A Queen Amongst Us

The group from Ohio gathered around Dave, Kurt using Glamour to shield them once again from their government-appointed escorts while the jock told them what happened.

"I had the strangest dream," he said. "I was in a field by a lake, and I just felt the need to run, which isn't unusual; I often go running in the morning. But this felt different. I felt like I had to run to catch myself?" It came out more as a question than anything else. "So, I started running, and I kept thinking to myself, 'I need to run faster,' and then I woke up and found myself about five miles from camp, looking like this!"

Paul was looking at his son in confusion. "I thought he was an Elf?"

"Apparently Dave, like Kurt and Blaine, is a hybrid, or whatever you want to call it," Burt said. "You might want to check and see if there is some centaur in your DNA." The two men exchanged a look, and both broke into laughter. Soon, everyone was joining in. Dave returned back to his human form, and there were a few more giggles before Elliott tossed him a pair of sweatpants.

...

They ate breakfast and packed up for the next leg of their trip. It was an eight hour drive through rugged terrain once more, with only a stop for lunch and a couple for restroom breaks. Kurt was stiff and sore when they finally stopped for the night at the third entrance. All he really wanted to do was soak in a hot bath and go to bed, but there were still a few hours of daylight left, and he had a tunnel entrance to inspect.

Kurt, Blaine, Burt, James, and Dave located the entrance, and walked inside about fifteen feet, shining their flashlights around, checking for damage. Everything seemed fine, and they turned to leave, but Dave held Kurt and Blaine back.

"I need to tell you guys something, in private," he said, his voice low so it wouldn't carry.

Kurt glanced at his dad, who was already almost out of the tunnel, and nodded. "We'll be there in a couple minutes, dad," he called out. They waited until the two older men were outside the tunnel, before turning back to Dave. "What's up?"

"I had another dream last night, besides the running. I dreamed about Rowenna, the Elven Queen, and I remember more about her."

"What did you dream about?" Blaine asked.

"I saw her. She looked familiar, but I didn't recognize her. In the dream, she was healing a child who got sick from eating something they shouldn't have. I remember how caring and gentle she was, despite the fact that she was berating the child's parents for not paying attention to what the kid was eating."

"Sounds like a real contradiction of character. I think I like her already," Kurt said.

"There's more," Dave said. "All day I've had this feeling that she's close, that if I just open my eyes a little wider, I'd see her."

Blaine looked thoughtful. "Do you think it's one of the girls?"

Dave shrugged. "I don't know. I just know we're getting close to finding her."

Kurt wasn't convinced. "You'd think we'd know if it was one of the girls, wouldn't you?"

Blaine shook his head. "Not necessarily. The whole point of no one knowing who they are is to keep them safe, but it would make sense if they were someone close to us, to make it easier to find when the time is right."

Kurt realized that was true, but he still had his doubts. It just seemed way too easy. "Okay, keep your eyes open for anything that might indicate one of the girls is the Elven Queen, but don't rule out the possibility that it could be someone else."

They all agreed, and began walking towards the exit, Dave and Blaine talking about centaurs. Kurt was only half listening, still a little worn out from the previous day's events. None of the three boys noticed the dozen small creatures that crept out of the cracks and shadows, and gathered in the tunnel.

…

He had no idea what time it was. They'd all gone to bed pretty much as soon as the sun had set, weary from the journey. It was still pitch black out, and he had no idea why he was awake. His dad and the other men were all taking turns standing guard again, but he didn't think they'd sounded an alarm or anything.

He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but had the nagging feeling that something was wrong. He didn't feel anything dangerous. Just a sense of something not being right. He glanced at the dark haired boy in the cot next to his, but Blaine was still sound asleep. He slipped out of bed, pulled his jeans on over his pajama pants, and slid his feet into his shoes, before making his way out of the tent.

He spotted their government escorts asleep by the fire, but didn't spot his dad or any of the others who were supposed to be keeping watch. He moved closer to the fire, looking around, that feeling that something wasn't quite as it should be still filling him, although he still didn't feel anything dangerous or malicious.

The sound of someone swearing softly nearby caught his attention, and he followed it to where the trucks were parked. Or where what was left of the trucks were parked. The smaller truck that carried their supplies was now completely disassembled, the pieces scattered about. The larger truck Kurt was really starting to hate was about half disassembled.

He saw Tom Montgomery chasing something he couldn't see away from the area. He was about to call out to the other man, when another sound caught his attention from under the larger truck, and he bent down to see what it was. Two huge, shiny gold eyes looked back at him. For a moment, he was so startled, he didn't really notice the rest of the creature at first. Once he did, the only thing he could think was that Dobby the House Elf and Yoda had a baby, and it was staring back at him from under the truck.

The creature blinked, and then made a chittering noise before taking off. Kurt stood up straight and watched it go, just as Tom was making his way back to the clearing. "What were those things?" Kurt asked.

Tom was startled, not realizing he was there. "Oh, Kurt. Didn't know you were awake. Those were gremlins. Mostly harmless, but very curious, always want to know how things work, and like taking them apart." He frowned at the pieces of dissected truck. "I have no idea how we are going to put these back together before morning!"

Kurt glanced around. "I think I can help. Stand back…" He closed his eyes and concentrated on the vehicles, using his power over any machine to reassemble the conveyances quickly, from the wheels up. He may have also tweaked the engines and made the interior of the larger truck a bit more comfortable, as well as giving it a smoother ride. It took less than five minutes to repair both vehicles.

"Impressive," Tom said. "I assume that was one of your bond wishes?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah. We both sort of just stumbled into our wishes. Of course, we didn't realize at the time we were actually making wishes that would come true."

"Is it true you made wishes for each other, and that your stones are mixed?"

Again Kurt nodded. "Yeah. Blaine wished for me to be able to turn into any animal to protect myself, and I wished he could convince people not to hurt him, which I guess translated into him being able to persuade people to do anything he wants them to, like forget they saw something they shouldn't. Apparently no one told my dad and stepmother that they couldn't make wishes for each other, either, cause they did, too.

"Actually it's kind of sweet, they both made the exact same wish at the exact same moment. He wished for her to be the world's greatest mom, and she wished for him to be the world's greatest dad, which he already was, but now I guess it's official."

Tom laughed. "Your dad is something special, for sure. He really knows his stuff when it comes to a lot of subjects, and he's fiercely loyal." At Kurt's inquisitive look, Tom blushed slightly. "I picked some things up from him when we shook hands the first time."

Kurt smiled and nodded. "So, what are your other gifts?"

Tom shrugged. "I have perfect recall, and I can locate water. Mei Lin has the gift of Glamour, the ability to summon weapons, and to know the weather a day in advance."

They walked back to the fire, where their escort was still sleeping. "You should go back to sleep," Tom urged, but Kurt just shook his head.

"I'm awake now, and it's later than I thought it was. Dawn is less than an hour away. I think I'll take my shower and get dressed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He returned to the tent to gather his clothes and shower gear, and was about to head back out when he noticed that there was another empty cot nearby. Someone else must be up, but he wasn't sure who.

He made his way to the shower and quickly washed up. The cool water felt good, and woke him up even more. He toweled off and dressed quickly, and was halfway back to the tent when something caught his attention.

At first he thought it was a horse, and then thought maybe Dave was out in his centaur form again. But then the creature turned, and Kurt saw the head, which resembled a cross between Blaine's dragon head and a wolf. From the center of its forehead protruded a single horn, like a unicorn.

The creature spotted Kurt, and walked slowly towards him. As it did, Kurt noticed that the creature, whatever it was, moved its feet in a way that left every single blade of grass untouched. It stopped a few feet away and simply studied the pale boy for a moment, before dipping its head in what Kurt could only describe as a polite bow.

"It's a Qilin," an awed voice said from a few paces behind Kurt. The word sounded familiar.

"You mentioned that name once before," he said, glancing over his shoulder at Dave.

"Yes, when we talked about the Phoenix and dragons. Like the Pixiu, the Qilin is one of the guardians of the gate of Heaven."

The being glanced at Dave, and then moved beyond the young men towards the tent. Just before it entered, it shimmered, and changed form, revealing a sleepwalking Trent.

…

It took a while for Kurt and Dave to convince Trent of what they had seen. The young Warbler swore that he had never walked in his sleep before, and had been dreaming about something completely different.

"What did you dream about?" Artie asked.

Trent blushed as he mumbled his reply. "Butterflies."

While everyone else was confused as to why that would make the boy blush, Artie seemed to understand, and grinned at the other boy.

Eventually, they did manage to convince him of what had happened, and he was able to transform once again. After he'd returned to human form, Dave commented, "it makes sense that you'd be the Qilin. You're vegan, and legend says that the Qilin never ate flesh from any animal."

Trent considered that for a moment, and then shrugged. "Even as a little kid, I refused to eat it. The doctors told my parents I had an enzyme issue that made it impossible for me to digest any kind of meat."

"So, you didn't choose to be vegan?" Rachel asked, sounding disappointed.

...

The third day of travel was a little more comfortable, and Kurt decided he was grateful to those gremlins for disassembling the trucks so he could repair them. Why hadn't he thought to do that before?

The night passed uneventfully, and there were no new transformations by the time they set out for the fourth tunnel entrance, which they reached at lunch time. This time they were close to a small village, and were allowed to eat at the small market, before inspecting the tunnel and moving on.

They only had three tunnel entrances left, and two and a half days of traveling across China. Kurt was a little disappointed that they really wouldn't get to see any of the places he'd like to see, such as the panda research station, or Hong Kong Harbor, or be able to experience any of the fancy dining options in Beijing and other cities. But maybe they could come back again, once they saved the world…

...

The fifth tunnel entrance had taken another day and a half to reach, and the sixth was only a little over an hour from that. Both were in good condition, and Kurt and Blaine were glad this portion of the trip was nearly over. They would reach the last entrance around lunch time the next day, and then they would be dropped off at a nice hotel that was owned by another Society member, so that they could at least spend their last night in China in relative comfort.

As they made their way back to where the others were setting up camp, Kurt and Blaine noticed Sam's little sister throwing up beside a rock, as Santana held her hair back. It had been extremely hot after lunch, and the girl had started feeling ill shortly before they'd arrived at their current location. Kurt recalled how Dave seemed to be studying Santana in the truck as she had comforted the younger girl, wetting a T-shirt Mike had loaned her, and wiping Stacey's face and the back of her neck to try and cool her down.

Dave was still watching the raven-haired girl as she continued to care for the little girl. Stacey had finished throwing up, and Santana was washing her face again. The Latina glanced around, searching for something. She seemed to find what she was looking for, picking a few leaves from one plant, and a handful of berries from another. She used two rocks to mash the items together into a paste, which she smeared into some paper towels Brittany had found for her, and folded them over. After pouring some more water over the paper towels, she placed it over the back of Stacey's neck. The girl seemed to feel a lot better within minutes.

As Kurt and Blaine watched, Dave walked over to Santana and whispered something in her ear. Everyone in the camp stopped and turned at the startled cry from the dark-haired beauty, and rushed forward to see what was going on. Gold and silver sparkles had exploded around her, and her form shimmered and shifted.

When the sparkles had faded out, they could see that a pair of beautiful, Chinese Moon Moth wings had sprung from her back, and her skin had taken on a more golden tone to it. Her hair seemed even longer than usual, and was straighter, and shined like polished ebony in the bright sun. It was dotted here and there with clusters of fall leaves. They could see her large, pointed ears peeking out from it's length, and a pair of small deer antlers protruded from the top of her head.

"What happened?" Carole asked.

Dave looked sheepish. "I called her Rowenna, the Elven Queen."

There was a stunned silence.

"Santana is one of the Queens?" Rachel asked.

"Apparently," Kurt said. "I guess you were right and I was wrong, Dave. How did you figure it out?"

The jock shrugged. "The way she was taking care of Stacey, it was just so familiar. And then when I saw her use the aloe and Goji berries to help cool her down faster, I remembered Rowenna doing the same thing before."

"Your wings are so soft, Tana!" Brittany said in awe, rubbing her hand over the delicate appendages. "I wish I had wings! Too bad I'll forget to wish for them when we get our rings."

Santana was looking at herself in the mirror Carole had provided for her. "Please tell me I'm not going to be sporting these antlers permanently! The rest I can deal with, but the antlers have got to go!" Almost as soon as she'd spoken the words, she returned to her human form. Brittany frowned in disappointment.

"Well, now that we've found one of the Queens, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who the other two are!" Pam exclaimed excitedly. "You said that Brittany told you how to find them in your dreams."

"'Autumn shall fall before Summer, while Spring sings a song of hope,'" Kurt quoted, the memory surfacing at the prompt. "But what does it mean?"

Jeff frowned. One of his wishes had been to be able to solve even the most complex of puzzles, and this was definitely a puzzle. "It's possible that Autumn falling before Summer could just be the fact that you discovered The Queen of Autumn before finding Summer. I'm not sure what the part about Spring singing about hope is about, though."

Blaine had a thoughtful expression on his face as a memory tried to worm its way into his mind, but the sound of male voices speaking excitedly in Chinese distracted him, and Maggie and Mei Lin exchanged a look.

"The drivers saw Santana transform," Maggie said softly, so not to be overheard. "They are debating on whether to contact their superiors for instructions, or if they should just take us all captive and turn us over to the government for a reward."

The adults all exchanged a worried look, but Grandpa Chang and Lord Tubbington didn't seem upset. "I believe young Mr. Anderson will be able to persuade them to forget what they have seen," the cat said.

Grandpa Chang nodded. "With some assistance from Ms. Cohen-Chang and Mr. Abrams."

It took the better part of thirty minutes for the three teens to make the four men forget everything. Up to that point, they had managed not to let their government escorts see anything out of the ordinary that had happened over the past several days, but their guards had been down as the end of their journey drew closer. They would have to be more careful for the next twenty some hours until they were safely on their own once more.

…

Luck was with them once more the following morning, as their guides were still asleep while another member of their group found themselves transforming. Blaine had gotten up to use the bathroom when he spotted Wes' dad coaxing something out of the scarce brush in the area. At first, Blaine thought the creature was a lion, but it was twice as big as any lion he'd ever seen, and this one had wings!

"I always knew he would inherit my family's heritage," Mei Lin said, moving up beside Blaine.

"Pixiu," Blaine said, remembering Grandpa Chang telling him about Wes' ancestor.

"Yes," Wes' mother acknowledged. "When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be able to transform into the creature, and sometimes I could feel it inside me, but I never changed. When Wes was born, I knew he would be the one."

Despite looking like a ferocious monster, the Pixiu seemed to be very shy, but Tom finally managed to coax him closer to the other two. Mei Lin smiled proudly at her son. "You look so handsome!"

"Woah! Is that Wes?" David asked, joining them. The dark-skinned boy looked awed by the giant lion looking at him. The creature moved closer and nuzzled his cheek.

"Yes," Mei Lin said, studying the darker boy. "Looks like the two of you have a lot to talk about. And not just about this new development, but also about your relationship as well." Wes resumed his usual form then, and glared at his mother, but she just patted his cheek. "Oh, don't look at me like that, darling. I've known you were in love with David since the first time you introduced us."

"Mom!"

"Wes?" David said, confused. "Is that true?"

"And I think that's my cue to go back to bed," Blaine said, completely forgetting that he still needed to pee.