The Last Fairy Tale (11 page)

 “Is it…food?” she asked, wondering if he wanted her to eat it. She couldn’t imagine how she would go about eating it, if he did.

 “Yes,” said Locke, giggling. “It’s a vegetable. They’re quite delicious, but I prefer them peeled.”

 “Should I eat it?” asked Olivia, holding the cucumber up by one end.

 “No!” Locke shouted. “Sorry, I… it’s for Gaw.”

 “Who is Gaw?” asked Olivia as they reached the pier. Olivia heard the water as it gently flowed around the wooden poles that held the pier up in the river. The river’s size frightened her a bit. It wasn’t like the one in the valley. This river was much bigger, and Olivia didn’t know how to swim. She stood as close to Locke as possible as they stepped onto the pier.

 “He’s the kappa of the Fae River,” Locke said casually, as if Olivia would know what it meant.

“And
what
 is a k–” The loud sound of rushing water interrupted Olivia. At the end of the pier, a large, green creature was emerging from the river. A blast of air burst from it as it surfaced, and Olivia screamed.

 “What is that awful noise?” came a deep, guttural voice. It came from the thing that had just emerged from the water.

 “Sorry, Gaw,” Locke said loudly. “She didn’t mean it. I think you frightened her.”

 “Oh, my apologies,” Gaw said. He was resting his large, scaly head on his webbed hands, his arms crossed and propped on the edge of the pier. His face resembled a turtle’s, except a large beak as black as ink served as his mouth. The top of his head was concave and looked like a wide-rimmed bowl full of water. A round shell with many bumps and ridges rested on his back.

 Locke looked over at Olivia, who was clutching both her diary and the cucumber closely in fear. He motioned for her to do something. She swallowed hard and stammered, “I-it’s okay…”

 “You’re an odd creature,” Gaw said. “I’ve been around for ages and have never seen a creature such as yourself. But, that’s no business of mine. Tell me, do you need to get down the river?”

 Olivia tore her eyes from the kappa to look at Locke. He nodded.

 “Y-yes,” Olivia said to Gaw. Her hands were trembling so much that she nearly dropped the cucumber into the river.

 “Very well,” said Gaw. He switched his gaze from Olivia to Locke. “Ah, I’ve seen you around here before. Although I can’t quite remember…”

 “I was here not too long ago,” Locke said. “I was one of the imps that helped clean up one of the fallen Elms of Yore. We held the Ancient Tree Ceremony afterward, about a mile down the river.”

 “Oh, yes, yes… that’s right,” Gaw said. “It was a sad time, indeed, but the ceremony was wonderful.”

 “Thank you very much,” Locke said, bowing. “By the way, I have something for you.” He looked over at Olivia and then at the cucumber in her hand. He then nodded his head toward Gaw.

 Olivia knew what he meant, but she couldn’t understand why she was the one that had to do it. She slowly began to walk toward Gaw, holding the cucumber out in front of her.

 “Is that…” Gaw gasped.

 “I’m an imp of my word, Gaw,” Locke said, crossing his arms.

 Gaw reached out one of his webbed hands as Olivia inched closer. She held the cucumber as far out as her arm would allow and turned her head the other way. She felt the cold, slimy hand as it grabbed the cucumber. She screamed under her breath and quickly scuttled away.

 “Thank you very much,” Gaw said. “What is your name, my friend? I will remember this for years to come.”

 “Locke,” said Locke. “And this is Olivia.”

 “Very good.” Gaw then tossed the cucumber in his mouth and began to chew. He closed his eyes and grunted happily as he did so. When he was finished, he gulped and said, “That, my good friends Locke and Olivia, is one of Aeldyn’s finest gifts.”

 Locke laughed and Olivia began to smile. She wasn’t quite as afraid of Gaw now. She watched as he licked around the edge of his beak, hoping to find any stray bits of cucumber.

 “Well, Gaw,” said Locke, “I hate to ruin your snack, but we need to get to the Great Fairy as soon as possible.”

 “Right,” Gaw said. He pushed himself away from the pier and back down into the water. His massive shell was now completely visible with what appeared to be a couple of small seats carved into its ridges. He swam closer to the pier. “Hop on.”

 Olivia and Locke walked over to the edge of the pier and stepped onto Gaw’s back. Locke helped her sit on one of the small seats and then claimed the other for himself.

 “Hold on tight,” Locke whispered to Olivia. “He’s a quick one!”

 Olivia barely had enough time to grip a piece of the shell before Gaw blasted forward. She screamed, but could only barely hear herself over the rushing water as Gaw raced down the river. Her long hair whipped around behind her in the wind. She slowly turned to look back and saw massive foaming waves where Gaw had split the water. She peered down into the river and saw his long, frog-like legs kicking rapidly, propelling them forward. Turning back around, she noticed the trees in the forest around them. They were much larger and looked much older than the trees in the Elder Forest. She looked more closely and saw all sorts of creatures moving between the trees. Some walked on two legs, while others walked on all four. Furry creatures as small as mice scurried around on the forest floor, and giant creatures ten times Olivia’s size and seemingly made of stone moved slowly between the trees. Soon Olivia had difficulty seeing the creatures, because Gaw was swimming so quickly. The forest became almost a blur.

 After they had sped down the river for some time, Olivia looked over at Locke and grinned. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Only a day ago, she was sitting on her bed in the orphanage. Now she was sailing down a river at full speed on the back of a kappa.

 Suddenly the forest ended and Gaw slowed down. They had entered a glen hidden between the forest, the mountains, and the Great Fairy Tree. On either side of the glen, the mountains rose out of the ground, reaching high into the sky. In front of them, where the mountain forked, was the base of the gargantuan Great Fairy Tree. The river flowed into a hollow that lay beneath the tree, between its many massive roots.

 Gaw had stopped at another pier, waiting for Olivia and Locke to step off his back. They were both sitting speechless, their mouths hanging open in awe.

 “We have arrived, my good friends Locke and Olivia,” Gaw said after a few silent moments. “Please step onto the pier.”

 Locke, still staring up at the Great Fairy Tree, grabbed Olivia’s arm and slowly stood up. They both stepped onto the pier.

 “I hope you had a good trip,” Gaw said, looking up at them. “I’ll be here if you need me to return.”

 “Y-yes…” Locke said quietly, his mouth still hanging slightly open. “Thank you…very much…” He walked slowly off the dock and began to wander this way and that, taking in all of the beauty of the glen. Olivia followed, amazed.

 On one side of the river Olivia noticed an orchard filled with many odd fruits. Smaller plants and shrubs of all sorts were interspersed here and there between the fruit trees. Olivia inhaled the orchard’s fresh, citrusy fragrance. On the other side of the river she saw an elaborate garden packed with herbs. The land of the herb garden had been terraced, each step going a little higher up the mountainside. Small sets of stone stairs connected each level of the garden.

 “This is incredible, Locke,” Olivia said, her eyes wide.

 “I know. I can’t believe that I’m actually here!” Locke replied excitedly. He held his arms out and slowly spun around, taking in all that was around him again. “Ha! This is wonderful!”

 “Enjoying yourselves?” A different voice coming from near the base of the Great Fairy Tree startled them. Although it was quiet, almost a whisper, Olivia and Locke clearly heard it and spun around to look.

 A small, bent creature with skin as rough and earthy as an elephant’s was standing in the archway made by the roots of the Great Fairy Tree. Its features were almost human, but its appearance suggested otherwise. The creature looked to be old and frail, and its body was loosely wrapped in sprigs of ivy that sprouted like hair from its head. It stood hunched over with a small wooden cane as it gazed at Olivia and Locke with its wide, black eyes.

 Locke immediately knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. Olivia stood motionless, unsure of what to do.

 “No need for that, brave one,” said the creature, looking at Locke. “Rise, and welcome.”

 Locke quickly rose from his bow. He looked at the creature, his head held high. “Thank you, Great Fairy.”

Interlude

 The white crow soared down out of the black, murky sky, leaving a trail of white fog behind it. It spotted a ruined city in the distance and flew toward it. Soon it landed atop a broken statue in the center of the city and peered around, taking in the desolation.

 “What a mess they’ve made of this place,” the crow said, shuddering. It turned its head in different directions, trying to pinpoint the thoughts of the thing it had been sent to find. It was near, he could feel it. But it felt odd.

 The crow decided the thing must have been in the building in front of the statue. Although the building had long been reduced to a pile of rubble, the thing the crow was after was buried far below it. Hopping to the edge of the statue, the crow unfurled its white wings and continued its search into the depths of the building.

“Oh, now
this
 is depressing…” it said as it flew through dark hallways deep under the ruins. Limp bodies lined the halls. Most of them had already decayed and were now just skeletons wearing soiled white lab coats, but some of them seemed to have died much more recently. The thing the crow sought was very close now.

 It flew to the end of the hallway, where a door labeled ‘Testing Room’ stood slightly ajar. It landed next to the door and hopped inside. The room behind the door was round and filled with computer components of all sorts. Motherboards and empty casings littered the floor, and monitors and towers were stacked on top of one another all along the walls. A tarnished metal table sat in the room’s center with a ball resting atop it. The ball was made of metal sheets and plates that had been screwed and welded together. A series of blue rings on the front of the ball flashed at irregular intervals. From across the room, it looked almost like a large eye.

 The crow flew onto the table, eyeing the metal ball curiously. “Hmm, this must be it,” the crow muttered to himself as he hopped closer to it. He attempted to probe the mind that he had sensed nearby. Suddenly, sparks flew from the welded seams of the ball; it sputtered to life, floating off the table.

 “Scanning,” the ball said in a metallic, monotone voice. An aperture opened in the center of the blue rings, and a lens focused on the crow. “Unknown structure. Adding properties to new class. Complete. State your species and name.”

 The crow had hopped back a few paces. The metal ball was frightening, but very curious indeed. It stared up at the ball, studying its features. Then it said, “Why do you want to know? What are you?”

 “Invalid input. State your species and name,” the metal ball repeated.

 “Somnivate. And my name is Dust,” said the crow.

 “Adding. Complete,” said the ball. The aperture closed and covered the lens.

 “Will you answer my questions now?” asked Dust.

 “Acknowledged. Make query now,” said the ball.

 “What are you?” asked Dust.

 “Query acknowledged. Answer: I am SAGAX. System for Analyzing Genetically Abnormal eXpression.”

 “Interesting…” said Dust. “Are you a computer?”

 “Query acknowledged. Answer: Yes. I am an artificial intelligence. I have been designed to learn and repair new strands of genetic code. I monitor the database of the living and aid in correcting the effects of DNA Flu.” The metal ball then shorted, and small white sparks burst from its seams.

 Dust hopped around the metal ball, wondering if he should attempt to probe it again. He knew that although it was a computerized structure, it had a mind that was real and capable of learning. After a moment, Dust decided to attempt it.

 Suddenly, thinking became difficult for Dust. His mind was wrenched in different directions until he couldn’t tell his own thoughts from foreign ones. Unknown words and images were tossed around in his head, pushing his own memories to the dark corners of his consciousness. Then an endless series of numbers filled his mind, and he remembered nothing.

Chapter Seven

The Great Fairy’s Hollow

 The Great Fairy beckoned for Locke and Olivia to come closer. As they neared the Great Fairy, they saw that he was standing on the edge of a stone slab that jutted into the river, splitting the river at the base of the Great Fairy Tree. An immense cavern that seemed to lead back into the heart of the mountains stood behind the roots of the tree. Two ornate bridges on either side of the river led up to the stone slab. Locke and Olivia hurried up the bridge nearest to them. As they approached the Great Fairy, he smiled warmly.