"OOH, THE FLAPPING cheek!" exploded Stella. "What kind of a queen is she supposed to be? She's horrible!"

I had to agree. Much as the faerie annoyed me sometimes, she was right on occasion.

"Oi, sockears, were you even listening?" she asked Erik, who was staring after Voluptua with a look of shocked anger. He jumped and looked at the faerie. "She said she's gonna chop up that fygg and chuck it in her bath! Who knows what'll happed when she starts coking up a syrup of fyggs in her bathtub! I can't imagine it'll be pretty... We've got to stop her! Quick, get on down to that big room with all the big baths in! Chop, chop! And don't tell me to keep my hair on!"

I closed my mouth, which had just been open to tell her that exact thing. The five of us hurried down the stairs.

At the entrance to the baths, we ran into the same rude guard who had turned us away earlier. "This is Queen Voluptua's private bathing chamber," she said.

From behind the door, I heard the queen's voice: "Are you ready, girls? We're going to chop up this pretty little golden fruit and make me a lovely bath with it. Can you slice in nice and thinly for me and pop it in the water? There's good girls. Hurry up now."

"Thus does our monarch prepare a regal, fruit-infused bath," said the guard, and smirked. "You are, of course, still forbidden to enter."

"What!?" yelped Stella, while I clenched my jaw and walked off, shoving my hands in my pockets. The others walked with me, leaving Stella to fume alone. "We aren't allowed in? But if we can't make an entrance, they'll slice the whole flapping fygg to bits!" Then she realised that we weren't with her any more, and she fluttered after us. "There's nothing for it," she said, catching up. "We'll just have to bend everyone in the castle's ears off till we find someone who knows another way in."

"Or we could just let them slice the bloody thing up and deal with the consequences," I muttered. "Would serve 'em right."

"You're mean today," Cristine said.

Erik snorted. "'Today'?"

I shot him a withering look.

But eventually we did find a way into the bathing chambers. One of the handmaids gave us a tip to check the roof of the palace, where a man had a habit of loitering. So we headed up, and sure enough, there was a middle-aged man sitting at the edge of a long pool, fishing.

"Excuse me," Nick said. The man looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"We're sorry to bother you," Cristine said, "but...the queen took something of ours and brought it into her bathing chambers. We have to get in there to get it back. Do you know a way in?"

The man regarded each of us for a long moment. "Hmm..." he murmured. Then he said, "I can see that you do not seek such a thing lightly. Then I suppose I must impart to you my most secret knowledge." He gestured to the pool, which I noticed then was running, not stagnant like I'd first assumed. "The water that flows by us here runs into the very chamber you seek," he told us. "Were you to immerse yourself in it, you would be swept straight into Her Majesty's most private of chambers. But I cannot vouch for the safety of such a passage. You may find yourself beaten and bruised after falling such a distance."

Erik straightened importantly. "I have fallen from the skies into a waterfall without suffering so badly," he said. I rolled my eyes. "A fall such as this would cause me no harm."

The man raised his eyebrows. "Well then," he said, "I would very much like to see how such a fall can be endured without harm. Show me your mastery of plummeting!" I could hear the teasing note in his voice, but Erik clearly didn't. The Celestrian boy moved to the centre of the pool and prepared to leap.

It was hard to resist the urge to shove him, but I did it. He leapt in and was sucked down into the water, making a rough-looking landing a moment later. His outline - and the outlines of everyone down in the chamber - were wildly distorted.

"Come on," I said. "Let's get back to the entrance to the baths. If he needs help, he won't tell us - we'll have to go in whether he likes it or not."

Once we got back to the corridor by the baths, it was less than a minute before a loud shriek pierced the air, accompanied by a sense of terror. I flinched back against the wall. "Dammit," I muttered. "Stupid lizard - stupid, stupid lizard - move!" I yelled then at the rude guard. "The queen's in trouble - get out of the way!"

Ignoring the increased pounding in my head, I raced forward and shoved my way into the chamber. Nick, Cristine, and the guard followed me in just in time to see Voluptua being carried away by a huge, twisted lizard that looked unnervingly like Drak. A strange feeling washed over me, an emotion twisted darkly by the fygg's power - but I recognized it all the same. Twisted and darkened, it was still the beautiful emotion that I'd felt through others so many times.

Drak leapt into a well and disappeared from view. The stone between him and me dampened the emotion, but I could still feel it. It made me shudder. And it seemed unnaturally strong - as did all the other emotions, ranging from confusion to fear to anger, that were whirling through the air around me. I put a hand to my head and massaged my temples. Almighty, this was awful...

But I wasn't left to peacefully curl up into a ball and die. I had to follow after Nick, Cristine, and Erik as they ran after Drak and Voluptua.

The well emptied out into what looked like a vast network of corridors and chambers, all of which were damp or sometimes slightly flooded. Every tiny noise seemed to echo and multiply off the wet stone walls, making their ways into my ears with noisy vengeance. Every emotion seemed stronger, whether it was my own or from someone around me. I could still faintly sense Voluptua's terror, and Drak's twisted feelings about her.

I stumbled, too much in pain from all the wildly overlapping sensations to be able to walk straight. "Keep going," I muttered, realising that the others had stopped. "I'll catch up -"

Tamara.

My eyes went wide. No way. She never talked when I was awake...

I could feel her disappointment, even though she wasn't anywhere near me. You cannot do this, Tamela, she told me. You cannot simply try to block everything out and pretend all is well.

Why are you waiting til now to tell me this? I asked snappily.

I have tried before, she told me, but you do not listen. Listen now, Tammy. Do not block the emotions. They will not disappear - if you try to block them out, they will do aught but drive you mad. Open up your mind and accept them!

No way. If they were this bad while I was blocking them out -

Do as I say, Tammy.Mum's voice was calm and soothing. Trust me. Now open yourself to the emotions.

I bit my lip hard but couldn't tell one bit of pain from another by that point. So finally, I gave up. I let my mind open up to the flood of emotions inside of me.

My eyes snapped wide as, for half a second, they overwhelmed me, filling me absolutely and crowding out everything that was me. I should have been terrified, but I wasn't. I couldn't be anything except what the emotions allowed.

And then they faded away into my consciousness, still resolutely there but not overwhelming. Now I was scared, but it faded away, too, and I felt more at peace than I had...well, probably ever. I could still feel everything, but it was muted, like memories. My head still hurt, but it was just the hangover, not all the emotions.

I... Thank you, Mum.

I felt a quiet laugh and a sense of pleasure. You are welcome, my child, she told me. Then her tone grew more serious. But do not do what you did last night again. It is not fitting for anyone to be in such a position.

I hung my head sheepishly. Yes, Mum.

I will see you again soon, Tammy...And I was willing to swear that I felt a gentle hand touch my shoulder as Mum's presence faded away.


There were some odd looks when I caught up to the others, but I ignored them. When Cristine asked what had happened, I just said, "I needed a second. There are loads of emotions flying round in here."

After that, it was ten or fifteen minutes until we heard Voluptua's voice again. "S-Someone help me!" she screamed, terrified. "I demand to be rescued this instant!"

Erik snorted.

"Well, she can't be in too much danger if she's going to be her usual self about it all," Nick said. "She can't be far now - let's hurry!"

We took the long way round, because what looked like a shortcut was blocked off by a huge pile of rubble. When we rounded the curve, we found Drak the giant lizard looming over Voluptua. Despite her height, she looked tiny compared to her pet.

"My llluscious Vollluptua," the lizard crooned in a hissing voice. "Now I have you all to myselllf, I can tell you how lllong I have llloved you..."

Oh, Almighty!

Love. Love. That was the beautiful emotion I'd been feeling, the thing I'd started longing for? Love - love was the thing I'd never really felt, either from others or for others? Almighty...

What's the matter with me!?

I didn't get much time to wonder that, though, because Drak noticed us. "Ohhh llumme, it's you!" he hissed. "You're that traveller who lllifted me up and lllugged me back when I was lllaying lllow in that tree! You nearllly spoillled my plllans to use that fruit to realllise my willldest dreams! My animalll instincts tollld me that if I feasted on its flllesh, my body would remodelll itself into a fine mortalll form. And how right they were! Just lllook at me! Am I not the most alluring lllittle fellow you ever lllaid eyes on?" His excitement was unmistakable - as was his sheepishness as he said, "It may have worked a lllittle too well, I fear. My darllling Vollluptua seems alllmost too overwhelllmed to lllook at me..."

Stella snickered. "Dearie me," she said mirthfully. "The poor idiot thinks he's turned into a mortal. It's lucky there's no mirrors nearby."

And then Drak leaned forwards, and Stella fluttered back several metres. "Hm?" rumbled the lizard. "Did you say something?"

For once, the faerie was lost for words, and she could only splutter.

"Pah, never mind," spat Drak. He rose back to his full height. "Tell me, what are you doing here? Have you come to intrude upon the greatest lllove that ever lllived: that between my lllordllly selllf and the llluscious Vollluptua?"

Stella got her tongue back then, and fluttered forward. "You what? You've taken a shining to the Queen? But you're a flapping lizard!"

"LLLIES!" roared Drak furiously. Stella squealed and flew away. I flinched from the strength of Drak's anger. "I am no lllizard! I am finallly a mortalll, and our lllove can lllive at lllast! I willl not tolllerate these intrustions into our lllove nest! You willl llleave me and my bellloved allloooone!"

I lunged forwards, shoving Voluptua away from what I knew was going to become the scene of a battle. She tried to squawk indignantly but it didn't work. She was too scared.

Erik's claws ripped into the softer skin on Drak's belly. The lizard hissed in pain, but didn't get a chance to attack before Nick leapt forward and brought his staff down hard on Drak's shoulder. I followed up by parrying a golden-scaled claw heading for Nick's head and then stabbing at Drak's stomach. He hissed again. Dark red, steaming blood was dribbling from his cuts.

With a leap and a spin, Cristine sliced her fan into Drak's side. He roared, and my eyes went wide as I saw flames flicker in his nostrils. "Uh-oh," I muttered, and grabbed Cristine, who was closer. We ducked behind my shield as a torrent of flames left the lizard's mouth. This thing has got to be half-melted by now!

But suddenly, the torrent of flames stopped. I peeked up above the rim of my shield, wondering what was going on. Drak's little beady eyes had gone wide. "Mortallls do not lllaunch great big flllames from their mouths, do they... I really did not become one..." Then he stiffened his resolve and straightened up. Stilll, it matters not. I cannot alllow myself the llleisure of defeat. I cannot lllet my Vollluptua be taken back there... She must not return to the Mirage Mahalll... It is fulll of llliars and disllloyalll worms. I will die before I alllow it...!"

We readied our weapons again, preparing to spring, but then I heard a desperate voice from behind us. "Please!" it called. "Wait!"

All of us turned to look behind. Misslei hurried up to us, breathing heavily. "M-Misslei!" Voluptua stammered.

"Hahh...hahh..." Misslei heaved, getting her breath back. "Please, good travellers, you must wait! You must not harm His Dryness any further... Without him, there would... There would be no one with whom our Exalted Majesty could share her deepest thoughts and feelings!"

Voluptua started at the maiden, shocked. Then, shakily, she walked towards her. "But - Misslei, why?" she asked quietly. "Why would you do this for me after I was so horrible to you?"

Misslei bit her lip. "I cannot lie," she said with an air of confession. "I saw you, Highness. I saw you crying as you spoke to his Dryness... You told him you were ashamed of your selfishness... That you were lonely without your esteemed parents..." She was concerned, and sad. "I only wished that you had been able to share such feelings with us, your handmaidens, also. Perhaps if it were so, you could become a different person, and..." She trailed off, biting her lip again. She was afraid she'd said too much.

"Misslei..." Voluptua murmured.

"I feelll so foolllish..." Drak whispered. "If I had onllly stopped to see that there were kindllly soullls such as Misslllei in the palllace... But, lllump-headed lllizard that I am, I tried to take her from the one plllace fulll of peopllle who care about her."

Then he turned to look at us. "Travelller..." he said to Erik. "I can smelll that you are not mortalll either... And you seem to know a lllot about the golllden fruit. I do not relllish its power any lllonger. I lllong to return to my lllizardlly form and lllive happillly by Vollluptua's side. I relllinquish the fruit to you, travelllers. I can lllive happillly knowing that Vollluptua has llloyal llladies like Misslllei beside her."

His shape started to glow gold. "Thank you, celllestialll travelller..."

There was a bright flash, and then there was just little old Drak on the floor, fygg floating above him. It made its way into Erik's waiting arms.

I caught a sense of joy from Voluptua. "Drakky-Woo!" she crooned, walking over to the lizard and picking him up in her arms. "I always knew you were watching out for me! Weren't you, my Drakky-Wakky-Woo!"


After a second audience with Voluptua, we returned to the inn and decided to stay one more night in the desert city. I still kept my distance from Erik, but I felt a little awkward now. The peace that had come on me after I'd opened myself up to the emotions had shown me more than I liked about my own feelings, but they were still confused. Erik's accusation of jealousy still rankled...but it left me feeling uncertain, too.

One thing that did make me happy, though, was seeing how animated Cristine and Nick seemed while they talked to each other that afternoon. The conversation wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and it wasn't just them talking, but it gave me a sense of that same emotion...love...

I tried not to dwell on it too much. I knew that it would just leave me feeling even more confused. So I tried to throw myself more wholeheartedly into our conversations. It was hard, though.

That night, I went to bed early. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

And I opened my eyes in the Faerie forest. Twenty paces away was Mum's tree. I walked over to it. I would have hurried, but somehow that didn't seem possible there. The place was too peaceful to hurry. Mum?

I am here, Tammy.

And then, to my surprise, a figure began to materialise at the foot of the tree. It resolved itself into a tall woman with brown eyes, fair skin, and long blue hair. When she moved, tiny sparks of blue and silver flashed around her and drifted downwards. She smiled and approached me. How I have longed to see you in the flesh, my dear.

I couldn't help staring. Despite the fact that she was loads prettier, Mum looked an awful lot like me.

She laughed softly. Indeed? she said, raising an eyebrow. Come, Tammy. Stand next to me.

So I did. Mum put an arm around my shoulders and led me through the trees to a small pool. It was perfectly still. I could see our reflections in it, and I was surprised. As beat up as I looked from having spent the past five years of my life travelling and fighting, I was...pretty. Almost as pretty as Mum. Whoa. When did that happen?

When you opened your eyes. Mum was still smiling. Others' emotions can give you a true view of yourself. Now Tammy, follow me - I cannot stay like this for long, and there is something I must do.

What is it? I asked, following her back to her tree.

She shook her head.

When we reached the tree, she reached up and pulled something from off a branch. Then she brought her arm down. In her hand, she held a leather drawstring pouch half the size of my fist.

One day, Tammy, you will need to help a friend when help seems impossible to give, she told me. Use this then. She gathered the blue and silver sparks, which I realised then weren't sparks at all. They were shining particles of dust.

Gently, she poured a handful into the bag. Then she drew it shut and placed it in my hand, closing my fingers around it. Your mortal blood dilutes the power of your Faerie half. It cannot ever be drawn out to the strength of a full-blooded Faerie, but my dust will bring it to the greatest possible power in you. You must use the entire bag. And remember - though it cannot stop you from being mortal, it will change you. Use it only when the need is greatest - when you must help, even when help is impossible to give. She looked down at me solemnly. You are growing, my dear, and will grow still more before this adventure is done. I am proud to see that you have become such a strong young woman.

I felt myself blush. Mum smiled and kissed my forehead. As her figure began to dematerialise, I said, Wait - I need to ask you something.

What is it, Tammy?

I wasn't quite sure how to phrase it. I... I mean, you... Well... Mum, Dad told me that you died in childbirth, I said. Was he telling the truth?

Mum paused. Her shape was blurring and fading back into the tree. He was, as far as it was the truth he knew, Mum said. I did leave the world of the mortals. However - her voice began to fade - it is difficult to say whether or not one ever truly dies. For if the soul lives on, does that not mean that one is still there? Perhaps we cannot see or touch them, but if their soul lives on, then so too does their essence - that which makes them who they are. It is a question which has hounded all peoples - Faeries, mortals, and Celestrians alike - since the beginning of time. I couldn't see her any more, but I knew she was smiling. Just a little food for thought.