work has been done, and much more still has yet to be done."
"I feel like I'm on some tropical island, except… I don't see an ocean."
Bracken smiled. "Water is a very important influence. You will see a lot of it. Each shrine to the Queen, both here and in your realm, are accompanied by water. The element has magical properties that are easily influenced and augmented by the Queen's energy, which in turn keeps the shrines from becoming inactive or dormant."
Kendra looked at the small fairy statue at their feet, and sure enough there was a small trickle of water bubbling up out of the ground and running down the hill. Overhead, two brilliant red and gold birds flew alongside each other while playfully pecking at each other. "Are those phoenixes?" Kendra asked.
"Yes," Bracken responded. "They came here only a few months ago, and agreed to keep watch over the shrines in exchange for safe passage to and from Mother's realm." He then pointed to the other hills that Kendra had noticed earlier. "Each of these hills is a link to your world, connected to different shrines. The magic that creates the portals to bind each of the mortal shrines to our world is immense and uses a lot of resources. After each shrine is created, there has to be a period of rest before we can resume efforts on another one. We were going to open a sixth shrine, however that particular project has been placed on hold until we can find some sense of anything from my father. He has become our top priority."
Bracken grasped Kendra's hand and led her down the slope, into the trees. "There has been a suggestion that my mother isn't fond of," he began as they walked. "A few of the healers believe that if several unicorns were to draw on the energy of their third horns and attempt to heal my father at the same time, it would draw him out of his current state. My mother and several of the other healers believe that this type of approach would likely kill him – it would be too much, like giving someone an overdose of something good that leads instead to something inadvertently horrible.
"Needless to say, Mother has not allowed anyone to attempt that particular method. A couple of unicorns have tried to heal him on their own, but each time they've exhausted their energy within moments. Mother lasted much longer than any of the others had, but even her strength was quickly drained. Her theory involving you is an interesting one, and the healers are in a consensus that it is worth trying. The risk to my father is believed to be very small, since it wouldn't be the power of multiple third horns attempting to repair him – but rather the concentrated power of one, the one with the greatest depth to it, and the one that he is already tied to."
"I draw my power from your mother's third horn?" Kendra asked, pausing as she walked.
"Yes," Bracken responded. "You have the power of a unicorn – the most powerful unicorn – within you. There is more to it, as well – Mother has a unique bond with nearly all creatures of light, most especially the fairies, and those bonds have been woven into the deep power of her third horn as well as her person. Can you understand why I was so perplexed that you couldn't identify me when we first met? Why becoming fairykind is such a big deal?"
Kendra was clearly feeling overwhelmed. "You can't be serious."
"I wouldn't lie about something like this," Bracken answered. "Actually, I'm a really terrible liar. Always have been."
"Your father is tied to the same horn?" she asked.
He nodded in response. "My mother and father's power was united – to an extent – when they were married. Unicorn marriages are infrequent and very solidly binding."
"I don't understand. How can we all draw from the same place?"
"It takes what you would call 'magic' in order to make it happen. And it's not a normal occurrence, although it's not necessarily rare."
Kendra remembered the shadow plague that had threatened to destroy Fablehaven several years back. Ephira and Kurisock had kind of shared power through Ephira's tree. What Bracken was telling her now sounded similar to that, only with her and the Fairy Queen instead of the spectral hamadryad and the demon. And a whole lot less destructive and, well… dark.
"How am I supposed to use my energy on purpose?" Kendra asked in a small voice as they continued walking. "I don't know how to channel it or trigger anything."
"Mother will guide you." He paused for a moment. "My sister will intervene if necessary."
"What about you?"
"Females have long been more magically powerful than males when it comes to creatures of light," Bracken explained. "That is the first factor that has to be taken into account. The second is that I am not connected to my mother's horn – my sister is beginning to forge a connection, so at least she has a small opportunity to help if needed. The third item to keep in mind is that I don't have use of my own third horn, which limits my abilities greatly."
"You make it sound like you're weak. I don't think you're weak at all," Kendra responded.
He grinned and pulled her into a quick hug, then kept walking. The ground beneath their feet was soft and springy, as though it had never been tread upon before. "I'm not weak," he corrected. "You have access to more power than I do, though."
"That's crazy," she objected. "There's no way I could do all the things you can do."
"Kendra, if you were to live beyond what your human life allows, you would eventually be able to do things I could never achieve."
"The idea that I could eventually kick butt worse than you is insane," she argued.
He laughed. "You always surprise me. I was talking more along the lines of magical prowess rather than physical, but okay." The trees started to thin out, and Bracken pointed to a gap about fifty yards in front of them. "Not much farther. We'll be able to see Mother's home once we break through those trees." He grabbed hold of her hand again, then continued to speak. "I will be with you the entire time we're here. I'm so glad you came with me today, for many reasons. One of which is that now I get to show you off."
She blushed. "Show me off?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" He winked at her and parted the foliage, then led her through the gap as he held the branches back for her.
The sight she was met with took her breath away. She and Bracken were standing at the top of a cliff that formed a massive, imperfect circle. At the opposite side of the cliff from where they were standing, a river cascaded down the face and created a magnificent, roaring waterfall. The drop was quite long, and the pool the waterfall eventually fell down into was hidden by a veil of mist that rose up from the ground. A distance to Bracken and Kendra's right was a very large, beautiful building made of stone that had been seemingly built into the wall of the cliff. It was also located inside the circle of the protective cliff, however it was mostly situated above where the rising mist from the waterfall could reach. Luscious trees populated the grounds of the building – it wasn't what Kendra would call a castle, yet it was much grander than any house she'd ever seen, both modern and ancient. The leaves were all sorts of fall colors at the moment; vibrant yellows, deep reds, bright oranges.
"This is beautiful," Kendra quietly stated, awe-struck at the sight.
Bracken grinned. "I'm glad you like it," he said. "The fairies and others have worked long and hard on this. They are still working on it. Much is unfinished. Come on, let's go meet Mother."
Kendra followed Bracken as he began the descent down a somewhat crude staircase which was also built into the side of the cliff. The stairs led to the stone building and the wide surrounding grounds. She couldn't believe where she was.
It wasn't long before they came across the first fairies they'd seen since entering the fairy realm. A group of five tiny, delicate ladies appeared to be refining the staircase that Kendra and Bracken were walking down. They stopped working and watched Kendra warily while simultaneously gazing at Bracken with dreamy expressions as the couple walked past them.
"This is Kendra Sorenson, I'm assuming?" a distinguishably female voice asked as they reached the base of the stairs. Kendra turned her head to the right and found a young woman who appeared to be about Bracken's age (however old that was) standing beneath one of the grand trees with red leaves. Her arms were crossed in front of her and she wore a simple yet striking knee-length dress.
"Yes," Bracken answered. "Kendra, this is my youngest sister, Nova." He gestured to the other young woman, who uncrossed her arms and walked forward to kiss Kendra's cheek in greeting.
"Welcome," she said. Her expression remained serious. "You have been the subject of much conversation lately."
"Oh, um… thank you?" Kendra responded, not sure what was appropriate to say in that particular situation.
Nova raised an eyebrow and then looked at her brother like he was crazy, but she grasped Kendra's hand in her own anyway and walked forward. "Mother is this way," she explained.
Kendra wanted to ask Nova questions and learn more about her, but she was hesitant to say anything due to the nature of her visit. She didn't want to make light of the situation.
"That would be appropriate," Nova said aloud, and Kendra once again cursed her inability to remember that unicorns could read thoughts through touch. "You'll learn," Bracken's sister spoke again.
Nova led Kendra through a nearby entryway into the large stone building and Kendra marveled at the beauty inside. Comfortable-looking furniture pieces with intricate wooden designs and plush cushions were expertly set in a warm fashion, creating a relaxed atmosphere. Flowers that Kendra had never seen before seemed to grow from the smooth, glossy floors in artfully arranged places. The walls and ceiling themselves seemed to generate and shed light throughout the rooms they passed – everything in the rooms shone cheerfully.
"Many creatures of light have made homes here," Bracken explained. "Unicorns are the primary inhabitants of this particular building, at least for the time being. There will eventually be many other dwellings in this realm."
"Mother is in there," Nova said, releasing Kendra's hand and motioning her forward, toward a set of double doors. "This is where the healers meet." As Kendra walked forward, she heard the young unicorn say to her brother, "She's alright, but she thinks too much. It's noisy. I don't understand why you're so fond of her."
Bracken chuckled as he accompanied Kendra through the double doors. "Don't mind her," he whispered to Kendra. "Remember, unicorns aren't generally social creatures. Nova is perhaps the most outgoing of my sisters. She hasn't quite learned tact yet, as you can tell."
I'm going to have to cut it here for now, otherwise I'm going to have an entire novel crammed into one chapter (okay, so that may be a little bit of an exaggeration). I wanted to get this one out before the New Year. :) Have a happy 2015, everybody!
The information regarding the fall of the male fairies was pulled from book 4 – just in case anyone was wondering.
When I think of the fairy realm, I think something along the lines of how Rivendell was portrayed (from Lord of the Rings). Similar to the mortal world, yet somehow otherworldly at the same time. I can't picture the Fairy Queen as living in superb splendor – I see her as a humble leader who is worthy of the ardent admiration of the creatures of light who honor her. A leader like that wouldn't place themselves above their subjects, in my opinion.