And now the trouble begins.
Liz woke up at dusk. Coyote wasn't back yet? Where had he gotten to?
Liz had been taught to sense magic over great distances. She wasn't very good at it yet, but she could sense Coyote if she put her mind to it. She tried. Strange thing was, she couldn't sense him. The only explanation she could come up with for not being able to sense him was that he was on Avalon.
"What would he be doing on Avalon?" Liz thought out loud.
Something niggled at the back of her mind that something was very off. Coyote had told her he was going to visit Peter. Peter was in Manhattan, not on Avalon.
"No," muttered Liz, getting up. "No, something isn't right."
Liz pulled on her cowboy boots and a black wife beater before heading off to Avalon.
When she got there, she could immediately sense that Coyote was not here either. Now she was becoming frustrated. She gently tugged at one of her diamond earrings, feeling a gentle pulse of energy surge through her fingertips.
"Where to go to ask?" murmured Liz.
Anansi was someone who would give her information if she asked nicely for it. He had forgiven her, after all, for electrocuting him during the hunt. Now to find him. If she was using her power correctly, he wasn't that far off. Liz started in his direction.
"Liz Maza," came the giant spider's voice. The brush parted to reveal Anansi. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit to?" he asked.
"Did Coyote stop by recently?" asked Liz.
"No," replied Anansi. "He is not with you?"
"I can't find him anywhere," said Liz. "He said he was going to Manhattan for a quick visit and that was a while ago. He would have checked in with me before going somewhere else. I thought he came back to Avalon for something. Are you sure he's not here?"
"I am certain," said Anansi.
The ground began to shake and Liz covered her ears as a horrible screeching sound filled the air.
"What the heck was that?" asked Liz.
Anansi hissed. "That is not good," he said.
"What was it?" asked Liz.
"Avalon's way of telling us something is very wrong," replied Anansi. "I believe it concerns Coyote. Come with me. Lord Oberon will be summoning us very soon."
Liz walked next to Anansi, keeping her worry and fear under a mask of determination. Others were already making their way to the great hall. Among them was Banshee, the metal plate still over her mouth. Liz couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. She knew the stories about the journeys around the world and that Banshee had a beautiful voice, when she wanted it to be beautiful, of course.
One day, Liz promised. One day I'll make sure that you'll sing again, Banshee. You can count on that.
They entered the great hall, Titania immediately seeing Liz and motioning her to come forward. Titania came down from the dias and took Liz aside.
"What has happened?" Titania asked Liz.
"You're asking me?" asked Liz.
Titania looked at the crowd of gathering Children. "Where is your mentor?"
"That's why I came," said Liz. "I know I'm not that good on sensing magic over long distances, but I know Coyote's. I can't sense it anywhere in the mortal world. I thought he came back here for something."
"Did you hear Avalon's warning?" asked Titania.
"Uh, yeah," replied Liz. "Kinda hard to miss the nails on a chalkboard screech."
"Avalon only does that when there is a risk of us being discovered by mortals," said Titania.
"I thought you wanted to be feared by humans," said Liz.
"Feared and revered, but we come to Avalon to stay away from them," said Titania. "There is a risk of Avalon itself being exposed."
Oberon entered and walked up to his throne.
"I need to be by his side," said Titania. "Go to Princess Katherine and Guardian Tom. I will fetch you when the meeting is over."
"I don't need to be here?" asked Liz.
"No," said Titania. "Go. Swiftly."
Liz ducked out a side door and hurried over to Princess Katherine and Tom's house. Tom answered the door when she knocked.
"Liz! What a pleasant surprise. Come in, lass," said Tom, ushering her in. "Perhaps you can tell us what all that noise was about."
"I wish I could, but I have more questions than answers," said Liz. "Titania told me it's Avalon's way of warning the fey that they are in danger of being exposed to mortals."
"What? How?" asked Tom.
Princess Katherine hurried into the room. "Liz!" she cried, hurrying up to the teenager to give her a hug.
"Hey, Princess," said Liz, returning the hug.
"What is the news?" asked Princess Katherine. "Tell us."
"Like I told Tom, I have more questions than answers," said Liz. "I don't know what to tell you. I think it has something to do with Coyote. He's missing. I can't find him anywhere. He went to visit Peter Maza, but I don't know what happened. I think something happened to him."
"Have you told Queen Titania?" asked Tom.
Liz nodded. "I don't think she's sure herself."
"Shouldn't you be at the meeting?" asked Princess Katherine. "I saw the Children going to the palace."
"Titania said to come to you," said Liz. "I am to be summoned when it's over." She shook her head. "I don't like this one bit."
Princess Katherine and Tom sat down in their sitting room while Liz shifted her weight from foot to foot, her arms crossed and her dark eyes flicking this way and that as she thought about what could be going on.
There was a knock at the door. Liz was the first one to answer it. She nearly yanked it off its hinges when she opened it. It was Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, her periwinkle blue eyes wide from Liz's suddenness.
"Lord Oberon wishes to speak with you," said Vivian.
"Oberon?" asked Liz. "Not Titania?"
Vivian led Liz back to the palace, though Liz needed no escort. In the throne room, Liz lowered her eyes and bowed her head briefly before facing Oberon.
"Brazen as ever, I see," said Oberon, annoyed, but with a hint of admiration in his voice.
Still a royal pain, I see, thought Liz. "What is going on?" asked Liz.
"And impatient," added Oberon.
Liz watched him carefully. He was stiff in his chair, his blue knuckles turning white as he gripped his arm rests, and his expression was strained.
"Coyote has been captured by mortals," said Oberon.
Liz raised an eyebrow. "And he can't get himself out of this mess?"
"He is injured," Titania spoke up. "And he is very weak. We can barely sense him."
"Explains why I can't sense him at all," said Liz. "Do you know where he is?"
"Yes," replied Oberon.
"Then why don't you send someone to go get him?" asked Liz. "This can't be the first time a fey has been captured."
"It is not," said Titania. "But it is the first where we can do nothing to save our own."
"Except send you," said Oberon. "You will rescue Coyote and neutralize the threat to the discovery of Avalon."
"Why me?" asked Liz. "Not that I'm not up for it, but why not one of the others go, get in, and get out?"
"Coyote has been taken to a place called Iron Skull," said Titania. "We cannot go there without losing all of our magic. We are powerless there."
"You are a half-blood, Liz," said Oberon. "You can go there."
"But I won't have any magic," said Liz. "Okay. Something as minor as that hasn't stopped me."
The problem is I have no clue where Iron Skull is, thought Liz. To top that off, I can't sense Coyote, so I can't teleport to his position.
The little voice in her head answered that problem for her. Coyote went to see Peter Maza. Coyote is not easy to capture. The right bait must be used.
Bait?
Yes, bait.
Oh, my God, this guy has Grandpa Peter, too! Liz thought.
And if he has Grandpa Peter. . .
Then I can use his energy to find Coyote, Liz finished.
Oberon noticed that there was a look of apprehension in Liz's eyes. Perhaps she needed some incentive.
"You are aware this task will be greatly appreciated among us, are you not?" asked Oberon. "Or are you expecting me to reward you with something you desire?"
Liz looked up at him, her dark eyes burning with anger. Her red lips parted as if to say something, but nothing came out.
Titania quickly tried to contain the situation. "My lord, I do not believe you need to remind her of such a thing. And if she wanted a reward, I am certain she would ask for one."
The anger in Liz's eyes had dimmed some, but she was still looking at Oberon. Oberon stared back, watching her expression, a combination of shock, disbelief, and disgust.
"You have something you wish to say, Liz?" asked Oberon.
Titania cringed, knowing that the pin had been pulled on a grenade, a grenade named Liz Maza.
"Livid does not even begin to cover what I'm feeling toward you right now, Oberon," said Liz as calmly as she could manage.
Liz turned on her heel and walked out of the throne room.
Titania was shocked, but let out a sigh of relief. That could have been a lot worse and she knew it. She turned to her husband.
"That was a horrible thing to say to her," Titania scolded.
Oberon stared at her, confused.
Titania shook her head. "When you understand what you said to her, come tell me." She got up and walked out of the throne room, following Liz.
Liz was up in the spare room they kept for her when she would stay the night. She was packing a small bag, including bandages and weapons.
"You handled yourself well," Titania said from the doorway.
Liz continued to pack, not looking up. "Shooting off my mouth would have solved nothing." She turned to the queen. "He hasn't a clue what he said to me, does he?"
Titania smiled sadly. "No," she replied. "I honestly cannot believe such a thing passed his lips. A thousand years have taught us all something, except for him."
"Good thing he has you for a wife," said Liz.
Titania came in. "You know, he admires you."
"Who?" asked Liz.
"Oberon."
"What? No way. I'm just a half-breed with a nose for trouble," said Liz. "How can he admire me? Sure, I've pulled my share of tricks, but that's nothing to brag about."
"You do not fear him," said Titania.
Liz frowned.
Titania elaborated. "The Children respect and fear Oberon's powers. They stay on his good side, knowing there will be consequences for their disobedience. But you, Liz, you respect him, but you don't fear him. Also, I believe he likes having someone look at him on equal ground."
Liz's frown deepened.
"The others know his power and he rules over them," said Titania. "But you do not let him order you around like a servant or one of the Children. And when you walked into the throne room, you showed that he cannot order you about. Why do you think he offered a reward?"
Liz stared in surprise. "He thinks he needs to bribe me to get me to do what he wants? And what do you mean 'equal ground'? He's got you."
"I bend to his will on occasion," admited Titania.
"Still, that was a horrible thing to say to me," said Liz. "Coyote's family. So is Peter."
"Peter?" asked Titania.
"That's where Coyote was going," said Liz. "He told me he was going to Manhattan to see Peter. If anyone wanted to get to Coyote, using my grandfather would be the perfect bait. I think whoever has Coyote has Peter, too."
Titania let out a sound of sympathy. "That was why you hesitated," she said. "I thought I saw you thinking about all the options."
Liz packed up her backpack and took something out of her pocket, clipping it onto the bag. Titania frowned curiously at the key chain Liz had just clipped to her bag. It was strange charm: it was of two beaked beings in trench coats and wide brimmed hats, one black, one white, with mischievous grins wrapped around a sign that read "Spy Vs. Spy", the white on the bottom and the black on top.
Titania looked up at Liz with a questioning look. Liz was looking back, a similar grin on her face. She giggled in falsetto, putting up the V for victory sign. Titania shrieked with laughter, Liz getting a laugh out of it as well.
Liz walked out of the palace, getting ready to make the trip to Iron Skull.
"Hey, Liz!" Raven jogged up to her.
"I'm a little busy, Raven," said Liz. "Can we make this quick?"
"I heard Lord Oberon offered you a reward," said Raven.
"Eavesdropping, Raven? I thought you were a bit more mature than that," said Liz.
Raven chuckled. "Apparently Lord Oberon has forgotten how you outsmarted him last time. What are you going to ask for when you bring Coyote back?"
Liz shrugged.
"What, you haven't thought about it yet?" asked Raven.
"I've thought about it," said Liz. "I've thought about for a while, even before he brought it up."
"What is it?" asked Raven.
Liz narrowed her eyes. "I'm not telling you. You can't keep a secret."
"Really?" asked Raven. "I give you my word, I won't tell anyone, at least until you bring Coyote home and you ask Oberon for it."
"Swear?"
"Swear," said Raven.
Liz motioned for him to lean down so she could whisper it in his ear. Raven eagerly bent down to hear. Liz cupped her hand to her mouth and his ear.
"For Banshee to have her punishment removed," she whispered.
"What?" cried Raven, straightening. He laughed. "I doubt that will happen!"
"And I know they doubted that I would win the hunt," said Liz.
Raven smirked. "That's true," he said. "I'll make a bet with you."
"I don't like where this is going," said Liz. "But I'll hear you out."
"If Oberon denies your request, you have to jump into the pool at the base of the waterfall," said Raven.
"That's not bad," said Liz.
"Naked," added Raven.
"You'll steal my clothes the first chance you get," said Liz.
"Most likely," said Raven, smirking.
Liz thought for a second. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but okay. If Oberon denies me my request, I'll jump into the pool at the base of the waterfall in nothing but my birthday suit. But what if he does grant me my request? What happens then?"
Raven thought for a second before shrugging. "Name it!" he said. "Be as sadistic as you can be. It's not going to happen." He was grinning now.
Liz gave a sadistic smile. "If I get my request, you have to let one of Anansi's tarantulas give you a purple-nurple."
"What?" laughed Raven. "I thought you would have it bite me somewhere else."
"I thought about it, but that would cruel to the tarantula," said Liz.
"Oh!" drawled Raven. "That's low."
"Would be great if we had a witness to this," said Liz. "That way we could be held to our word."
"Consider us witnesses," said Phoebe as the Weird Sisters appeared.
"We have heard your bargain," said Luna.
"We will hold you to it," said Seline.
"I better go," said Liz. She turned to Raven. "Not a word until I get back."
"You got it," said Raven.
Liz found her grandfather and willed herself to be by his side. Like Coyote, Liz transformed when she teleported, but unlike Coyote, it was not a dust devil, but a powerful gust of wind.
Review, review! How is Liz going to save her mentor and grandfather without magic? And will she lose her bet with Raven? Keep reading and find out.
