JOURNEY INTO THE REALM: The Spell Master (Journey into the Realm Series) (19 page)

Hunting. You were sleeping,
she said.

“Not anymore. You should have woken me, but that doesn’t matter now. We have to leave,” I told her, “
now
.” I pointed at the paper.

Kalani looked over at the paper and inspected what was left of it. Then she looked back at me.
Fairies?
she guessed.

“I think so,” I agreed.

Kalani nodded.
Let’s get out of here.

I quickly got up from the ground and climbed onto Kalani’s back. Once I was secured, she jumped off the ground swiftly and flew into the air.

By the time we reached Birchwood I was in no mood to confront Zora. She would be angry with me for being gone so long, and I didn’t want to receive any more lectures.

“Take me to the tree,” I told Kalani as we neared home.

Kalani nodded, beating her wings faster. As we neared the tree, I could make out Razi’s shape sitting underneath. I heard Kalani growl. She flew downward and then lightly landed a few feet from Razi. I carefully removed myself from Kalani’s back and inspected my new scrapes. They weren’t as bad as the first time. I was getting used to this wild form of travel very quickly.

Razi growled when she saw me and the condition of my legs. Then she started speaking in Dragon Tongue.

What were you thinking?
she asked Kalani.

She was upset. I made her feel better,
Kalani explained.

Zora has been worried! She has been looking everywhere for her! Thought she was with the elf,
Razi said.

I knew the “elf” was Nathan. I scowled.

She was safe with me,
Kalani said.
I can take care of her.

Then they proceeded to argue faster. I couldn’t understand much of what they said. I knew it wasn’t a nice conversation, though. They both breathed fire at one time or another. A few minutes passed and then Kalani turned to me.

Razi says go home. If you don’t she will tell about the tree.

“No. I will go home when I’m ready. Also, you have no right to say anything to Zora. Just tell her I’m fine with Kalani,” I told Razi sternly.

Razi growled, and a little fire escaped her mouth. Then she softened and nodded.
I am sorry for acting so harshly. Zora and I were worried. I won’t tell.

“Thank you,” I said.

Razi nodded and flew off, and Kalani helped me up into the tree. I didn’t want to hurt my legs again. I knew Nathan wouldn’t come until after midnight, so I lay back against a thick branch and waited. Kalani stayed below to make sure I was safe.

As I waited, my mind never once strayed from thoughts of the sheet music. It couldn’t be a simple coincidence. I remembered my fire fairy attacker, and I had this gut feeling that it wasn’t his sheet music I found, but another Element fairy’s. After all, there was a bounty out on me. More than one Element fairy was bound to show up near Birchwood. I wondered if Finn would be one of them, or if he was already here.

Deep in thought, I didn’t notice Nathan climbing the tree until I saw his face appear before me. He swung his legs up and sat down beside me.

“How long have you been here?” he asked.

“A while,” I replied.

“Zora?”

“Yes,” I said. “And more.”

He was worried. I could tell by the wrinkles between his eyebrows. “What is it? What happened?”

“I’m not safe, Nathan,” I told him, tears moving silently down my cheeks as I finally allowed myself to be honest with him. I was done listening to my sister. “The fire fairy from All Hallow’s Eve isn’t the only one after me. I’m being harassed. I found sheet music. Finn said he would come back. They’re here, and I don’t know what to do.”

Nathan pulled me into his arms. “Trust me. That’s what you need to do. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” He kissed the top of my head. “It’s good that you told me. You can’t keep these things to yourself.”

“I don’t
feel
very good,” I admitted, as I held him tighter and closed my eyes, grateful for his warmth and support. “I don’t feel very good about any of this at all.”

Kalani flew me home at five that morning. Zora was gone, a note left behind saying I had some explaining to do when I came back from school. I moaned and went into my room to dress. After putting on a pair of brown pants and a navy blue blouse, I went out to the kitchen, ate a pear, and then sipped some apple juice. While I had breakfast, I thought again about the previous night.

The sheet music proved that fairies had recently been near here. Chances were that Finn wasn’t one of them. He would have taken the sheet music with him. A mistake like that was too great for a fire fairy general. The Element fairy who left the sheet music must have been one of the other bounty hunters after me. However, finding another fairy’s sheet music didn’t discount the possibility of Finn’s presence. He could be hiding anywhere in Birchwood, just waiting for the right time to make his move.

I shivered and threw the core of my pear into the trash bin. I couldn’t be late for school.

After making sure that the dragons were all right, I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. Going on as if nothing had happened wasn’t ideal, but I could do nothing else. I couldn’t fight invisible fairies. Until I came face to face with an Element fairy, I would have to keep a watchful eye and carry on with my usual routine.

As I greeted the brisk day, my thoughts returned to different parts of last night. Unlike Zora, Nathan was there for me when I needed someone’s support. I sometimes valued his friendship more than Zora’s as my sister. I knew it was wrong, but it was true. Zora had changed. Then again, maybe she hadn’t changed at all. Maybe I just hadn’t known her well enough when I first rescued her.

I angrily saddled Marigold at the stables and rode to Aubrey. Zora had no right to treat me this way. We were supposed to be loving sisters. When I first came to the Elf Realm and was trying to rescue her, I looked forward to finally being able to connect with her. I left my home, my parents, and my sister, and I used Zora to justify that act. If she didn’t want me, what did that say about my decision to abandon my human family?

Zora had missed me while I was away; I knew that. Now it seemed she just wanted to rid herself of me. Was my friendship with Nathan really the cause of her bitterness? Or was it her anger toward Stellan? Or was it both? I just didn’t know.

For once, I arrived at school early. Yet Ellie and Janie had still made it before me. I sat down between them and said hello.

They both muttered a reply. I could tell they were still upset about the school closing. I sighed and began unpacking my things. Then I noticed Janie inspecting me intently. “Ramsey, what happened to your hair?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, turning to Ellie for some input.

I watched Ellie’s eyes widen, her gaze resting on my head.

“Your hair is different,” Janie explained.

“How? What’s wrong with it?” I asked.

“It looks like there are darker blonde streaks in it,” Janie said.

“Golden streaks, actually,” Ellie clarified.

“Golden streaks in my hair? Seriously?” I looked around for a mirror but couldn’t find one.

“Yes, Ellie’s right. They look golden,” Janie confirmed.

Fear swelled in my chest. “How is this possible?”

No one had an explanation. Ellie fixed her gaze on mine. “Elves don’t have golden hair.”

Grappling for any reasonable justification, I shook my head. “No, it must be the lighting. Or maybe my hair is dirty. I kind of slept outside last night.”

“It’s probably the lighting,” Janie agreed.

“Maybe,” Ellie muttered, but she appeared unconvinced.

I wasn’t positive about my explanation, so I got up and walked to the front of the classroom where Lady Celine was taking attendance.

“Lady Celine, may I go to the restroom?” I asked her.

“Of course you may. Just hurry back. Class is starting soon,” she told me.

“I will, thank you,” I replied.

I hurriedly walked out of the classroom and down the hall toward the bathroom. I ran inside and looked in the mirror, Janie’s discovery confirmed as I picked up the subtle differences in my appearance. The new strands were hardly noticeable, but if I squinted I could make out the faint streaks of golden hair between my normal pale blonde strands. Ellie’s words rang in my mind.
“Elves don’t have golden hair.”

How could I explain this? I didn’t understand it myself.

I tied my hair up into a ponytail until the gold streaks were partially hidden. I realized the last time I was trying to hide something with my hair was in the Human Realm, when I covered my pointy ears every day. Now I had to hide my hair. That would be more challenging.

How could I face my friends and classmates like this? What would they say?

I decided to skip the rest of first period because I was so paranoid about others catching on to my new hairstyle. I could apologize to Lady Celine tomorrow. I didn’t even attend my ability class, and the only reason I entered the school’s basement for self-defense was to find Nathan.

I stood in a far corner of the room waiting for him, trying to think of a reasonable explanation for why I was so anti-social. I could see my other friends gathered together, and their quick glances were enough to make my cheeks redden with shame.

I must have been too absorbed in my thoughts, practically burning holes in the floor with the ferocity of my stare, because I didn’t hear Nathan’s approach.

“Why are you standing here alone?” he asked.

Startled, I took a step toward the wall and braced my hands against its cool surface, trying to calm down enough to respond. “I just can’t be around anyone right now,” I explained. “I have major problems.”

“I thought we knew that already. Don’t worry, I accept you,” he said, in a light and humorous tone that would have been funny any other day but today.

“This is serious, Nathan. Remember what I said last night about danger? Well, I haven’t told you everything.”

He nodded, his expression solemn. “All right, what is it?”

“Tree…later,” I said.

He looked disappointed but understood. “I’ll tell the others you’re still not feeling well.”

“Thank you,” I said with relief.

I watched Nathan walk back to the group to say a few words, everyone nodding in response. I owed Nathan big-time. He had cleared everything up so I wouldn’t have to explain. With his easygoing temperament and friendly tone, he could probably convince someone the sky was green instead of blue.

Lady Brianna began the class by telling us that we wouldn’t be fencing any longer. We were starting archery instead. We had been scheduled to start second semester but wouldn’t be able to now because of the school closing. We would accomplish everything we could in the short amount of time left.

Archery turned out to be completely painless. I could shoot arrows at the targets gracefully, and I hardly ever missed. Fencing was all work and balance and concentration, but with archery, I felt as though the bow was part of my body. When I pulled back an arrow, everything around me blurred until the only clear image was the target ahead. Releasing my shot was as natural as breathing.

Just as concerns over my hair began to evaporate, I was given another reason to worry. As I pulled back my last arrow, a kind of switch turned on and my back started hurting viciously, just like the last time. The needle-like feeling and aching that I could hardly bear had returned. As the pain increased, I began to doubt that I would be able to stay on my feet. I found that limping eased the sensation, but I didn’t know how I would make it through the rest of the day.

“Go home, Ramsey,” Nathan advised as we walked out of self-defense class. Well, he walked; I inched like a snail burning in agony after slithering through a mass of salt.

“What?” I asked, too focused on the pain to coherently process his advice.

“Go home,” he repeated. “There’s obviously something wrong with you, and being here isn’t helping.”

“I can’t just leave,” I whispered fiercely. “I already skipped second and most of first period.”

“You need to,” he insisted. “You can barely walk.”

I winced as another back spasm coursed through me. “I don’t know if I’ll even make it home.”

“Here, put your arm around my neck,” Nathan instructed, gently taking my hand.

I did as he said, but I didn’t understand why. He told me to go home, so why was he going to walk me to class? As we started for the school’s exit, it finally dawned on me.

Nathan was taking me home.

He didn’t know what was wrong with me. He didn’t even ask. I was in pain and I needed to go home; that was all that mattered to him.

I was too choked with emotion to make any comments, and the pain was so excruciating I was whimpering.

My back pain worsened as we rode to Birchwood City. Nathan and I rode together; with his arms around me, I was able to sit in an upright position and didn’t slip from the horse. When we crossed the border into Birchwood, Nathan helped me down from Marigold and we resumed our slow trek home. The waves of pain cascading down and through my back made it difficult not to cry, but I held it together. I was already a mess that Nathan was helping to clean up. I didn’t need to add tears to an already horrible situation.

When I stepped through the doorway, I literally crumpled to the floor. I was so relieved to be home that I forgot Nathan was still there, looking down at me with intense anxiety. But try as I might, I couldn’t get back up. I was weak, and I could feel my eyes starting to close.

“Ramsey, you can’t stay here,” Nathan said gently.

I wasn’t listening. A faraway sound came to me: Stellan begging me to wake up after my near-death in the barn. But I couldn’t hold on. I was finished. Everything became so fuzzy….

“Ramsey, please,” a familiar voice begged, echoing Stellan’s words.

I was lost in a delirious state of agony, numb to reality. The world grew dark, and vibrant images came into focus.