Brrring! Brrring! Brrring!
Radais fished for her phone.
"Hullo?" she said into the receiver.
"Radais, come to the briefing room," said a familiar male voice.
"Alright, Manning. Be there in a minute." She hung up the phone and got up from her place on her bed.
Manning better have a good reason, she thought dully.
"Okay, so how does Scotland sound?" Manning said. Radais' interest piqued and she sat forward in her chair, leaning over the table. Everyone else groaned.
"Don't jump up at once. We're only sending two agents anyway. Abe, you're going." Abe snorted. "And let me see," Manning paused. His eyes fell on Radais, "Ah, yes. Perfect first assignment for out newest recruit. It'll give you a chance to maybe reconnect with your roots. You two are headed for Callander, Scotland. A tourist recently disappeared and the town has a history of kelpie sightings. Take some gold jewelry. Plane leaves in an hour."
Radais' heart caught in her throat. She was being sent on a real mission? And maybe meet a real kelpie? Excitement rose in her chest, waking out of lazy slumber.
Abe stood and left. Manning glared at him, but said nothing. Reggie jumped up, said a few words quietly to Manning, and proceeded to drag Radais out of the briefing room and to her bedroom to pack.
"You're going to be there for two weeks, " she began as she threw thongs and bras into a suitcase from under Radais' bed, "You're going to need to remain low-profile, hair pulled back and sunglasses when you're outside the cabin. Limit your contact with humans and plantlife. Especially plantlife. Gahliendo's court was last reported to be in Germany, and it's possible that some of the plants may still retain alliances. And above all, do not use any telepathy. Don't practice while you're there. Leave your book here."
Radais made mental notes and didn't ask questions. She needed to follow every single rule this time and prove her usefulness.
"Yes ma'am," she said, stuffing her hygienics bag into the suitcase. The pair packed frantically for a moment longer, then Radais' cellphone rang.
"Hello?" she said impatiently.
"Get on the plane." It was Abe, sounding annoyed. Radais hung up the phone and nudged Reggie.
"Go time. Gills is getting anxious."
Surprisingly, the plane was actually on HQ property, just behind the big building. The sky sparkled with stars as Radais boarded. The plane had four seats in the center and a large cargo net in the back. The pilot loaded Radais' suitcase while she sat down in a seat on the end, away from Abe.
"Too bad you didn't get to have your movie night," Abe said monotonely. Radais furrowed her brow, trying to decipher whether he was being cynical or annoying, but said nothing.
"Alright, guys, since this is a non-stop 8 hour flight, we aren't going to run air conditioning for the first half, just in case. Sorry. But there are clean blankets and pillows under your seats. Buckle up and we'll get this thing movin'," said the captain over the loudspeaker.
"Great," Radais groaned. She reached under the seat for the blanket, laid it across her lap, then buckled her harness-style seatbelt.
Several hours into the flight, Radais was shivering, even with the blanket.
"Oh my God," she chattered, "I can see my breath."
This only earned her an irritated glance from Abe, which annoyed her greatly.
What a complete ass, she thought acridly. Reluctantly, she let it go and tried to get some sleep after checking her watch and finding that it was almost 3am.
A strange noise woke her up. Abe was standing over her, sucking air through his gills, which produced a sound like sandpaper on steel.
"What the-?" she growled, pushing the interloper away.
"We've landed. Get up and get out," Abe said, walking to the open door. Radais unbuckled and stood, scrambling to the door. A small flight of stairs led down to a paved runway, and Radais looked to see where they were. It was a tiny airport in the middle of grazing lands. The early sun was just riding and Radais could make out the forms of fluffy sheep dotting the grass.
A dark car was waiting for the pair, and Abe was already getting inside. Radais bounced down the stairs and across the blacktop. She slid into the backseat and Abe glared. He said nothing about how she didn't buckle the seatbelt and simply told the man up front to drive. Soon, they were speeding down old Scottish roads. They drove for an hour, maybe two, until they reached a tiny spit of a town, Callander. The driver turned up an old dirt road and eventually they found themselves at an old cottage.
"How quaint," Radais mused sarcastically as the driver parked. He helped the two get their luggage to the door, but left in a hurry.
"What's his deal?" she asked.
"He's local. They're scared of the lake and surrounding areas, especially at night. Only fishermen and tourists ever get close to the lake, and fishermen only do so for about 5 hours, when the sun is highest. No sun, no fishing. Too many have been claimed by the lake creatures," Abe explained, dragging his suitcase inside the cottage.
"That was the most you've said all day."
Abe grimaced at her but said nothing, taking his bag to the first room on the right. Radais investigated, lugging her things to a similar room on the other side of the hall. The room was small, with a small bed, but it was homey. The walls, which were an earthy tone of yellow, and the lovely flowered bedspread, made her feel comfortable. She somewhat hoped that Abe's room looked similar, it would be a fantastic blow to his masculinity.
After spending a moment deciding whether or not to unpack her things, she decided to investigate the rest of the cottage. The hall with the rooms led to a living area, with two couches in the center and a small TV. The kitchen was next. A half-wall separated it from the living area, and Radais balked when she saw that all available counter space was covered in scientific equipment. As she investigated all the metal instruments, Abe appeared out of his room, to investigate as well.
"Um, are we sure it's safe to eat around chemistry equipment?" Radais asked from behind a large microscope. Abe said nothing and Radais walked down to the living area. "Hel-looooo! Earth to Abe, I'm talkin' to you," she said.
"I hear you the first time," he grunted, walking passed her into the kitchen.
Radais' blood boiled, and she broke out a question that had been inching her brain for the past week.
"What did I do to you?" she snapped.
"Nothing. Why?" he answered innocently.
"Cause you walk around actin' like I've done somethin' to you."
"I don't want to get into this. Red has already berated me, and you don't have any right to talk to me about my life. So just stop right now."
Radais snorted, taken aback.
"Excuse me? I'm just wondering why you can't treat me like a person," she said.
"Cause I don't want to make connections."
"What the hell does that mean?"
He looked like he was going to speak, but shut his jaw tightly and flared his gills. Radais glared at him, her stone face unwavering and light dancing in her wide purple eyes.
"Look, I just don't want to be close to anyone. Some things have happened that, I don't know, I-"
"You treat me like shit because you're heartbroken over the elf girl?" Radais spat.
"Who told you?"
"Hellboy, of course. He says that you'd like me if you hadn't built a wall. But I didn't believe him. Turns out he's right. Jesus, I've never been treated like shit cause of a dead girl."
"Don't you dare," Abe spouted, stepping into the living room, standing tall and kind of intimidating.
"Dare what? Dishonor her? Oh, fear not, Broken One. I've heard her story. Brave girl, I'd have liked her. Paid the ultimate price to save Hellboy and the world. I intend to make sure her efforts were not in vein. Gahliendo will die, and the Warmonger with him, in her honor."
Abe was silent for a moment, his eyes softening a bit, and he slumped onto one of the couches. Radais moved opposite him and locked her eyes onto his. He was silent for a long time.
"Thanks," he managed quietly, "It's just, something happened the night I met her. She saw into my heart, and I hers, and I think I had found everything I had wanted. But then, she was taken. And that was it. I'm not meant for happiness."
"Abe, seriously, this is important. God has a plan. Everything happens for a reason. She was meant to save the world from the robot guys. She was meant to open your heart. But maybe she wasn't meant to give you lasting happiness. Perhaps your greatest happiness lies in the future, in something or someone else. She would want you to be happy," Radais said, feeling theological and too much like her father. He had often given her the same speech about destinies.
Abe just stared at the floor and said nothing.
"Well, I'll leave you alone, I know you hate me so I'll try to stay out of your way. I think I'm gunna go for a walk, familiarize myself with the environment. I'll see you later, Blue," Radais said, standing. She grabbed the sunglasses from her suitcase and put them on, glancing once more at Abe before slipping out the door.
The land surrounding the cottage was hilly and rocky, a result of weathering over hundreds of years. The lake was barely visible on the horizon to the east. The sun was still low and sent pinks and purples shooting up the sky. Radais wandered down an embankment to the west, slipping once or twice on loose stones. She found herself in a dry riverbed, a sort of shallow gully. After a few steps she saw several large bats that were flying overhead.
"What are you guys doing out so late?" she asked them as they whizzed by. They flew ahead and Radais picked up her pace a little, wondering where the big bats were going.
The bats danced through the dawn, their wings alitting on pockets of hot air. They dipped and spun, fascinating the girl and leading her down, away from the house.
Radais paused and spun, realizing that she had gone too far. The shallow bank rose behind her and the riverbed stretched on, up a hill, and the cabin was out of sight. The girl turned around, searching for the bats.
Four of the massive brown beasts were in a tree on the bank, hanging from a dead branch. Their wings were tightly drawn around their bodies and they were howling, an unholy echo of a wolf's cry. Fear rose in Radais' throat as the notion that the bats were howling out her position to the plants, which would relay it to the king. But Radais had always known bats to be private creatures, never tangling themselves in the business of others, why would they be spies for the elf king?
The trees that lined the bank trembled with the sound of something approaching. Something large, approaching very rapidly. Radais looked behind her and saw a formation of rocks clustered near the edge of the gully. She took to it, leaping behind it and crouching low. She held her breath as the noise grew closer and quicker.
Something large and white exploded from the trees on the south side of the gully. It was a blur to the girl, whose vision was already obscured by the rocks. It landed somewhere in the middle of the riverbed, and clouds of dust came up around it. It spun and lashed out, sending dust and debris all over, until it came to a halt, facing the rising sun.
The dust settled, and as it did, the creature became clear to Radais. Its pure white coat glimmered in the sun and its muscles quivered underneath, sending little poufs of dust into the now-still air. Its mane and tail were wavy, like a model's hair, and of the purest silver and probably felt like the finest silk. Light dapples decorated its coat, like tiny white halos. It tossed its mane once and then stood tall, its finely muscled neck arched and its blue eyes searching the gully.
"Child!" it said in a commanding manner. Its voice was feminine, and it spoke quite eloquently, "Peace, Child, I know you are here! Your bat friends have given you away! But fear not, Child. I am your friend. Come out, and meet me."
Radais was taken aback that the mare could speak, and something like doubt boiled in the back of her mind. A trick of her father's, perhaps? But something about the pure white mare, standing fearlessly into the Scottish daybreak, waiting patiently for the girl to reveal herself, told her otherwise.
Cautiously Radais rose, her half-fearful and half-wary eyes on the white horse. The mare turned to face the girl, and ducked her head in a half-bow. Radais mimicked in a more human manner, with a nod.
"You are Warmonger?" the mare asked, her ears pricked toward the emerging girl. Radais nodded again, more definitely. "Then I am yours," she said, bowing to her knees.
Radais took a step or two passed the rock, biting her lip. She watched the horse carefully, looking for seams or zippers, for nothing so pure could be a trick other than by man-made design.
"I am Radais," she said, "Why are you mine?"
"It is written," the horse said, as if any idiot knew such information, "The royal bloodline always receives unicorns, as help-mates and guides. Your father has one, and your brother. Ironically, your brother's unicorn is my brother."
"Brother?" Radais said with a bit of a snarl.
"Yes, your brother Prince Minos. He is looking for you. So is your father. For different reasons, of course. But, War-Queen, I pray you, hist. There is time for talk later."
Radais furrowed her brow and pursed her lips at the name War-Queen, and the fact that her brother and father were both hunting her. Even the fact that she had a brother unnerved her a bit. But she supposed that a lot had happened since she was born, almost 25 years previous, that she had no idea about.
"Fine," she said with a bit of a growl still lingering in her voice, "We should go talk to Abraham. The cottage is this way."
She turned and began walking toward the cottage, half expecting the horse to not follow. But she did, and the pair walked the rest of the way in silence, with a thousand questions boiling in Radais' head.
"So, where's your horn?" she asked. It seemed to be the simplest of her questions.
The mare snorted indignantly, "We have no horns. The term 'unicorn' is very degrading actually, as only our American and Chinese cousins have horns."
"So why do you call yourself a unicorn?"
"Would you prefer 'Magical White Pony'?"
A giggle rose from Radais and the mare whickered in approval.
"Glad to see you've got a sense of humor. Lord knows we need that around here, between Abe and I. Come on, he's gunna get nervous that I've been gone so long."