《Fables Fall - The White Wolf [A fairytale mashup short story]》
Ch 1 – Follow the White Wolf
The constant beep of the machines was the one thing that allowed Lacey to lay her head down next to the frail hand of her grandmother. It was steady and slow, evidence that her grandmother was alive. Lacey was so tired. From school to work to the hospital, there was nothing else in her life. The nurses applauded Lacey¡¯s dedication, but Lacey felt like a fraud. If she¡¯d made this kind of time for her grandmother before the fall, then her grandmother would still be the laughing parent Lacey had counted on all her life.
¡°Follow the¡¡± came the whisper and Lacey¡¯s head jerked up, a frail hand falling back to the bed. Had her grandmother¡¯s hand moved? Had she touched her head? Lacey¡¯s eyes froze upon the miracle of her grandmother¡¯s smile, her hands fumbling to gently grasp her grandmother¡¯s hand in hers.
¡°Gran,¡± Lacey whispered, torn between calling for the nurses and keeping this moment selfishly to herself.
¡°Follow the White Wolf,¡± the paleness of her grandmother¡¯s eyes met Lacey¡¯s brilliant blue ones, Lacey¡¯s fraught with confusion and her grandmother¡¯s full of her old mischief.
¡°I love you so much,¡± Lacey got out as Gran¡¯s eyes drifted closed only to flicker back open. ¡°I¡¯m here, Gran. I¡¯m here.¡±
¡°Lacey,¡± and Lacey winced at the effort it took for Gran to get the words out. ¡°If you¡¯ve ever trusted me, trust the White Wolf.¡± Lacey¡¯s heart lurched at the thought that her grandmother¡¯s last words might just be delusions. Gran loved to tell old stories, and Lacey had grown up entranced by them. Perhaps this was Gran¡¯s form of love, these stories.
¡°Gran,¡± and Lacey¡¯s eyes filled with tears.
That was it. No profession of love for her. Her Gran was lost in her own musings about the White Wolf out of her old stories. Gran¡¯s eyes were closed again, and Lacey¡¯s only company became the blip of the machines that were likely the only thing keeping her Gran alive. Lacey wept, her blonde hair caping over her face to muffle sobs.
An hour later, Lacey¡¯s eyes were still red as she left the hospital room to trudge home. She¡¯d sold the car to pay medical bills. That was okay since she lived in a small apartment near the hospital anyway. Guilt tugged at her again. If she¡¯d still lived with Gran across town, maybe she¡¯d have been there when the fall happened, and they could have gotten her help sooner.
A clatter didn¡¯t even phase Lacey as she reached for the button to call the elevator. There were a few muffled curses and another clatter of metal clashing to the tile floor, but Lacey just stepped into the elevator, ignoring all else. She didn¡¯t have the energy to deal with a crisis. She only let her gaze check that the commotion wasn¡¯t around Gran¡¯s room, then leaned forward to hit the button for the ground floor.
When the commotion clattered itself into her elevator as the door shushed closed, Lacey finally goggled, her tired mind waking up.
¡°What the?¡± Lacey lurched back from the half-sized, green figure that had dashed into the elevator.
The grin that turned on her split the thing¡¯s face almost in half from one long, pointed ear to the other. The metal bins under each of the creature¡¯s arms were dripping medical instruments as if it had raided a surgical storeroom. It wore nothing but rags, filthy in ways that would make those surgical instruments uncleanable. Its long, pointed nose hung over and practically dripped into a mouth rimmed by teeth so sharp that Lacey figured that she¡¯d lost her mind.
¡°You see?¡± brows dipped low between beady yellow eyes as the thing seemed to be able to talk with a tongue so long and pointed that Lacey was almost sure it should have been in a demon¡¯s mouth.
Lacey choked back a scream, but it was such a short ride down to the first floor that she almost thought she¡¯d imagined it, as the green thing darted out the doors the instant they opened. She flinched at another clatter as she cautiously slipped out of the elevator while still trying not to look like a crazy person.
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¡°No, you don¡¯t,¡± came a growling voice, as a man in a flapping lab coat and white hair chased the creature down a dark and quiet hallway, the fluorescent lights flickering and adding their own touch of unreality to the scene.
¡°I this way!¡± the green half-creature taunted the man who could obviously see the thing.
Lacey looked to the bored intern sitting behind the front desk and back to the man and green creature. The intern or secretary seemed completely oblivious to the racket that the two combatants were making as the old man in the lab coat, twice as tall as the little creature, hunched away from her after the darting green entity. It was obvious the intern didn¡¯t see a thing. A part of her froze; another part of her winced away from the conflict as she herself was running on fumes; but the last little part of her yearned to run after what could only be a delusion.
It ran in the family. Lacey¡¯s grandmother had often told stories that seemed like they came straight from the woman¡¯s memory and those stories were full of fantasy and fun, mischief and adventure. On the flip side, Lacey¡¯s mother had disappeared one day with no explanation except a conjecture of her grandmother¡¯s that her daughter had gotten lost in the fantasies; the coin one paid for the curse and blessing that was an intensely vivid imagination.
Lacey took a step toward the door and away from the obvious delusion and felt a portion of her soul wither at the thought of walking away. A tug of her heart and she looked back over her shoulder. Her eyes caught on his and the world she¡¯d known tumbled away. She¡¯d taken him for an old man because of the white hair, but the golden eyes that met hers as he turned back from chasing the monster belonged not to an old man, but a young and vibrant one. A second later, his eyes narrowed, and she felt immediately like prey, frozen on the cusp of something both wonderfully and terribly made on this edge of reality.
The little green thing poked his head back around a corner and blew an improbable raspberry around those sharp teeth and then pitched a medical implement at the man with the white hair. Another growl and they both disappeared around that corner. Lacey would never know what drove her to run after them, but she did. Something in her soul told her that if she didn¡¯t, she would never know anything except a dreary reality. If this was how her mother had gone, Lacey forgave her immediately and completely. The tote she normally carried from home to work to school and then here was left near the hospital¡¯s front sliding doors as her feet scrambled to catch up.
Lacey dashed down the hallway, ignoring the intern rising from his chair and telling her that she couldn¡¯t go down there. Renewed, Lacey ran, her shoes squeaking on the tiles in empty hallways of late night. Had she stayed later than she usually did? The nurses always allowed her to stay later than normal visiting hours, but had it been later than she¡¯d thought? She turned a corner to see only the wisp of a white, furred tail dash around another corner. Lacey ran harder. It was crazy. It was somehow everything.
At the next corner, the ground began to slant down, but Lacey didn¡¯t stop. There was a whirl of something on the floor ahead of her, blackness beyond except for the hint of a long white tail that almost sparkled with stars. One last pull of sanity reached to her diving mentality as she skidded to a stop over a hole of swirling blackness, the tips of her sensible shoes touching the edge of insanity.
¡°Come,¡± came a deep voice, and Lacey fell willingly. Madness or not, that voice¡¯s command pulled on her in ways that couldn¡¯t be explained or revealed except in the madness of poets.
Lacey closed her eyes as her life floated by her while she fell. Her favorite stuffed animal that had been lost during one of their many moves. A hairbrush she¡¯d tossed away because all it did was increase the frizz of her curly blonde hair. A doll whose face was smudged with mascara Lacey had tried to apply with horrible results. And old pair of sneakers she¡¯d worn to death during her tennis phase. Books of fairy tales that she¡¯d loved as a child. Books of romances she¡¯d been obsessed with in her late teens. How long had it been since she¡¯d taken the time to read something new? Even with her eyes closed, she saw it all.
At times, she would fall quickly, but then it would slow to let her pet a stray she¡¯d fed for a whole year in elementary school and speed up again past a scene of her first kiss on Gran¡¯s porch and how awkward that had been. More random than meaningful, these things fell by. Jeans she¡¯d ripped up. Popcorn, jacks, her first video game.
Lacey stretched, trying to shake the dream from her groggy mind. How long had she slept? She was going to be late. With that thought, she rolled over on automatic to flop her hand around for the phone that should have been on her bedside table, eyes blurry, blinking. Her phone wasn¡¯t there.
¡°You¡¯re awake,¡± came that low voice from her dreams and Lacey sat up so quickly her head spun.
¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Lacey managed to say.
He gave a low chuckle. ¡°You have her eyes.¡±
¡°Sure, I do,¡± Lacey¡¯s mind woke fast and furious, grasping at reality that wasn¡¯t there anymore. She was in a cave. She was on a large medieval bed. She was covered with a thin blanket. Okay Gran, Lacey said into her own mind as quietly as she could think, I followed the White Wolf. Now what?
Ch 2 – Where Am I?
¡°Where am I?¡± Lacey muttered out, feeling predictable and moronic. Still, what else did one say when nothing looked right or felt right or was right? Then again, it could feel right if she was dreaming. Something about it felt very familiar.
¡°Who are you?¡± he countered with a slight snarl, startling her into sitting up.
¡°I asked first,¡± Lacey protested, feeling childish under his piercing glance that only lasted a moment.
¡°I have bigger teeth,¡± he warned, his smile not one that reassured her for he did have bigger teeth. He was, however, distracted enough for Lacey to answer her own questions, at least some of them.
¡°I¡¯m Lacey,¡± she answered him.
¡°How illuminating,¡± he growled out, but she found his irritation more humorous than threatening.
¡°Are those really ears?¡± Lacey found herself asking. She was on a bed that was old, rickety, and prickly with straw. It felt real, but her dreams were often very realistic, and had she had this dream before?
¡°Do you always ask so many impertinent questions?¡± the white-haired man snapped irritably. His long-fingered hands were flitting over a desk full of test tubes and liquids.
¡°I asked first,¡± she teased him, wondering where she got the nerve.
¡°I still have bigger teeth,¡± he threatened her, but it didn¡¯t feel like he meant it. Lacey got the impression that he was more bluster than threat. Besides, her Gran had told her to trust the White Wolf and she¡¯d never seen anyone or anything that looked more like what her Gran might have been talking about. His face was human and handsome, but his jaw slightly enlarged to house the teeth he was threatening her with. She¡¯d thought the ears were a childish set of cosplay barrettes, but they flicked toward and away from her as they spoke as if they twitched at the sounds she made.
¡°But you seem to know more than I do,¡± Lacey argued. Perhaps it was unwise, but she¡¯d grown up on stories of a man with wolf ears, snarling teeth, and a long fluffy tail. In every tale Gran told, he was the hero, dashing and romantic and her dreams reflected that. Lacey found herself longing for her own treasured fantasy and let herself enjoy the dream. While she didn¡¯t remember getting home, it was obvious that she had dropped off to sleep still wanting to follow Gran down into another adventure.
¡°That is because I am the one who asks the questions,¡± the wolf-man responded, his fingers deftly tilting a few drops of one test tube into a beaker that began to smoke and change colors. ¡°Now be quiet so that I can finish this without blowing up the den.¡±
His tone was gruff, but Lacey didn¡¯t care. The story was so familiar that she felt more at home here than in her real world. The den consisted of one large room in this cavern. The bed might have been roughly hewn, but it was large enough for two of him including his glorious tail. His scientific equipment bubbled and foamed as if it had come from Dr. Jekyll¡¯s laboratory. Lush fur rugs covered the floors and lanterns dotted the walls enough so that she could see easily.
¡°How can I be as wise as you if you don¡¯t answer any of my questions?¡± Lacey rose from the bed, watching as his ears twitched toward her position. She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of a table where he obviously ate his food. It didn¡¯t hold food, nor was it littered with papers. It was clean, with a bowl of fruit in the middle, just as Gran had described it and just as she remembered from the dreams she¡¯d almost forgotten from her childhood.
¡°Do you wish to become troll food?¡± he growled again, his default attitude, for sure. ¡°If you distract me much more, this potion will turn us both into troll lollipops. Now shush for one minute.¡±
Lacey giggled and his ears laid flat against his white hair, but he still didn¡¯t turn from his work.
¡°You find the idea of death funny?¡± he challenged; a few taps of glass were all she could hear of what he was doing.
¡°I¡¯ll take distracting over disinterested,¡± Lacey picked up a small fruit the size of her palm and the color of a schoolgirl¡¯s blush. The texture was like a peach, but the flavor was a mix of plum and watermelon. It was exactly as Gran had described and Lacey let her eyes close to savor the marilune. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d dreamed of the White Wolf or eaten the exotic fruit. It was the first time since Gran had gotten ill. The dreams always felt so real, but this was a new flavor of real as she felt the juice from the marilune dribbling slightly down her chin.
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¡°You are not afraid of me,¡± came a voice far closer than she¡¯d thought he should be.
¡°I¡¯m not,¡± she smiled slowly, lowering the fruit and reaching to wipe away the juices.
¡°Why not?¡± he grabbed her hand and brushed the juice away himself.
¡°Gran told me to trust you,¡± she answered simply, her stomach fluttering with something she didn¡¯t have time for in her real world.
¡°Does Gran have a name?¡± he demanded, and she found that she didn¡¯t mind him holding her wrist.
¡°She does,¡± Lacey let her eyes dance playfully. The White Wolf had been her childhood friend and playmate in those dreams she¡¯d almost forgotten. How could she feel afraid of a man who had taught her how to play hide-and-seek in her dreams as a child?
¡°Don¡¯t toy with me, child,¡± and Lacey shivered at the remembered tone that had such a different meaning now that she was older.
¡°I¡¯m not a child,¡± Lacey shook her head and jerked her hand out of his grasp, her smile turning a bit forced. It was easy to feel brave in dreams, but why did his hold hurt just a bit?
¡°I can see that,¡± he leaned into her, looming.
Lacey rolled her eyes at his dramatics. ¡°You don¡¯t remember me?¡±
¡°How can I remember someone I have never met?¡± he sniffed and then his eyes narrowed further. They were beautiful eyes, but his tone hurt her more than his hand on her wrist.
¡°I remember you,¡± she challenged him, shaking the fruit at him around her pointing finger.
¡°Impossible,¡± he growled, and for the first time, Lacey felt a shiver of apprehension. It was a dream, wasn¡¯t it? Then again, he¡¯d never forgotten her before. He always knew her, or at least of her. Gran was famous in the fantasy world.
¡°You really don¡¯t remember me?¡± Lacey¡¯s face scrunched up with the dissonance. The taste of the marilune, so sweet, turned a bit sour. She¡¯d chased the wolf in the hospital and fallen. In a hole.
¡°Drink this,¡± his hand held a vial of purple liquid that smoked slightly.
¡°Why?¡± she tried to back away, but he stopped her with a hand that clasped the underside of her jaw, holding her shocked head in place. ¡°What is it?¡±
¡°It will reveal if you are a goblin in disguise,¡± he said, swiftly and masterfully sliding his fingers in a way that forced her mouth open. Without a pause, he dumped the vile-tasting liquid into her mouth.
She had a choice to spit it at him or swallow it, and her eyes searched his desperate ones for a path to follow. He didn¡¯t know her. He didn¡¯t trust her. The betrayal hurt her enough to search his features that weren¡¯t quite right. His eyes were wider apart, his muzzle more black than white. She swallowed with a gulping sound that echoed in the silence between them.
¡°You aren¡¯t the White Wolf,¡± Lacey breathed out the foul odor of the potion as she said it.
¡°I am the current White Wolf,¡± he answered for the first time, still searching her eyes.
¡°But you aren¡¯t the White Wolf I remember,¡± Lacey took a breath back in and felt dread settle in her stomach.
¡°I¡¯m not your Gran¡¯s White Wolf,¡± his eyes softened to say. ¡°And you are not a goblin.¡±
¡°Of course I¡¯m not a goblin!¡± Lacey found her spine and spat the words at him.
¡°Then who are you, really?¡± Golden wolf eyes held her gaze as his softened and hers hardened.
¡°I told you that my name is Lacey, and my grandmother was Akuzukin,¡± Lacey pushed herself away from him to give herself some space.
They stood a few feet apart panting at each other as emotions flitted around like puppies at play. She watched his pretty golden eyes widen and then become speculative. He watched her blue eyes sharpen from the teasing play that she¡¯d had upon waking to a very suspicious gaze now.
¡°Impossible,¡± he breathed out, breaking the uneasy silence.
¡°You said that already,¡± and it was Lacey¡¯s turn to growl.
¡°You have her eyes,¡± he whispered. ¡°I just thought it was a trick.¡±
¡°You have his ears,¡± she whispered back. ¡°But your whiskers are the wrong color.¡±
¡°Grandfather White Wolf had white whiskers, and a slightly more silvery tail,¡± the man replied, and his smile was nice now that he wasn¡¯t growling at her. That didn¡¯t mean she should trust him. He wasn¡¯t the White Wolf that her grandmother had told her about. He was a new White Wolf and that meant that he might not be as trustworthy as Grandfather White Wolf. Did grandmother mean to trust this wolf? ¡°But what are you doing here?¡±
¡°I followed you,¡± she answered simply. ¡°Where is your grandfather?¡±
¡°He died several years ago, during a massive Goblin raid,¡± he said, and Lacey wondered how any eyes could show such immense sadness. ¡°The Goblin Queen has been relentless in the last decade.¡±
Lacey hadn¡¯t dreamed of the White Wolf in so long. Could her childhood friend have died? Was he imaginary or a fantasy? Lacey stalled by taking another bite of the marilune to get the taste of the foul potion out of her mouth. She¡¯d woken in a dream, but had she? Was it?
¡°My puphood name was Okami,¡± he offered in peace, holding his hand out to her. Whatever gruffness had come before had been set aside for a more teasing attitude from him and she marveled at how he changed direction so easily. ¡°And before you snark about it, yes, I was named after my grandfather.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve insulted you?¡± she asked him, her mind racing to fill in the gaps of the fantasy.
¡°I am not insulted,¡± he explained, still staring into her eyes as if answers were there. ¡°I am vexed.¡±
¡°Vexed,¡± and Lacey smiled again at the use of the archaic word. ¡°I can imagine. Then again, I¡¯m imagining a lot right now.¡±
¡°I am not of your imaginings,¡± he worded it so strangely, almost formally. ¡°I am Okami, and I am the White Wolf, leader of the underground rebellion against the Goblin Queen. I am officially asking for you, Lacey, descendant of Akuzukin, to aid us in our war.¡± And with that, he dropped to one knee in front of her.
Ch 3 – Descendant
¡°You¡¯ve lost your mind,¡± Lacey huffed out, ¡°or I¡¯ve lost mine.¡±
At least that had been what she¡¯d wanted to say. Instead, Lacey reached out a hand and said, ¡°I will serve the White Wolf.¡±
He took her hand and rose before her, her head craning up to watch his eyes as they still searched hers. It was more than disconcerting. It was disarming. Her whole body quivered like some idiotic schoolgirl with a crush. At least she thought it was because of hormones until the quivering turned into a tingling that immersed her body in icy warmth that romance novels explained so eloquently as a hero tips the heroine right over the edge of ecstasy.
¡°You are her,¡± he leaned closer, but Lacey leaned back, jerking her hand out of his.
¡°What the hell?¡± she swore, the loss of contact with him, doing nothing to lessen the pins and needles that coursed through her body.
¡°It¡¯s happening,¡± Okami stepped back but couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of her. ¡°The magic is coming home.¡±
¡°Make it stop!¡± Lacey commanded, finally noticing an aura of fireflies in golden hues expanding from her body.
¡°Even if I could, I wouldn¡¯t,¡± he chuckled.
It was like she had lived half a life with half a soul as this energy filled her. It was confusing and slightly painful, but it was also relaxing. The fireflies entered and left her body, each bobble of heat and cold leaving a bit of itself within her as it crossed into and out of her body as if her very molecules made way for them and their gifts. The entry and exit were pinpricks of pain, but the joy and pleasure they left in her body more than made up for it. The more that flooded into her, the more she became greedy for it, pulling it to her ruthlessly until each mote of light was gone.
¡°My grandfather told me, but I thought he was exaggerating,¡± he whispered. ¡°It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± she breathed out, feeling both so powerful that she could take all the air from the room at once and yet so overwhelmed as to want to collapse. Lacey contented herself with grabbing the back of a nearby chair, the marilune falling from fingers that were almost numb.
The White Wolf caught the fruit before it hit the ground and took it to his lips. She watched his eyes close as a low groan echoed out of his chest. ¡°There is a bit of resonance left in the fruit,¡± he admitted, almost sheepishly. ¡°The whole room is probably flooded with it. I¡¯ll take the fruit with us in case you need to refresh the power.¡±
¡°With us?¡± Lacey blinked back at him, hating how overwhelmed she always seemed to feel. ¡°Where are we going?¡±
¡°I hate to rush you, but there is something you need to see,¡± he explained, dropping the fruit from the bowl into a pouch at his side. ¡°It would be best if we got started soon. The power is at its peak now, but you will need some time to learn to use it.¡±
Lacey found herself being hustled through an old wooden door on the other side of the cavern. She hadn¡¯t realized that she¡¯d capitulated, but some part of her knew to follow his lead. With the power that had installed itself into her body came an urgency to do what was needed. Instead of using energy to fight off the feeling, Lacey let it sweep her away. It was as if she had plunged into a fairy tale, but rather than oppose the plot, Lacey found herself invested in its progress. In Gran¡¯s stories, Gran had always been a little reluctant and the endings were filled with the regret of letting the first spark of the fantasy not sweep her along the adventure. Lacey had, as a child, decided that she would not make the same mistake.
Morning was a time enough for dreams to dissipate. The White Wolf might have grabbed her hand again to pull her along, but Lacey joined him at his side once they emerged from the cavern. The world sparkled with fantastic things that would have bothered Lacey in the real world. The sun shone over a small village with dirt roads, thatch-roofed houses, and wolf-folk that walked upright or ran on four to hurry. The White Wolf rushed ahead through the trees as she stared, but she chased after him on a playful laugh through woods that smelled of pine-pitch and recently melted snow.
They wove nimbly around a herd of pigs being shepherded into a nearby pasture where they joined a few geese and ducks that looked too fat to fly. The pling of metal on metal combined with a smoke in the air that could only come from a blacksmith further down the road. The call of wolf-folk and some that looked more foxlike than wolf filtered through the market, but the White Wolf didn¡¯t stop so neither did Lacey. Okami headed straight into what could only be a tavern, pausing only long enough to ring a brass bell outside the door. Lacey didn¡¯t wait to see how folks reacted to the bell¡¯s toll as she chased the White Wolf into a surprisingly well-lit tavern.
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¡°Another raid?¡± the barkeep asked, wiping his rough hands on an apron as he pulled them out of a sink full of sudsy mugs.
¡°Not this time, Smitty,¡± the White Wolf gave a grin that would let no one forget that a wolf resided in the human-like skin. ¡°This time we fight back.¡±
Lacey bent over, a little out of breath from having chased the excited wolf-man through the forest and small town.
¡°Does the lady need a drink?¡± Smitty cast a suspicious eye at Lacey, but she didn¡¯t care.
¡°Do you have juice?¡± Lacey panted. ¡°If not, water would do.¡±
¡°This is no lady,¡± the White Wolf declared, and the way they snarled the word ¡°lady¡± made her think it must be a bad thing. ¡°This is the Lady and if we do this right, we could end the reign of the Goblin Queen for good.¡±
¡°Which direction?¡± two wolves thundered through the tavern door with the demand. One, his ears a golden tan color, held a club over his head, ready to bash the tables. The other, almost black from head to foot, sported a drawn sword and shield. They both wore leather armor studded with bits of dull metal.
¡°This one,¡± the White Wolf laughed at them, and from their faces, Lacey got the feeling that he didn¡¯t do that often. ¡°Take a seat. This time we raid her forces!¡±
¡°Did I hear raid?¡± a bearlike woman poked her head out of a back room even as another foxlike man came in from a back door. The woman was ready with a cleaver and the fox¡¯s eyes glinted with malice.
¡°Come in and sit,¡± the White Wolf called out to them all, as more clambered into the room. ¡°Let¡¯s get some ales out while we plot it all out. Weak ale though. We have a fight to get to.¡±
Lacey took a pale yellow fruit juice from Smitty and let herself lean back against the bar. Every eye settled on her in one way or another as they quickly sat around and quieted. She ignored the bear¡¯s curiosity and most of their hostility. It was clear that strangers were not to be trusted. Out of the corner of her eye, Lacey noticed that the White Wolf poured a bit of purple into each of their mugs as they were passed around. He wasn¡¯t hiding it, and they didn¡¯t take offense at it. Instead, they each took a purposeful gulp of their ale and met the eyes of the White Wolf head on. It was clear that they trusted him and no one else, not even each other. Then she watched him toss back the last of the purple potion and grin for them all.
¡°She hasn¡¯t taken any,¡± the foxlike one sneered at Lacey.
¡°I tossed a whole potion down her throat not a few moments ago,¡± the White Wolf clapped the foxlike person on the shoulder with very little strength. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to trust me on that, because it isn¡¯t safe to force any more on her right now.¡±
Eyes didn¡¯t clear in sudden trust as Lacey drank more unaltered juice.
¡°I¡¯ll have proof in no time anyway,¡± he told the whole room, which was now crowded with what could almost be a small army of mercenaries. ¡°She isn¡¯t a spy. She¡¯s the Descendant.¡±
¡°The Descendant?!¡± the murmurs floated around like waves on the shore as Lacey was scrutinized again. She had to remind herself to meet their eyes bravely and grasp the adventure with both of her shaking hands.
¡°I saw the transition with my own eyes,¡± the White Wolf nodded to them excitedly, and Lacey held her breath to learn more.
¡°She could be the very Goblin Queen herself!¡± a barrel-chested bear-man called out over the noise of the whispers.
¡°She followed me straight from the other world, Graham!¡± the White Wolf protested. ¡°There is no one more skeptical of the old legends than me, but not only did she fall into the hole after me, but she then passed out. I carried her helpless body to my own bed and watched her sleep for several hours. I even feigned sleep myself to see if she was faking it. There is nothing the Goblin Queen would like better than to slit my throat in my sleep. She¡¯d not pass that opportunity by even to round up the entire resistance.¡±
¡°This still smells more like a trap than a godsend,¡± the gruff Graham crossed his leather-encased arms over a massive chest.
¡°I dumped a full potion of dispel magic on her, after which she manifested the magic right in front of me,¡± the White Wolf continued, undeterred by the doubts on the faces that surrounded him. ¡°I could have discounted her claim of being the granddaughter of Akuzukin, but no one can mistake the magic.¡±
¡°The Goblin Queen also has the magic,¡± came a voice that Lacey couldn¡¯t distinguish among the faces.
¡°Maybe she doesn¡¯t,¡± the White Wolf protested. ¡°That¡¯s why I called us all here so dramatically. Grandfather told me that when the magic is bestowed on the foreigner, it is exhausted by the initial transfer.¡±
¡°Transfer,¡± Lacey whispered, trying to understand what he was saying.
¡°As the Decendant,¡± the White Wolf changed his focus to Lacey and held her eyes with the force of his personality and conviction, ¡°you own as much power as the Goblin Queen. She is like to be furious right now and must being coming for us soon, but we have a window of opportunity. You two share the power.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Lacey asked.
¡°Only foreigners can wield the power that is currently coursing through your body,¡± he told her, taking her hands in his.
¡°The Goblin Queen is a foreigner?¡± Lacey asked.
¡°Yes,¡± he admitted, but quickly moved on. ¡°She commands the Goblin Army because her magic has a hold on them, and as long as she uses the magic to help them, they will follow her. But when you got here, she lost half the magic to you. If we can teach you how to use your magic quickly, then we can use her weakness to unseat her from power.¡±
¡°Then teach quickly!¡± Lacey squeezed his hands excitedly.
The room got hushed as the White Wolf turned over her hands and held them that way by ringing her wrists with his long fingers. ¡°It is simpler than simple, from what Grandfather said. You just need to focus those sparkles of yours through your hands and command them by will alone.¡±
¡°Just?¡± Lacey goggled at him, nerves shaking her tenuous confidence.
¡°Try,¡± he told her and to him it was simple. He didn¡¯t have to do it.
Ch 4 – Simple
Lacey pushed invisible forces toward her hands, but nothing happened. Lacey shook off his hands and then shook out her hands to stall for time, but the truth was that she didn¡¯t even feel the magic in her anymore. The fireflies were gone and so was all that lovely tingling. It wasn¡¯t like it hadn¡¯t even existed, but it wasn¡¯t there now. More disconcerting was that at least a hundred eyes were watching for their miracle to appear and she didn¡¯t have a manual for how to produce for them.
¡°No, you can¡¯t get tense, or it¡¯ll stuff you all up,¡± the White Wolf reprimanded her but without heat. ¡°Relax and let it flow through you.¡±
Lacey took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her mouth, but just as she started to search for the feeling again, they were interrupted by a commotion outside that also crashed into the tavern. The bell began ringing frantically as a small wolf-child poked their head into the tavern and whispered to the one nearest the door.
¡°RAID!¡± bellowed the bear-man, turning to push through the door.
¡°Impossible,¡± the White Wolf¡¯s eyes glinted with a bit of fear. ¡°We need time for you to learn your magic.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Lacey stumbled to say. ¡°I¡¯m trying.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± he growled over the noise of all of them heading for the doors.
It was another chase through town and toward some hills where all Lacey saw was a cloud of dust. Lacey was pretty sure that it was her fault. Maybe she didn¡¯t know how, but it sure felt like it was. Lacey didn¡¯t need to be coddled, but she let the White Wolf hold her hand as they rushed toward the grass-dotted hills. The whole crew were armed for combat already, like they were always at least a little ready. Even as they ran, Lacey was trying to access the magic inside her, but it seemed stubbornly blocked somehow. It was a race to the peak of a set of hills that was adorned with a half-wall like it had once been a fence between neighbors, but now the stone fence stretched the length of four wide hills. Weapons were sheathed and bows were drawn from back harnesses.
As they reached the top of the hill, their little band had barely beat the goblins to the peak and that had been the point of running because the goblins were now forced to contend with their party using the wall for defense to rain down upon the attacking horde. While the band of renegades were a ragged bunch of maybe sixty fighters, the goblins were like a mass of roiling puss in a cauldron. Green bodies ran at full throttle, dotted with the grinning yellowed teeth and flapping red tongues. Weapons as simple as sturdy sticks were side by side with gleaming strips of metal. While the rebels wore leather and metal, the goblins wore rags. What they lacked in wealth, they made up for in numbers as there had to be more than two hundred of them. Lacey gulped and tried again to reach into where she¡¯d felt the miraculous magic before.
¡°It¡¯s but a small raiding party,¡± Graham proclaimed, rolling up cuffs to his elbows and pulling back a string on a bow larger than four goblins stacked on top of each other.
¡°Stay down,¡± the White Wolf commanded, pushing on the top of her head until she was sitting behind the wall. He hadn¡¯t needed to tell his forces to fire at will as they already seemed to know this drill as over two dozen twangs seemed to go off together. ¡°Try to summon your magic. We will handle this small intrusion. She¡¯s just sent a nuisance squad to distract us from you.¡±
Lacey tried to focus on fireflies and summoning them back into her body. The noise of the battle behind her receded only a tiny bit, but it was enough to give her a chance to pull the energy into her hands. It was like pulling taffy only the taffy was this thing that seemed like an industrial-war-machine of a rubber band and the pulling was like fighting with a bodybuilder in a game of tug-of-war. It didn¡¯t take so long to finally start to manifest a single firefly into her palm, but no sooner did she do that as she was smashed out of the tug-of-war by a more manifested arrow thunking into the ground near her left big toe.
¡°Poe,¡± the White Wolf called out around his own bow snapping another arrow out. ¡°Get over here with a shield and keep these arrows off of her.¡±
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¡°Since when do they come with bows?¡± a small weasel-like man complained as he shuffled over to hold a shield over Lacey¡¯s head.
¡°They¡¯re crappy bows,¡± Graham scoffed from the other side of the White Wolf. ¡°Barely more than twigs bent with strings.¡±
Lacey looked at the crooked, sharpened stick that she¡¯d taken for an arrow and wondered how they¡¯d gotten it over the wall in that condition. ¡°Lucky shot?¡± she said, pulling the stick up out of the ground. ¡°Ouch!¡± Lacey was shocked by something almost like a little bee sting as she picked it up.
¡°It¡¯s spelled,¡± the White Wolf growled, breaking the stick that he¡¯d grabbed out of her hand. ¡°How did she get here so quickly?¡±
¡°She¡¯s here?¡± Lacey gulped. ¡°As in the Goblin Queen is here?¡±
¡°So much for her being low on magic,¡± Graham shook his head, twisting to put his bow away. As Lacey looked down their row of fighters, she realized that most of them were switching from bows to hand-to-hand weapons. Were they that close? If she focused, she could hear the thunder of the approach of hundreds of feet and maybe even the pounding of it in the earth itself.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Lacey fumbled an apology out, feeling helpless. ¡°I just don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing yet!¡±
¡°Just keep trying,¡± the White Wolf growled, but his eyes were on the approaching hoard.
Grabbing her deepest feelings of frustration and fear, Lacey placed her hands on the ground and pulled the magic viciously, first into her and then out of her hands and into the earth. The zap of the arrow had awakened something primal in her, some ownership of the very spark that had defied her by being against her. It pulsed in her mind and down in her body as she pulled it in and then pushed back at the thundering of the very earth beneath her.
¡°What the hell?¡± Graham exclaimed, and Lacey jolted at the first emotion that wasn¡¯t gruff to come from that bear-man.
¡°Did you do that Lacey?¡± the White Wolf asked in awe. ¡°Tell me you did that!¡±
¡°What did I do?¡± Lacey tried to turn and peek up over the wall, but her shield-bearer pushed her back down.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, kid,¡± Poe insisted with an excited look. ¡°Just do it again.¡±
The ground wasn¡¯t shaking anymore, so Lacey wasn¡¯t sure what to do without knowing what had happened at all. All she could see was this side of the wall where fighters were sheathing weapons and pulling out their bows again.
¡°You pushed them back a hundred feet,¡± the White Wolf told her, a grin on his face that transferred onto her own.
¡°I did?¡± Lacey grinned back at him and closed her eyes to focus again.
¡°Do it again!¡± Poe prodded her unnecessarily.
Lacey reached for the magical rubber band eagerly, but it wasn¡¯t there. Knowing what it felt like, she reached further, demanding for it to come back to her, but it was like trying to catch a rattlesnake. It was buzzing with what could only be fury. The spark of the arrow was nothing compared to the bonfire Lacey found at the other end of the rubber band. That muscle-bound bodybuilder on the other end of the rubber band had turned into a full-grown, pissed off troll. That wasn¡¯t what bothered Lacey nearly as much as the fact that she¡¯d lost her end of the rubber band and so couldn¡¯t even begin to pull back.
¡°That pissed her off,¡± Graham was back to being gruff and annoyed.
¡°What did?¡± Lacey wanted the information as much as she wanted to grab the other end of the rubber band. The flaming arrow that scorched its way through Poe¡¯s hairline was her answer and his little weaselly yelp was enough to have Lacey grab back her end of the rubber band. It wasn¡¯t that she had to search for it, she thought, ridiculing herself. It was her. It was inside of her and anchored there. How had she not seen that?
Lacey sent her own zap of fury through the connection and felt it slacken, if only a tiny bit. Lacey avoided the idea of what and who was really on the other end of the connection. The very thought of a Queen with tons of practice at this sort of thing fighting against her made Lacey feel very small and insecure, so she pushed that thought away.
Lacey wrapped the magic around her and gave a pull worthy of a tractor truck. This time, instead of sending it into the earth, Lacey sent her fury straight up into the cloud of dust that had reached her side of the fence long before the burbling mass of goblins. This time, she got to watch around the edge of the shield as thunderclouds churned and rumbled. Lacey poured her lifetime¡¯s worth of hurt into those clouds and filled them with the seemingly endless tears she¡¯d shed at her grandmother¡¯s hospital bedside. Then she filled it with the resentment of her timeless trudging through life. Lightning surged and snapped as the clouds started to twirl the dust of the hoard into its funnel of angst. With a sigh of emotional release, Lacey sent the storm into their enemies.
¡°If this is what you can do with almost no idea of what you¡¯re doing, just remember that Poe here is your best bud, okay?¡± Poe darted wild eyes back and forth between her and the storm, even as Lacey wilted.
¡°Impressive,¡± Graham was saying, but Lacey was feeling like maybe she didn¡¯t have a lot left.
¡°Are you okay?¡± the White Wolf ignored Graham and the storm to kneel next to her.
Ch 5 – Stuck?
¡°You look pale,¡± the White Wolf took a fruit from his pouch and handed it to her, but he stayed there waiting for her to eat it rather than go back to the fight.
¡°Thanks,¡± Lacey peeled back the skin on what seemed like a banana. The peel was just as good as the inside, but they didn¡¯t taste good together, so Lacey nibbled on the peel first.
¡°This is no time to nibble,¡± Poe pushed the fruit toward her impatiently.
¡°Leave her to it,¡± the White Wolf brushed Poe¡¯s hand away from the fruit. ¡°She knows what she¡¯s doing.¡±
¡°I really don¡¯t,¡± Lacey admitted as much to herself as him.
¡°You just made the earth ripple with a tidal wave, the sky spit like a viper, and you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing?¡± Poe protested; his eyes so wide that Lacey wanted to laugh.
¡°I¡¯ll take over, Poe,¡± the White Wolf brushed Poe off and took the shield from him. ¡°Go send some arrows their way.¡±
¡°Through the storm?¡± Poe looked skeptically at him.
¡°He means well,¡± the White Wolf told her, uncapping a waterskin and handing it to her.
¡°Is it over?¡± Lacey asked hopefully. ¡°Are they maybe retreating?¡±
¡°No,¡± he huffed at her, almost a laugh, but not quite. ¡°They have pulled back for the moment.¡±
¡°Waiting out the storm since it keeps zapping them when they poke their heads out from behind their side of the hill,¡± Poe explained.
¡°You do know what you¡¯re doing,¡± the White Wolf argued gently with her, his ears on a swivel. ¡°It¡¯s all instinct. It couldn¡¯t be taught to you.¡±
¡°Does anyone else have magic?¡± she asked him, looking down at her fruit rather than into his very disconcerting eyes.
¡°Some of us have mild versions of magic,¡± he told her, half his attention on telling Graham and Poe to watch for goblins trying to go around the storm.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she waved at him. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t distract you. It¡¯s the middle of a war zone. There¡¯s no time for chit chat.¡±
¡°Hardly chit chat,¡± he quirked a smile. ¡°Thanks to you, our foes have retreated for a brief respite. The magic has probably depleted enough for a break. If the Queen wished to push back and resume the fight, she would simply dispel the storm. Since she has not, she is likely brooding about what to do next.¡±
¡°And that doesn¡¯t worry you?¡± Lacey laughed at how simply he seemed to take it all.
¡°Worry is irrelevant,¡± the White Wolf shook his head. ¡°I have watches set up and our fighters know their jobs. You bought us time at the expense of your exhaustion. The least I could do is serve you.¡±
¡°You aren¡¯t more interested in planning a counterattack?¡± Lacey prodded, in awe of the casual nature of his attitude. He could be intense and moving at breakneck speed one moment and laid back like a surfer dude the next.
¡°The goblins and us have been fighting for more generations than any of us has histories beyond,¡± the White Wolf shook his head. ¡°We have fought on the same hills or ones just like them. We have tested counterattacks, sneak attacks, pincher movements, and even underground infiltrations. To try something again would be quite redundant.¡±
¡°Weird,¡± Lacey finished the last piece of peel and took a drink of water.
¡°Each side knows the other so well that it is only when some new variable enters the equations that we have any chance of changing the lines we have drawn in the sand,¡± he cast one more glance over the wall and then sat down next to her with his back against the wall.
¡°I¡¯m a new variable,¡± she nodded her head.
¡°And thus, many of us are excited to see how this something new changes anything,¡± the White Wolf took the waterskin from her offering hand.
¡°I don¡¯t understand how you can be so cavalier?¡± Lacey took another bite of the inside of the yellow fruit.
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¡°Once again, worry is irrelevant,¡± he chided her, wiping his lips from having taken a drink from the waterskin. ¡°This life is all I know. Some days are quiet, and we go about our business of raising livestock, growing crops, and making babies. On other less fortunate days we are burying our fathers, daughters, and friends after a grueling day on the battlement. My grandfather courted your grandmother just here where we sit right now.¡±
¡°And now you court me?¡± she found herself asking. ¡°Wait! If your grandfather courted my grandmother, then are we somehow related?¡±
¡°Your grandmother was foolish enough to turn my grandfather down,¡± the White Wolf teased. ¡°I¡¯m hoping you will not be as much of a heartbreaker as she.¡±
¡°Wait, you are courting me?¡± Lacey¡¯s heart skipped a beat, as she looked upon him in quite a different way.
¡°Of course,¡± his eyes sparkled with mischief and Lacey had to hurry to swallow the bite of fruit in her mouth without choking. It didn¡¯t work and she found herself coughing as he laughingly handed her the waterskin back.
Lacey went to take a drink and couldn¡¯t get past the thought of his lips being right where hers were going be on the lip of the waterskin. That was the thing that finally had her blushing furiously. That was just too many lips for a person who¡¯d been too busy for love for most of her life. She pushed the waterskin back to him and the look in his eyes convinced her that somehow he knew exactly what was going through her mind when he surely couldn¡¯t.
¡°You don¡¯t have magic?¡± Lacey tried to change the subject as she wrangled her heart back into a regular rhythm.
¡°I can work some basic puttering magic, but nothing like what you can do,¡± the White Wolf shrugged. ¡°I can make potions for dispelling magic and simple healings, but I cannot take the essence of the world and make it obey my whims.¡±
¡°No fireball potions?¡± she eyed him skeptically.
¡°I believe your grandmother taught my grandfather the recipe for something called a Molotov Cocktail, but no one is willing to give up the alcohol necessary to make it,¡± his lips twitched, and her gaze flitted from those pretty lips to his dancing eyes. ¡°Most of our alcohol doesn¡¯t flame as well as she suggested either. We¡¯d have to steal something called whiskey from your world to make them and that is both dangerous and difficult.¡±
Lacey didn¡¯t want to ask about her world. She was much more fascinated with his.
¡°The Goblin Queen likes to send goblins into your world for what she calls supply runs,¡± the White Wolf looked back out over the battlefield. ¡°We try to close the incursions.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Lacey asked, another bite of fruit starting to ease the emptiness she felt.
¡°The Goblin Queen is a foreigner like you,¡± he pointed out. ¡°She knows how to use the things that the goblins come back with, but we do not, not really. These things are much more dangerous in her hands than they could be in ours. We don¡¯t even know what that last goblin was after.¡±
¡°It was simple medical tools,¡± Lacey told him. ¡°Surgical stuff. Though why would she want that?¡±
¡°Melt it down for armor, I suppose,¡± he offered. ¡°Would it work for that?¡±
¡°It might,¡± Lacey shrugged. ¡°Unless she was a doctor in our world.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t even know what that would be,¡± he capped the waterskin and slung it back on his shoulder.
¡°A doctor is a healer,¡± Lacey explained, trying to think of why a goblin would want surgical tools if not to melt it down. Did they have enough juice to melt it down anyway? Probably. If they could melt steel into swords, surely they could melt down surgical stuff.
¡°I¡¯m not the only one who can make potions for healing, so that is unlikely,¡± he said. ¡°It is probably for armor of some sort.¡±
¡°You could have done the same,¡± Lacey argued. ¡°You could have tried to find metal to melt into weapons or armor.¡±
¡°Why bother, when we can pull the stuff off the higher levelled goblins when we take them down?¡± he shrugged again. ¡°Her side makes armor. Graham makes mostly weapons. They are traded freely between sides when one side or another wins. We have no need to steal from another world.¡±
¡°Then why were you there?¡± Lacey finished her fruit as they talked like a couple just taking a walk on a rainy day.
¡°To close the incursion,¡± the White Wolf answered, then admitted, ¡°mostly.¡±
¡°Mostly?¡± she prodded him.
¡°Fine, if you must know,¡± he looked down at his fingers that were playing with the edge of a sleeve, ¡°I was looking for you.¡± Then he changed the subject. ¡°An incursion can only be closed once all who have gone through have also gone back. The goblin went through. I followed. Once both of us went back through the portal, it closed.¡±
¡°Except that I came through too,¡± Lacey said.
¡°So that incursion will repeat itself as long as more of us are on one side or another,¡± he tried to explain but it sounded quite convoluted. ¡°No one knows when the first portal happened or why, but we¡¯ve figured out the rules of them as much as we could. Portals open because of an imbalance. The first time someone went through a portal, they probably didn¡¯t come back, so the portal opens up again, maybe to give them a chance to return. It will almost always open near where the imbalance exists.¡±
¡°The next portal should open near me, since I¡¯m technically an imbalance,¡± Lacey figured.
¡°Exactly,¡± he seemed excited that she got the idea.
¡°At least I¡¯m not stuck here forever,¡± Lacey tried to joke about it, but something in it fell flat between them. The truth was that, other than Gran being over in her world, there wasn¡¯t much in that world that she wanted. It wasn¡¯t that she knew this place well enough to know that she wanted to be here, but she knew she didn¡¯t want to be there.
¡°You feel stuck here?¡± he challenged her gently.
¡°No,¡± she admitted, sticking her still-sticky finger in her mouth to try to stop up her embarrassment. ¡°Are you kidding? I have magic and power here. I¡¯m totally useless in my world.¡± She didn¡¯t miss the hurt in his eyes this time around. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t really feel the need to go back, if you know what I mean.¡±
¡°Because here you have power?¡± he asked, and she looked down to avoid his eyes. That wasn¡¯t why, but she couldn¡¯t admit that, could she? Was he just flirting with her? Why flirt with her anyway?
She shrugged and he looked away.
Ch 6 – Tea with the Queen
The battle resumed in sporadic spurts where the Queen would tug and play a card from her hand and then Lacey would pull back and channel her emotions into yet another volley. The soldiers on both sides fought in the between space of those epic volleys. Casualties were sparse, but when they did happen, Lacey felt guilt stab at her for not being able to end this thing as the White Wolf had been convinced that she could do. They were little things and treated as such on this side of the wall. Poe took an arrow in the arm and was immediately treated by the White Wolf tearing it out of the weasel-man¡¯s flesh and dumping a light blue potion down his throat. On the other side of the wall, goblins fell in droves and then their bodies were used as sandbags on the edge of foxholes where new goblins would hunker down to survive the arrows from this side of the wall.
¡°How can she keep sending more and more goblins against us?¡± Lacey panted out during a break in the magical volleys.
¡°They are mostly summoned creatures,¡± the White Wolf explained even as his arrow¡¯s release was punctuated by a goblin yelp. ¡°The Queen can summon vast numbers of weak creatures daily. It is the goblin heritage pedestal that allows this. Before the Queen, we could keep them in check as they sent their weakest against us once a moon or so. Those strong enough to survive our wars would grow and become citizens of the Goblin Empire. But when the Queen came, she stopped the practice, claiming it was barbaric.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure I disagree with that,¡± Lacey was tired enough to say out loud.
¡°She hasn¡¯t sent waves of the young against us in a very long time,¡± Graham pointed out.
¡°She decided to allow the young goblins to grow up before they entered the war making the army that came against us much stronger than we were used to,¡± the White Wolf let off another arrow, and then hunkered down long enough to pass a few extra potions down the lines. ¡°That was how Grandfather fell. We had been rejoicing in the fact that the Goblin Queen seemed to have stopped sending goblin war parties to the hills to fight.¡±
¡°But the war party came, as it always did,¡± Poe took on the story, as the White Wolf handed Lacey the last of the fruit from the bowl. Lacey was getting tired of the fruit¡¯s sweetness or lightheaded from the repeated use of the magic. She didn¡¯t know which, but she was glad of the respite. ¡°This time the goblins sent aged warriors that the Queen had trained up and armed with the best that she could have made. They nearly decimated the wolves¡¯ warrior population until the Wolves held them off.¡±
¡°Grandfather and father held off the swarm long enough for us to evacuate the town into the cavern,¡± the White Wolf¡¯s sadness didn¡¯t interfere with his ability to send another arrow into the mass of goblins. ¡°The town was a ruin, but we brought in the other animal-races to help repopulate.¡±
¡°We were happy to come,¡± Graham grunted.
Lacey steadied herself and went to pull on the magic again. She reached, but unlike before, there wasn¡¯t a lot of resistance. ¡°It¡¯s different,¡± Lacey reported. ¡°Different isn¡¯t good, is it?¡±
¡°How?¡± the White Wolf twisted his shoulder out of the way of a flying arrow that zipped with more magic than usual.
¡°The magic isn¡¯t resisting me,¡± Lacey tried to explain. ¡°It¡¯s like she¡¯s not pulling back.¡±
¡°Duck and cover!¡± the White Wolf called out as he threw himself to the ground next to her. ¡°I need you to hit as hard as you can. Please. It¡¯s important.¡±
Lacey sent her vision inward and pulled it all to her. She didn¡¯t let the shock of it overwhelm her after what felt like hours of this kind of fighting. The White Wolf¡¯s army dipped down behind their wall in a wave as the word went down the line from their position. She just filled herself almost over the brim of her own ability and then sent out a shockwave toward the advancing army. It did what it had been doing all along in that it flowed out over the valley between the hills, but it also did something different. The magic¡ veered.
¡°We may be in trouble,¡± Lacey breathed out. ¡°The magic is sweeping around one spot in the line.¡±
The White Wolf muttered, but Graham swore like a sailor.
¡°How far away is it?¡± the White Wolf demanded.
¡°Close,¡± Lacey answered.
¡°Very close,¡± came another, more feminine, voice and Lacey froze. The White Wolf swept Lacey behind him and stood to face the owner of the voice, the only one of them to stand. ¡°Relax, Wolf,¡± the voice purred out. ¡°I come in parlay.¡±
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¡°A truce does not seem in our best interest,¡± the White Wolf growled.
Lacey gulped. The White Wolf¡¯s army rose, bows in hand and pointed in the direction of what was left of the Queen¡¯s army. Lacey knelt behind the White Wolf, feeling like a child again, helpless and confused. Beyond the Queen was a vee of elite goblins armored and armed with shiny equipment that pointed right back at the White Wolf¡¯s army, but Lacey barely saw them. She knew that voice and she rose to her feet despite the liquid nature of her knees. Snarls and growls abounded, but the White Wolf held up one hand to his forces even as the Queen held hers at bay as well. The White Wolf¡¯s arm still sheltered Lacey behind him, but Lacey hardly noticed.
¡°Tell her truth of all of it,¡± the Queen interrupted the White Wolf¡¯s next snarling threat and Lacey¡¯s gaping.
Lacey searched her face. She was older than she remembered, but she was also smaller. There were lines along her eyes and between her brows, but they were lines of sadness and worry. While Gran had always had the lines at the edge of her eyes that came from laughter, this woman had a very different countenance. This was the woman who had shouted at her when she¡¯d done something wrong which had been a lot of the time.
¡°Tell her yourself,¡± the White Wolf challenged Lacey¡¯s mother.
¡°Fine,¡± the Goblin Queen snapped at the Wolf. ¡°Perhaps we could be civilized about it? You could at least offer me tea.¡±
The Goblin Queen wasn¡¯t green, nor did she have a mouthful of sharpened teeth. She was an older and grouchier version of Lacey¡¯s own blonde curls and icy eyes. Unlike Lacey¡¯s weary eyes, the Queen had eyes of silvery ice, cutting and judgy. She wore a gown of red and white velvet and sported a jeweled crown worthy of the nose she stuck up in the air. Around the Queen shimmered a protective shield of magic that bowed out to include her retinue of large and intimidating goblin soldiers that made the White Wolf¡¯s army look ragtag.
¡°Tea?¡± Lacey goggled at her mother, the absurdity of it gripping a heart that had frozen over from the hope it had held about her mother and what had happened to her. ¡°You want tea?!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be exhausting,¡± her mother frowned at her. ¡°You were always so dramatic.¡±
¡°Like you would know from my five-year-old self, the last version of me you ever knew,¡± Lacey gritted out, wishing she had the teeth to fight back harder than simple words. A child¡¯s heart beat within her, strapped into a love for a mother despite whatever she had done or not done, and the resentment of that was enough to choke Lacey. Years of excuses for why her mother had left her evaporated under the snarl on this woman¡¯s lips. Loneliness gripped her at the stark contrast between this woman and the true parent her grandmother had been to her, a woman who was dying in a hospital bed while Lacey was out here fighting a war.
¡°Fine, make me the bad guy,¡± the Queen retorted, her voice hitched, but her face immovably awful. ¡°If you¡¯re not interested in the truth, then we should end this here.¡±
Magic bristled and Lacey reached for her side of it, if only to keep it out of the Queen¡¯s hands. The fury at her mother let Lacey grab far more than she ever had, making the Queen pale a little. Hardening her own heart, Lacey grounded the magic in a way that made the earth shake in warning. Lacey¡¯s mother glared at her and pulled back on the magic, but Lacey held firm in the righteous indignation of a child betrayed by someone who had been meant to love her always.
¡°I¡¯ll tell the truth,¡± the White Wolf intervened, probably not understanding that Lacey was winning the little magical argument between the two. ¡°The wolves owned this area of the valley, and we were thriving and growing into goblin territory.¡±
¡°What a whitewash,¡± the Queen complained, eyes suspiciously damp. ¡°What you mean is that the wolves were overrunning their little frontier town here. There were so many wolves that they fought among themselves like savages and when there wasn¡¯t enough room for a new and strong leader, they sent that leader out against the goblins to push them back so that the new leader could take over and expand the Wolven Clan.¡±
¡°We pushed the goblins out of their territory and used the remnants of their smallest villages to build up a new frontier,¡± the White Wolf admitted that much. ¡°My father had just set up in one of those villages when your mother stumbled through a portal meant to bring your grandmother back to my grandfather.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t turn this into a romance,¡± the Queen stomped a foot and Lacey¡¯s hold on the magic trembled. ¡°Your father thought he¡¯d seduce me as assuredly as your grandfather got to my mother. I just wasn¡¯t as impressionable. I wasn¡¯t a sap, like my mother. And when I found out that they¡¯d used goblin magic to open these portals and what it cost the goblins? I didn¡¯t take your father¡¯s side. I didn¡¯t take the side of the baby-killer! I took the side of the babies he was murdering to try to reconnect with¡¡±
¡°They were soulmates!¡± the White Wolf growled, his teeth bared in the face of her fury.
¡°And that¡¯s an excuse to sacrifice a goblin¡¯s heritage pedestal?¡± she pressed, pointing a finger at him that only barely pushed against the shield the Queen still managed to hold steady against Lacey. ¡°The stone that allows for the summoning of the next generation of goblins.¡±
¡°Goblins don¡¯t give birth like the animal races,¡± the White Wolf lowered his voice and his eyes. ¡°They aren¡¯t born. They are summoned.¡±
¡°Unnaturally!¡± the Queen spat angrily. ¡°That¡¯s what your grandfather and father proclaimed when I protested and told them to stop their expansion into goblin territory.¡±
¡°That not what I¡¯ve said or what I meant,¡± the White Wolf answered, but it was clear that he bore the shame.
¡°You slaughter them like they¡¯re cattle fodder,¡± the Queen argued, waving her hand at the bodies that littered the mounds around her.
¡°You send them in waves against us to destroy the only town we have left!¡± he tried to fight back. ¡°The wolves claimed all the hills you can see from this rise and now we are forced to bring in the other animal races to even make a stand on the last of our domains. What would you have us do?¡±
¡°Die,¡± the Queen replied without sympathy.
Ch 7 – Genocide for Love’s Sake
¡°What?¡± Lacey intervened. ¡°What are you talking about? You would do to the wolves what the wolves did against the goblins?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± the Queen of the Goblins spat back, and the fury in her eyes defied the ice of their color.
¡°How does it make you any better?¡± Lacey demanded.
¡°It doesn¡¯t and I don¡¯t care!¡± the Queen said without a trace of regret.
¡°She is bitter,¡± the White Wolf shook his head in short little bursts. ¡°Unreasonably so, but will you not at least talk peace with us, even with your daughter to stand between?¡±
¡°You knew?¡± Lacey turned on the White Wolf. ¡°That the Goblin Queen was my mother?¡±
¡°Of course, he knew, you little fool,¡± the Queen said, her fists clenched at her side and practically shaking. ¡°You are nothing more than a bargaining chip and a last-ditch desperate effort to stop me.¡±
¡°Understandable, considering that you want to exterminate his whole race!¡± Lacey yelled back at her mother over whatever the White Wolf was going to say. ¡°Now shut up because I wasn¡¯t talking to you. I was talking to him.¡±
¡°I did know,¡± the White Wolf admitted softly in silence of the Queen¡¯s fury. He offered no excuse and no apology.
¡°Am I a bargaining chip?¡± Lacey asked, ignoring the fuming woman on the other side of the wall.
¡°Of course you were,¡± the Queen interrupted despite Lacey¡¯s glare. ¡°He thinks that bringing my daughter here will soften my heart and allow these baby-killers to gain another foothold. Then what? You go back to killing the goblins with the same lack of remorse I dare to show you? You wolves are all the same and you always will be.¡±
¡°And you¡¯re no better,¡± Lacey screamed at her mother loud enough for the woman to jerk back from the words. ¡°You didn¡¯t even want me enough to use me as anything. You threw me away like garbage, so excuse me for wanting to listen to someone other than the person who¡¯d¡¡±
¡°I left you with your grandmother,¡± the Queen revved back up. ¡°You wanted her more than me anyway!¡±
¡°You blame me for liking a person who laughed instead of yelled?¡± Lacey rolled her eyes at her mother, knowing she was being sidetracked from the real issue and not caring so much. The pain this woman¡¯s words could still cause was a physical ache in Lacey¡¯s chest.
¡°She never had the responsibility of making you behave, so of course you liked her better,¡± the Queen dismissed Lacey like the bargaining chip she claimed the wolf used her for. ¡°I left you where you wanted to be anyway, where you were happy, and that makes me a bad person too? Unbelievable!¡±
¡°You expect me to be grateful?¡± Lacey yelled back.
¡°Yes!¡± the Queen blinked furiously. ¡°That would be nice. I did my best and I left when you were in better hands than mine. Nothing I ever did was good enough for you or her!¡±
¡°And you think I¡¯m unbelievable!¡± Lacey fumed, letting the magic build between them. It fairly crackled in the very air they all breathed. ¡°You blame a child¡¯s emotions for your abandonment when you are the most immature person I¡¯ve ever known!¡±
¡°You¡¯ve never known me!¡± the Queen screamed.
¡°Whose fault is that!?¡± Lacey threw right back. ¡°Mine again? I didn¡¯t leave!¡±
The Queen tried to cut Lacey off, but Lacey used the crackling air to slam against the Queen¡¯s shield and interrupt the interruption.
¡°No!¡± Lacey threw the magic against the shield again. ¡°You don¡¯t get to blame me for leaving!¡±
Lacey punctuated her sentences with bashes of magic that had the Queen edging back to hold her own.
¡°You don¡¯t get to blame me for how horrible you were, and you don¡¯t get to blame the wolves for taking me away!¡± Lacey stormed, her emotions showing in raw surges of the magic. ¡°You chose to save goblin babies and be the big hero of the goblins rather than be a mother to me!¡±
¡°I¡¡± the Queen tried, but Lacey would have none of it. For years, she¡¯d made excuses for what madness had taken her mother from her. She¡¯d tried to keep a soft heart for the greatest pain she¡¯d ever felt. There was nothing that ever compared to the knowledge that her mother hadn¡¯t loved her. There was nothing that could beat back the memory of the woman storming off her grandmother¡¯s porch with a suitcase and an angry string of words. No pain could contend with that, so Lacey had bounced back from the rejection of playground antics as if she was strong. Even boyfriends who cheated on her were almost expected to do so since even her own mother hadn¡¯t wanted her, hadn¡¯t loved her. Only the pain of losing her grandmother had eclipsed the childhood pain that resided in that prominent part of her heart. Even with that pain, Lacey had kept going, kept trying, kept making excuses.
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¡°Here¡¯s what you missed, though I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t appreciate it any more than you did the child who relied on you,¡± Lacey¡¯s tone had calmed, but the zipping magic in the air belied her face and voice. ¡°I hate you for not loving me. Gran is dying. The only person who ever loved me is lying in a hospital bed fighting for her last breaths and you, you, you¡¡±
¡°Lacey,¡± the White Wolf tried to comfort her, but she shoved his hand away.
¡°You stand here fighting for goblin babies like some superhero of your own story,¡± Lacey said, and gentled her rejection of the wolf at her side by taking his hand back in hers. ¡°You threw away your own flesh and blood to champion others so that you could feel better about the monster that truly resides in your ice¡ cold¡ heart. And I hate you. I hate you more than I want to breathe my next breath. Your own daughter, born to love and follow you, hates you and everything you stand for.
¡°That¡¯s the teenager in me struggling to reconcile the child in me that still begs you to find a part of you that isn¡¯t too hard to love your own child,¡± Lacey ignored the tears that formed and fell as the magic also beaded into salty rain. ¡°And it¡¯s the adult in me that can¡¯t love herself because one woman was too selfish to see to the needs of the child she held in her arms. And it¡¯s the granddaughter that quivers with gratitude that someone took over for you.¡±
¡°Ungrateful¡¡± the woman began to spit through shaking, bitter jowls.
¡°And every part of me hates you and every part of me still has to love you,¡± Lacey wondered as the mist of tears wove themselves into the rain. ¡°I not only hate you, I condemn your irresponsible, irrational, heartless selfishness.¡± Lacey almost laughed at herself as she began to repeat it. What else was there to say? What else could there be that could reach a woman so determined to deny Lacey¡¯s hard-won compassion learned from the one woman who hadn¡¯t done this¡ to her.
¡°Self-righteous,¡± the Queen muttered. ¡°Fine, hate me! Let them tell you about your father and see if you hate them any less!¡±
¡°What now?¡± Lacey rubbed her hands on her face and turned back to the wolf.
¡°He died dueling my father,¡± the White Wolf nodded, but he wasn¡¯t as closed as the Goblin Queen. He wasn¡¯t as shrewd. He wasn¡¯t as remorseless.
¡°And that¡¯s my fault too?¡± Lacey turned back to the Queen to ask. ¡°Was that really supposed to convince me to turn on the wolves? OOOoooH!¡± Lacey began low and then escalated to scream it out. ¡°You think heaping more pain on my brow in the middle of a battlefield will make me more sympathetic to you?¡±
¡°They killed you father!¡± the Queen pounced on the betrayal and her magic rose against Lacey¡¯s emotional fatigue.
¡°You killed me!¡± Lacey screamed back, drowning out her mother with a peal of thunder. ¡°You see me still grasping at compassion and understanding and you drive another spike into my heart.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Lacey¡¯s mother ranted back over the noise of the still-rising storm.
¡°I didn¡¯t even know he was dead!¡± Lacey bellowed, her hands creeping into her own hair. ¡°You¡¯ve just told me that the man I dreamed of rescuing me from your legacy of pain is a ghost. I¡¯m losing Gran, the only one who loved me. You¡¯ve now told me that my father is never coming to save me or even just love me. And you still expect it to make me come over to your side! I am alone. For the rest of my life to be alone.¡±
¡°You are not alone,¡± the Queen grasped at Lacey¡¯s weakness with a greedy fist. ¡°I am here, and I can love you. I do love you. You¡¯re my daughter. It¡¯s not your fault. It was the wolves. They convinced you to work for them. I don¡¯t blame you for that! We can still be together.¡±
Lacey shook her head and gulped for breath. Her mother didn¡¯t understand. She didn¡¯t understand any of it.
¡°Join us here,¡± her mother continued to cajole Lacey. ¡°The goblins worship me, and they¡¯ll worship you too. They¡¯ll serve you instead of using you like the wolves.¡±
¡°We aren¡¯t trying to use you, Lacey,¡± the White Wolf denied the claims, but his eyes were sad where her mother¡¯s were mad. ¡°If it came out that way, I¡¯m sorry.¡±
¡°He¡¯s just apologizing because he wants to continue to use you for his war against us!¡± the Queen raged, oblivious to Lacey¡¯s pain-filled internal wail. ¡°We are so close! With you, we can win! We can wipe these bloody wolves from the face of this universe and live as Queens together.¡±
¡°I have little to offer,¡± the White Wolf shook his head sadly. Lacey felt his hand and considered her mother¡¯s words as she had to do because it was her mother saying them.
He¡¯d dumped a potion in her mouth, growled at her, and then thrust her into a war of magic against her own mother. He could be as untrustworthy as the woman Lacey was genetically programmed to honor and obey had said he was. His hand was gentle, his words unforced. Lacey looked up into his eyes to search for more, just as she¡¯d hoped for more from her own mother. Golden eyes shone with shame and sorrow, and Lacey looked away, trying to compel a single morsel of understanding for her mother through the pain and rage she¡¯d carried in her back pocket most of her life.
¡°What is wrong with you?¡± Lacey asked, and she could have been asking her mother or herself, but she was looking at the White Wolf.
His shoulder slumped and she could see the future of his race dying in his eyes as he looked to her with hope dashed. She could feel the line of the White Wolf¡¯s army stiffen, though how any of them could have heard her whispered question was impossible. The weight of feeling their leader¡¯s bravery deflating didn¡¯t just fall on them, but also on her.
¡°You have no reason to trust me or us,¡± he was saying, but she raised a finger to his mouth.
¡°How can you love me when no one else can?¡± Lacey asked.
¡°He doesn¡¯t love you!¡± the Queen suddenly raged. ¡°If he¡¯s said he loves you, it is a trick!¡±
¡°Because I¡¯m so unlovable,¡± Lacey nodded to her mother.
The wolf opened his mouth and closed it. There were words on the tip of his tongue and feelings in his eyes. Something snugged itself into place in Lacey that couldn¡¯t heal the hurt, but it tempered the rage.
¡°You are as smart as I am,¡± the Queen barked up the wrong tree, making Lacey huff in disbelief.
¡°You are vile!¡± Lacey looked up into the clouds that swirled with her magic. ¡°Unforgiven and unforgivable and yet I¡¯m trying to forgive you even as you drive me into pain worse than any I ever thought I¡¯d feel!¡±
¡°I neither want nor need the forgiveness of a petulant child,¡± the Queen wrenched on the magic, but Lacey was ready for her and held it firmly.
¡°What you see in me is what you hate in yourself,¡± Lacey murmured, using every ounce of her emotions to take back the magic. It was something that Gran had told her about bullies. Lacey doubted that it had been meant to explain this.
Ch 8 – Balancing Act
Lacey groped for the magic that the Queen wanted to take from her. It wasn¡¯t her magic. It didn¡¯t belong to either of them. It was the magic of a world that neither of them belonged in. Lacey could have thrown all that magic at the Queen, but why? It was what they¡¯d been doing all along. The Queen threw magic like she threw words, like a vicious tennis match that could never end this way.
The rain began to bleed as Lacey fell to her knees. The White Wolf, careless of the pain of the magic-infused rain that pelted him as readily the Queen¡¯s army, knelt in the slurping mud at her side. Rather than weaken Lacey¡¯s magic, the sadness bloomed it, echoing her sobs into thunder, coughing up each hiccupping cry into lightning that finally broke over her emotions and wrung them out.
The rain fell in bloody, muddy drops over the stalemate their emotional pain wreaked over the hills of this world. Lacey couldn¡¯t remain here and perpetuate the conflict, but if she left, it would mean the very end of the wolves and the other animal races. How was this different than the drudgery of her everyday life? She went to work to pay the bills. She went to school to try to make more money to cover more of the bills that, no matter how hard she worked, she¡¯d never be able to completely escape. And in the little time after that, she napped by the bedside of the only person who had never left her. The cycle might have been less magical at home, but it was still an endless volley of give and take.
Lacey studied the magic even as they battered one another on a battlefield that existed only to allow the Queen to throw her tantrum. The armies were useless as they huddled behind shields and walls. Lacey could see that she was throwing her own version of a tantrum too, expressing all her hurt and abandonment issues in the form of destruction that was as useless as the words they¡¯d thrown at each other. It had to end. There had to be a way to stop it, but Lacey couldn¡¯t see it. As long as she and her mother existed, they would be forced to spearhead a battle that didn¡¯t, and never should have, concerned them.
Nothing would work unless both she and her mother were removed from the equation. Even a truce was impossible with the way her mother held to the past mistakes of wolves that weren¡¯t even alive anymore. Lacey couldn¡¯t leave the wolves to their inevitable genocide, and her mother wouldn¡¯t cease looking for reparations. They would both need to leave, but how could she convince her mother to do that? How did one convince someone of anything when they were so entrenched in pain?
Lacey¡¯s emotional pain was raw and throbbing, allowing her all sorts of control over magic that her mother had had a decade to practice. All she could do was fight back, but was that true? What if she built a wall of magic between the two races? She had built a wall around her heart before. It had kept her from the relationships that might have hurt her in the end, but was that really a solution? She could split the earth and leave a canyon so wide that no one would try to cross it, but she had done that with her emotions too and it hadn¡¯t made her better.
The White Wolf sat beside her through the battle, his head bowed to the power two strangers flung at each other. His hand remained firm and gentle on hers. It was almost like he was in prayer, he and his clan born down to a place from which none of them could rise. As futile as all of it was, she couldn¡¯t leave him to be decimated by the pettiness of powerful people.
Whether she built a wall or she created a gap of miles of earth between the wolves and the goblins, it was still only a temporary solution. The eyes of the goblin elites shone with the same hatred that was creased into her mother¡¯s face. They were raised in hate and knew nothing else. Lacey wanted nothing more than to broker some kind of peace, but faces of hate let her know that peace was impossible. How did one break through that wall?
¡°What would it take?¡± Lacey called to her mother.
¡°More than you have,¡± the Goblin Queen declared, and a full squad grunted agreement.
¡°For peace,¡± Lacey groaned out, waves of mud answering her to fling uselessly against the Queen¡¯s shield. ¡°What would it take to broker peace?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not interested,¡± the Queen grit out, her magic only capable of keeping up the shield as Lacey battered against it.
¡°There must be something you want,¡± Lacey cried out, her focus on the faces of the White Wolf¡¯s army.
Bedraggled, they leaned against their side of wall and each other, their heads barely able to stay low enough to avoid the occasional crooked arrows that were still arcing up over the Queen¡¯s shield. Graham¡¯s stiff chin. Poe¡¯s sympathetic eyes mirroring his leader¡¯s hopelessness, locked on the White Wolf¡¯s bowed head. Smitty¡¯s hands clutching the hilt of the cleaver. The smell of blood and mud mixing on a battleground so saturated with hate that it held the pall of death and destruction even without the players that played out their roles because it was what they did to survive.
Lacey could feel the goblin and wolf and animal blood that resonated in the earth. Whatever fantasy she¡¯d chased through the portal, it was not more responsibility, especially with that responsibility seeming more heavy than she could hold. The White Wolf and the way his head was bowed reminded her that he hadn¡¯t brought her here for a battle. He¡¯d brought her here to end the battles.
If they¡¯d been in a different place, one without her mother¡¯s hate, that little snag of her heart might have led to the fantasies of her grandmother¡¯s stories. The White Wolf could have charmed her. He had charmed her, and she was smitten. It was an odd thought since she hadn¡¯t thought herself capable, but there was something in his noble bearing that was tempered with a quick wit, easy smile, and an ability to shlep off the tragedy that was his life to live in the moments between emergencies.
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Lacey had never known that was possible, but she felt she should have. There was work and school and the hospital drudgery. However, there was also the smile of Ms. Clara when she had an extra coupon at the checkout. There was the touch of a nurse¡¯s hand on her shoulder. There was hot chocolate and the music she listened to on the walk home from the hospital.
There were moments in Lacey¡¯s life where she could choose to live instead of just exist. She could tell Ms. Clara a joke on the days she was too broke to buy that little treat that the coupons allowed. She could dance to the music instead of trudging home, hunched over like it was raining all the time. She could spend an extra dollar to buy a treat for herself and then share it with someone. The bill collectors were as mad about late payments on a hundred dollars as they were for ninety-nine. That dollar didn¡¯t matter much to them, but it could change everything for her.
The White Wolf spent his days and nights fighting a war and still found time for an ale, even if it was laced with a potion. The ale hadn¡¯t been necessary, but he¡¯d tempered the bitter pill of distrust with the camaraderie of a drink together. He¡¯d taken a moment in the battle to touch her hand, hand her a fruit, smile. It wasn¡¯t much but it was more than she¡¯d done most of her life of building walls against getting hurt.
¡°There must be something you want that would bring peace,¡± Lacey hammered at her mother again.
¡°Why!¡± she spat back. ¡°Are you getting tired? Are you ready to quit?¡±
¡°Tired?¡± Lacey would have wiped away tears but with the rain, it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. ¡°I am tired. I¡¯m tired on fighting and we only just started. Aren¡¯t you tired after a dozen years?¡±
¡°Never,¡± came the reply that Lacey dreaded but expected. ¡°All I have to do is outlast your weakness.¡±
Lacey was pretty sure that the Queen¡¯s hatred could last forever. Could Lacey¡¯s compassion outlast it? Is it how she wanted to spend the rest of her life? She didn¡¯t want to do that any more than she wanted to return to the day-to-day garbage of her old life. Lacey had always felt trapped, but this was a new level of it. Here she had access to magic that reflected her every emotion with the power to halt armies in their tracks and she was still stuck? What did she want? Escape is what she wanted.
¡°Get over yourself!¡± Lacey screamed in frustration, but then slumped next to the White Wolf.
The spark of that desire for escape grew in her mind and the magic grew with it. The wisp of hope was enough to distract Lacey from the fight and the wall was battered with the Queen¡¯s entitlement. Lacey ignored the Queen, sending only a halfhearted response of thunder with half her mind. With the other half of her heart and mind, Lacey chased another escape. If escape had gotten her into this mess, maybe it could get her out.
It was just there, that spark. It whirled with black sparkles. It was a portal, and it was answering her call. Lacey studied it carefully to see if it was real or just a bit of imagining on her part. If she could summon a portal, then surely so could her mother. Why hadn¡¯t she?
¡°I knew you¡¯d wear down faster than me,¡± the Queen grit her teeth and stepped forward, her shield parting the river of mud.
Lacey let her come, only slightly slowing the Queen¡¯s progress with splashes of mud that were more for show than effect. Lacey¡¯s true concentration was on that swirling window of escape and hope.
¡°You¡¯re just like her, your grandmother,¡± the Queen surged forward and several of the Wolf¡¯s army flinched into drawing melee weapons. ¡°Hopeless, weak little romantic! You have no chance against me.¡±
There was a chance. The swirl answered Lacey¡¯s call, but as it came closer, the shudder of unease of the White Wolf¡¯s army made Lacey look up. Before her was the window into the other world. She could see her grandmother lying on the hospital bed, the light from the window shining in on her beloved face. Lacey yearned to step through.
¡°Is that?¡± Poe gazed in awe at the circle that stood just an inch from Lacey¡¯s knees.
The White Wolf stared at the circle as Lacey stared at him. His eyes were wide but pinched with hurt and a little fear. Did he truly believe that she was leaving him in these dire straits? Lacey thought, then berated herself. Did he have any reason to think otherwise? Lacey put a hand on his cheek and turned his face so that he could see her eyes. Would he understand her smile?
The laughter of the Goblin Queen broke their gaze. ¡°Run, child,¡± she commanded, using a rock to throw it through Lacey¡¯s portal. ¡°This is perfect! Yes! Run! Go back to the woman you adore and leave me just like I left you. I didn¡¯t want you here anyway!¡±
The rock that flew through the portal struck the hospital bed and Lacey flinched at the sound. It could have been worse, but it proved that Lacey still had little choice in it all, and she rolled her eyes to the heavens and fates that seemed set to leave her helpless in everything.
¡°I have to go,¡± Lacey told the White Wolf even as her heart tugged at the thought.
¡°Lacey,¡± his eyes pleaded, and she wondered how his opinion of her meant so much when she¡¯d only just met him.
¡°Trust me,¡± she nodded her head and then rose to her feet.
Rather than enter the portal, Lacey brought it along behind her as she rose and walked toward the Queen. A play of emotions ran across the Queen¡¯s face as it became apparent what Lacey planned. The fear that settled in her mother¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t soothe anything for her, but it didn¡¯t stop her any more than her mother¡¯s cruel words had done. Lacey swung first one and then the other leg over the wall, the White Wolf on her heels and his army on his. The Queen threw more magic into her shield and called for them to back away.
In that moment, the magic whispered to Lacey of secrets. It didn¡¯t use words any more than words could command the magic. It used emotions and, in those emotions, the magic told Lacey that she would only have control of the portal while she was on this side of it. Once she passed through, the portal would close for good. She could save the wolves, but she¡¯d have to leave for that to happen. Lacey took another step forward, the portal swinging in front of her to make the threat clear to all involved.
The portal passed easily through the Goblin Queen¡¯s shield, but the Queen, in her hubris, waited too long to turn and run. Even as she gathered huge swathes of red and white velvet into her arms to free her legs to run, the portal rotated in anticipation of her flight.
¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± was the screeching sound that left the battlefield.
Ch 9 – Crashing Back to Reality
Lacey plunged into the spiraling portal after the mother that had left her so long ago, her heart left behind in a world that would be closed to her now that it was even on both sides of the barrier. The patterns that fell around her were blurred by the tears in her eyes. Lacey couldn¡¯t reconcile the new pain in her heart at leaving him behind. It was silly. She hardly knew him.
The crash Lacey woke to was a rude wake-up call. Lacey blinked her eyes to clear them as she pushed up from the hospital floor to find her mother holding a pillow over her grandmother¡¯s face.
¡°Security!¡± Lacey screamed at the top of her lungs as she lunged toward the pillow.
Once again there was a tug of war, but not over magic this time. The pillow was the newest toy that her mother wished to wrestle control over. It took too long for a nurse to rush in, and Lacey¡¯s breath gulped through sobs of desperation. The war on this side of the portal was almost silent in comparison to the magic of the other side.
¡°Help!¡± Lacey called to the nurse. ¡°She¡¯s crazy! She¡¯s trying to kill my grandmother! Get security!¡±
The nurse hit some panic button somewhere, but Lacey was only interested in keeping her mother away from the hospital bed. Codes were called over the hospital-wide speakers and the squeak of shoes on the floor was the only sign that Lacey had that help was coming. With a massive shove, born of adrenaline, Lacey pushed her mother, soppy wet velvet and all, into the curtain between the beds.
The nurse joined the fray and stood over Lacey¡¯s grandmother as the curtain between the beds seemed to grab what was left of the Goblin Queen. Pans clashed to the tile floor, reminding Lacey of the crash she¡¯d heard¡ was it only last night? Was it over?
The pounding of footsteps in the hallway reminded Lacey of the earthquake her magic had caused¡ was it only a few hours before? Security came as Lacey tried to shake the other world from her mind. She tried not to imagine how the war had gone with she and her mother gone from the battlefield. The White Wolf and his army against those elite goblins? Could she have done more? Lacey winced at the thoughts that plagued her as people took notes and her mother was dragged away.
It was a blur. Now that she¡¯d been in the other world, this one seemed like the fantasy. She wanted to call the portal back and leap through it, but it wouldn¡¯t be back. With both she and her mother in this world, where they belonged, there was no imbalance to be repaired. There would be no more portals to handsome wolves who flirted with her even in the direst of circumstances. Again, Lacey cried, as nurses tended to her grandmother and security people asked questions.
The constant beep of the machines was the one thing that allowed Lacey to lay her head down next to the frail hand of her grandmother. It was steady and slow, evidence that her grandmother was still alive. Her grandmother hadn¡¯t woken since before Lacey¡¯s adventure, though Lacey yearned for her comfort and counsel. Most of all, Lacey yearned to tell her grandmother about her own adventure, short though it had been.
It was almost anticlimactic how her life hadn¡¯t changed on this side. She¡¯d called in sick to work, still made it to her evening class and was back here that same evening as if nothing had happened at all. Her mother had been checked into the psych ward of a different hospital altogether. The machines still blipped and the nurse¡¯s shoes still squeaked softly in the halls of the after-dinner lull in hospital business.
Lacey laid her head down on the side of her grandmother¡¯s bed and sighed out. She let her mind drift to an imagined conversation. Maybe she was looking for some closure. Maybe she just didn¡¯t want to stop the fantasy this time.
¡°What are you working on there?¡± she asked the White Wolf, too raw to talk about anything important.
¡°A potion,¡± he answered carefully, his fingers flying over the beakers and test tubes at his workbench.
¡°How illuminating,¡± she teased him, a hitch in her heart at the attempt at humor, not that he needed to know what it cost her to try.
¡°I must focus, or we could end up troll lollipops,¡± he countered, his quick glance at her showing a nervous smirk.
She surprised herself with a tiny laugh, so small as to be mistaken for a sniffle.
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¡°You find the idea of being eaten by trolls funny?¡± he would have challenged lightly, finally turning from the potions as one particular beaker bubbled.
¡°Not particularly,¡± she¡¯d have shaken her head, a ghost of a smile slipping away.
¡°Lacey,¡± he whispered and there was something awful in his tone. It wasn¡¯t pity. It wasn¡¯t anything she expected. It wasn¡¯t even compassion. It was something that made her want to hope and that was worse.
¡°Lacey,¡± her grandmother¡¯s voice interrupted her fantasy, but Lacey didn¡¯t mind. She could return anytime, at least in her mind. Lacey¡¯s head bobbed up to catch the opened eyes.
¡°Gran,¡± Lacey blinked back the mist over her vision so that she wouldn¡¯t miss anything the old woman said. ¡°I love you.¡±
A smile bloomed in the familiar eyes. ¡°Lacey.¡±
Lacey smiled, and it felt odd, but it was something Lacey was determined to do more often. While her grandmother¡¯s eyes were open, they were looking behind toward the foot of the bed instead of at Lacey. No matter what her grandmother was looking at, Lacey didn¡¯t look to see because she wanted to cherish what might be the last time she saw her grandmother¡¯s eyes smiling and open.
¡°You have his eyes,¡± Gran said, her lips smiling, and her eyes lost in nostalgia.
¡°You were his smile,¡± came a voice from Lacey¡¯s fantasies.
¡°I was,¡± grandmother¡¯s eyes closed on that whispering smile, and Lacey darted a disbelieving look toward the foot of the hospital bed.
The White Wolf stood there in a doctor¡¯s coat and a sinful smile. His eyes weren¡¯t quite sure, but his smile made her stomach drop out.
¡°Lacey,¡± and this time it wasn¡¯t her grandmother¡¯s voice.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± she asked inanely, feeling like an idiot.
¡°I brought you something,¡± he looked almost bashful as he took a vial out of the coat pocket and held it out to her. ¡°It was the least I could do, but it is terribly difficult to find a quiet place to make potions in this world.¡±
Lacey reached out to take the vial, her eyes filled with bafflement. There was still half of her mind that thought she must be hallucinating even as she could feel the cool glass in her fingers.
¡°It¡¯s for her, actually,¡± he pointed at her grandmother with his chin.
Lacey looked down at the pale blue liquid and back up at him.
¡°You should feed it to her,¡± his brows lowered as she didn¡¯t talk. ¡°It¡¯s most effective when it¡¯s fresh. I fed her one this morning when I was still mostly invisible, but it wasn¡¯t enough. The magic doesn¡¯t like to switch sides. I made another one in a very quiet breakroom that wasn¡¯t as quiet as I thought it should be.¡±
Lacey¡¯s hands shook as she dumbly looked down at the vial. ¡°Uh,¡± she tried to say something and failed horribly.
¡°You want me to do it?¡± he nervously took back the vial, skirting her carefully almost as if she was the wild animal. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. Are you okay?¡±
She watched him grip her grandmother¡¯s chin as he¡¯d gripped hers. He dribbled the liquid past lined lips while lifting Gran¡¯s head so that she wouldn¡¯t choke. It was so gentle. His hands were steady until he finished and then they betrayed him with a slight shimmer of the quivering glass tube that he stuffed in the coat pockets along with his hands.
¡°Your ears?¡± Lacey pointed toward his white hair where there was no sign of wolf ears.
¡°The longer one of us is on this side, the more we fit in,¡± he tucked a clump of white hair behind very human ears. ¡°As the invisibility fades, so do our animal characteristics.¡±
¡°How are you here?¡± Lacey demanded, finally catching up to ask a reasonable question.
¡°I came with you,¡± he shrugged, though the tenseness in his shoulders belied the casualness that should have been part of the gesture.
Lacey paled. ¡°The army¡¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re fine,¡± he lied to her, his concern evident even as he tried to hide it.
While she¡¯d gone on with her life, they¡¯d been fighting without their most prominent and powerful leader. Sure, she had taken the Queen away with her, but that elite goblin squad had looked challenging even with the White Wolf fighting alongside them. She had an image of Graham without a healing potion to combat a sword wound and shuddered.
Gran stirred, but Lacey¡¯s eyes were caught on the White Wolf.
¡°You have to go back,¡± she insisted, again feeling her heart lurch at the thought of it.
¡°Come with me,¡± he whispered almost too soft for her to hear.
¡°Gran,¡± Lacey¡¯s eyes filled with tears. ¡°Besides, if I come back, the imbalance could let my mother come back too, couldn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°You think so?¡± his eyes narrowed. ¡°On this side, I have the same magic that you had on my side. I¡¯ve had a quieter day than you had to fiddle with the magic.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a risk,¡± Lacey shook her head, still pretty sure he wasn¡¯t really standing there at all. She wanted to throw her arms around him and run away again, but not if it put his world and his people at risk.
¡°It is,¡± he nodded, pressing his lips together and looking down at the bed.
¡°Take me with you,¡± came a new feathery voice and Lacey snapped her attention to the woman on the bed.
¡°He isn¡¯t there anymore,¡± the White Wolf warned Gran. ¡°There is little left of what you knew in my world.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Gran insisted, more color in her face than she¡¯d shown in years. ¡°I won¡¯t make the same mistake again.¡±
¡°But,¡± Lacey stammered. ¡°You can¡¯t!¡± What she meant was that if Lacey couldn¡¯t go, then her Gran certainly couldn¡¯t. Lacey winced at the selfish thought. ¡°Half of this stuff is keeping you alive!¡±
¡°I¡¯d rather die there than live here,¡± Gran breathed out, miraculously pushing herself up into a sitting position. ¡°Would you deny me, Little Wolf?¡±
¡°Never,¡± and he smiled at the woman Lacey hardly recognized.
¡°But!¡± Lacey was racing to catch up.
¡°Don¡¯t stand there gawping,¡± Gran demanded. ¡°Get me some clothes.¡±
¡°But!¡± Lacey¡¯s gaze darted back and forth between a very determined Gran and the White Wolf¡¯s laughing eyes.
¡°Are you coming or not, girl?¡± Gran said, her eyes twinkled as the White Wolf¡¯s grin turned flirtatious again.
The portal swirled into existence behind the White Wolf, and he raised his eyebrows at her.
¡°Hell yes!¡± Lacey grinned.