Chapter 31

UNA

We'd dismounted from Drakmir in a meadow a ways back. The forest grew thick around the river and the brooks that sprung out from it. A familiar buzz of magick and instinct tugged me closer to the falls. It was where I'd had the magickal pull last time. And now, as we drew closer, I felt it yet again, stronger and stronger as we finally wound out of thick evergreens into the small clearing.

"Oh, no." I froze. "The sprites."

I'd hoped they'd have moved on from the falls. Sprites rarely kept to one place too long. They were nomadic creatures.

"Shove off, ya little harpies!" Soryn swatted a hand in the air at them.

Three water sprites—quite familiar ones—flitted around his head, lifting his braids, petting his horns, giggling every time he batted a hand at them.

I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing. Keffa leaned against a giant boulder, arms crossed, watching Soryn's distress and grinning like a fiend.

"Seems you've finally found some females who want your company."

"Plenty of females enjoy my company." Soryn bared his teeth and growled at the sprites, and they flew out of reach, giggling.

Goll stepped ahead of me, his boot crunching on a branch. All eyes snapped toward us, including the sprites.

I gasped as they shot through the air like arrows toward us. I raised my arms, preparing to defend myself. Last time, one had poked and pinched me, flying around my head so fast she'd made me fall into the water. Terrified I'd die from the freezing water, I hurried away into the woods with the three of them squeaking and calling me to come back. I'd intended to after I started a fire to get dry and warm, but then I was captured, and that was the end of that.

This time, none of them attacked. They circled, making cooing sounds. They were the same ones as before, I was sure of it. Their sleek blue bodies with webbed hands and long flipper-like feet were very familiar. The fins jutting from their spines were each a different color—yellow on one, purple on the second, and green on the third, matching their feathery caps of hair and bright, round eyes.

Yes, these were the same sprites, one of whom had made me fall into the freezing water in the dead of winter when I'd been here five years ago.

Their wings were less transparent than those of other sprites, smooth like their flippers since they used them to swim as well as fly.

"You're back!" the purple-haired one chirped, the one who'd pushed me into the water.

"Now is good," said the green.

"Now is right," said the yellow with a nod.

They hovered directly in front of my face, smiling.

"You remember me?"

They all laughed, a tinkling sweet sound.

"Of course," said the yellow. "You look the same."

I laughed for I looked much different to my own eyes.

"I'm a few years older."

"You are worlds older," said Yellow.

"Worlds older," chimed Green and Purple together.

Smiling, I glanced at Goll, struck by the look of confusion and wonder on his face. Soryn and Keffa wore similar expressions. I suppose it was odd for these typically antagonistic sprites to be holding a civil conversation.

"Do you know why I'm here?" I asked Yellow.

They laughed and flew in a lazy ring around my head, dancing in the air and singing merrily in unison:

" Ladies, ladies,

listen to me.

Words of wonder I

bequeath to thee.

But mark the time,

a vessel will be

a darkling fae lady

with secrets to see ."

Their song made no sense. They were in the middle of singing it a second time when Purple zipped out of their circle and stopped close to my face.

"The Lady of the Wood told us, she did." Purple smiled wide, showing me her rows of sharp teeth. "I tried to show you last time, but you ran away."

Show me? I'd thought she was trying to drown me, pushing me into the water.

"No, Tikka!" Yellow arrowed right at her and slapped her on the head.

"Ow!" squealed Tikka. "No hitting, Zu." Then Tikka flew over my right shoulder, sticking out her purple tongue at Zu.

"I am the elder." Zu looked at me with haughty pride dancing in her yellow eyes. "She was not a lady. She was a goddess."

"Goddess of the Wood!" chirped Green.

I paused, letting that sink in, then said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Zu, Tikka and…?" I gestured to the third.

The green-winged sprite curtsied in the air. "I am Geta. Pleasure to meet you."

I nodded, turning my attention back to Zu. "I don't understand your song. You're saying that Elska, the Goddess of the Wood, came here and left you something?"

My pulse raced wildly. Vayla was right. I smiled over at Goll. He still wore that enigmatic scowl, his arms crossed like he was aggravated. This was terrific news, so I had no idea why he, Soryn, and Keffa looked somewhat disturbed and confused.

Ignoring them for now, I turned my attention back to the sprites. "What did she leave behind?" I asked excitedly.

"Words!" squealed Tikka.

Zu raised her hand to swat Tikka again, but the purple sprite was too fast for her this time. Tikka giggled as she zipped away behind Geta.

"I am the elder," snapped Zu. "I will tell her." Addressing me, she said, "Words. She left words."

Laughing, which made Tikka and Geta giggle, too, I replied, "I don't understand."

"May I speak?" Geta asked Zu politely.

"You may," she gave permission.

"She whispered her words to the water," Geta told me sweetly, blinking her vibrant green eyes owlishly.

Then Tikka shoved her aside, snatching the air and squeezing her tiny fists in a triumphant pump. She squealed, "And we stole them!"

Zu shot a stream of icy wind from her palm. Tikka froze midair, wings and all, floating in a frozen pinwheel upside down, her eyes and mouth round in shock.

"Please be nice," I begged Zu. "I am so grateful to learn your wisdom, but Tikka is only trying to be helpful."

Tikka was floating toward the limbs of the trees when Geta touched her ankle, which seemed to melt the spell away. Tikka shook it off and flew back down to us like it happened all the time. Perhaps it did.

"She is telling you a falsehood, my lady," said Zu. "I will not allow it. We did not steal them. We scooped the words into a jar and have kept them under our protection."

"Will you show them to me?"

"Of course." Zu beamed. "We kept them safe for you."

"For me?" I asked, puzzled.

"The dark fae lady."

Geta and Tikka started singing and dancing around my head again, " Ladies, ladies… "

While they sang, I confessed clearly, "But I am not a dark fae lady."

All three tittered. Tikka and Geta zipped to either side of Zu in front of me, floating in the air, their wings humming as they hovered.

"You are the one we've been waiting for," assured Zu.

"Yes, yes," chimed Geta.

Tikka nodded. "Pretty dark fae lady."

"Pretty black wings," added Geta.

"You must come with us now." Zu flew slowly toward the pool of water surrounding the waterfall.

I gestured to Goll. "May I bring my king with me?"

Though they seemed harmless now, I was still a little afraid of them. Goll would protect me.

"No, no," said Zu, crossing her arms. "Kings are greedy things."

"Selfish things," added Geta.

"Mean things," chimed in Tikka.

The three flew ahead, waving for me to follow. I hesitated.

"What—?" Goll started to ask me a question, but he stopped speaking when I took his hand in mine, his gaze on our joined hands.

"Ladies!" I called to them. "May I bring…my mate?"

The three sprites gasped in unison. Tikka shot toward me. I flinched, but she went directly to my right shoulder and sniffed.

"She has a bite, Zu." Then she flew closer to Goll and sniffed his chest. "Yes, it is him."

"Well, then," Zu said, seemingly annoyed. "I suppose we have to."

"Too bad it wasn't that one." Tikka grinned and pointed to Soryn, waggling her purple eyebrows.

"Come along," shouted Zu, now at the water's edge, close to the waterfall, hovering over the water's surface.

"Sorry," I told Keffa and glanced at Soryn. "They'll only allow us to go."

Keffa nodded soberly. "We'll wait."

I kept hold of Goll's hand as we joined them at the waterfall. The three sprites dove beneath the surface.

I smiled at Goll who was still scowling. I wondered if he was thinking what I was, that I was right. He couldn't have done this without me. But then his question surprised me.

"How do you know the ancient tongue?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

He pulled me to a stop to face him at the water's edge. "You were speaking a language I don't even know. A very old demon dialect. I only recognized a word here and there."

Shaking my head, I said, "What are you talking about?"

"Una," he said softly. "You were speaking the oldest language of the dark fae. My tutors taught me a few words when I was a boy before I went to the Gall Guild to train as a warrior. But no one can speak it. It's a language of the gods. Some sprites and nymphs still speak it since they've been around that long. And a few gifted seers."

Zu popped her little yellow head out of the water. "You must get in."

I tapped into my magick, the thread burning bright. Magick was pulsing through me. When I listened intently to her words, I realized they weren't high fae at all. Just like Goll had said they were different than anything I'd ever heard. Or spoken. But to me, they felt like a second language. Like I'd always known them.

How can that be? A memory of whispered words and blood runes being traced on my forehead flashed to mind. Had Vayla given me not only her gift of magick but all of her knowledge, too? She must have. For when I'd encountered the sprites before my captivity, I had no idea what they were yelling and screaming as I fled into the woods. But now, I understood them as clearly as if we were speaking high fae.

The three sprites dove back into the water, but quickly resurfaced. "Come with us," shouted Zu.

I frowned, examining the waterfall. "It is behind there, right?"

"They nodded in unison."

"Can we not just walk behind the falls?"

"No." Zu shook her head, a water droplet coasting off her feathery crown. "Not behind. Only under. Come along."

Sighing, I turned to Goll, letting go of his hand to reach for the hook of my cloak.

"I suppose we have to get into the water then." I shivered, knowing how cold it would be.

Goll unhooked his own cloak, looking back toward Keffa and Soryn. "Turn around."

Soryn grinned. "We've seen her before."

Keeping my gaze down, I fumbled with the front lacings of my tunic, heat flushed into my cheeks.

"Turn. Around. Or I'll beat you both bloody." Goll's voice lowered to that scary, threatening tone.

Keffa and Soryn both laughed but did as he bid, quite quickly I noticed when I peeked up at them.

Goll moved close, blocking my body from them. "Best take off everything so we'll have dry clothes to warm us when we return."

"Yes," I agreed. "I was thinking the same."

I wasn't going to repeat my last experience here at the falls.

We undressed quickly and quietly, Goll glaring at Soryn and Keffa's backs every few moments.

When we were finished, Goll slipped in first and then held out a hand to help me in.

I shivered. "So cold," I whispered as I lowered slowly into the water.

I didn't miss his gaze flickering over my breasts, stomach, and lower, or the heated trek across my shoulders to land on the bite mark. But his voice was serious and gruff like when he gave a command to his warriors. "Stay close to me. I'm a good swimmer. I'll keep you safe."

A warmth bloomed from the pit of my belly, spreading outward. Not because I believed him, but because I felt the truth of it and a deeper emotion behind his words.

"Come along, faelings," chirped Zu, her blue skin glowing beneath the water. I smiled at her calling us "faelings," like we were children, but I suppose compared to her, we were very young indeed.

Two distinct blue glowing orbs zig-zagged around us beneath the water.

"Take a deep breath," Goll said, his confidence boosting my own.

"I wish I was a skald fae right about now." I could've used some webbed feet and hands.

"You'll be fine." His blue eyes were icier, brighter, with the reflection of the water in them. "And I'm right here beside you. I won't let anything happen to you."

I nodded, warming yet again at his words. I took a giant gulp of air then plunged beneath the freezing water.

Visibility was hazy with the splashing of the falls into the deeper part of the pool, but the glowing lights of our little guides made it easier to follow. Goll grabbed hold of my waist and gave me a fervent push beneath the torrent of the falls. I came out into a calm tunnel of water, dark on our end but greenish light up ahead.

When my lungs started to protest, I kicked and swam toward the light, never panicking with Goll at my side. A chortle of gurgling laughter drew my gaze to the purple and blue flash swimming around Goll. She had darted beneath him, near his groin, before he swatted at her in the water. She laughed that watery chortle again before zipping ahead of us.

The greenish light grew brighter, my chest began to ache with holding my breath. I surfaced with a gasp and inhaled a deep lungful of air. Goll appeared at my side, not nearly as winded. I thought we'd come out in another part of Esher Wood, but we weren't in the forest at all. We were in a large cave.

High above us, there was a round opening to the wintry forest and the gray clouds above. The cave itself bore giant stalactites hanging down from the ceiling and stalagmites stabbing upward from the floor. A steady trickle of water moved down the sides of the cave and dripped from the ceiling.

Goll slipped out of the water then reached down and pulled me up. The cave was cold, but there was a buzzing of powerful magick here, a stillness only felt where gods have been.

"It's here," I whispered to Goll, smiling despite my physical discomfort, my lips and body shivering.

Instantly, he ignited feyfire in the palm of his hand. "This won't hurt you," he promised.

Before I could ask what he meant, he whispered to the flame in his hand. It leaped into the air and spread wide into a flat sheet of flame that drifted through the air and wrapped around my shoulders like a shawl.

"Oh." I jumped, my instincts to back away from fire ingrained. But it was like a warm tickling against my skin, immediately chasing the chill away in my core. "Thank you." I smiled to Goll.

His tight expression relaxed. He gave me a nod.

"Hurry up, slow pokes!" shouted Zu, hovering halfway across the cave.

As we followed, Tikka zipped up next to me and whispered loud enough for anyone to hear, "Lucky dark lady that you get poked with that one."

She smiled her sharp-toothed smile and then darted away at Goll's growl. I bit my lip and looked over at him.

He heaved an exasperated sigh. "Fucking sprites."

"She is right, though." I glanced down at his thick manhood hanging between his legs and arched a brow.

"You keep looking at me like that, Una, and we won't make it to this godforsaken text."

"God-touched. Not godforsaken."

"We'll see," he growled as we followed Zu and the others to one side where water trickled down the cave wall.

"Here," shouted Zu excitedly. "Come, come!"

There, where the three of them flew, the cave wall jutted out. The water sluiced down the side into a shallow pool the size of a large bowl. All three sprites flew into the bowl and came out together carrying a glass vial with a cork stopper.

They carried it through the air toward me, their eyes glowing with excitement. That wasn't all that was glowing. Inside the vial, an effervescent shimmer of green brightened their faces.

"Take it," said Zu.

Glancing over at Goll, whose expression was grim, I reached out and took the vial. Nothing miraculous happened, but at closer inspection, I could see something floating inside the vial.

"Goll," I said, not believing what I was seeing, "there are actual words floating in here. But I can't read them."

They were etched in gold sparkles, swimming in the clear water of the vial.

He stepped closer, the feyfire still draped over my body lighting his face. He scowled and peered into the vial. "Old fae. Very old."

"Can you read it?"

He shook his head. "I don't know anyone who can. We've found ancient relics with this sort of writing."

"Drink!" shouted Zu.

"Drink, drink!" Tikka and Geta chimed in unison.

Yes. I was supposed to drink them. I was sure they were right. When I unstoppered the cork, a breathy whisper escaped into the tall caverns. It sounded like the word lady .

As I lifted the vial toward my mouth, Goll reached out and gripped my wrist, his eyes wide with concern. "Are you sure?"

A calm had swept over me the instant we'd stepped into this cave. "Yes. It will be all right."

He clamped his jaw then finally gave me a tight nod and released my wrist. With a deep breath, I put the vial to my lips and tipped my head back. I swallowed the sickeningly sweet nectar and the glowing words.

A sudden sharp vision blackened out everything else, a god vision.

A stunningly beautiful brown-haired and brown-skinned fae in a green dress walked through the woods, weeping. Not a fae. It was Elska, Goddess of the Wood. "They must mourn and remember their magick, their goodness," she whispered as she knelt at a pool of water and whispered to her reflection, "or all will perish."

Then I was back in the cave, a shot of pain streaking through my veins and stinging my wrists. My head snapped back as I gasped, the overwhelming sensation of power too big for my body filled me up. Then just as suddenly, it was gone.

"Una!" Goll reached for me, but something miraculous happened.

My wings fluttered on their own. Not simply fluttered. They beat with purpose, lifting me off the ground until my feet were at eye level with Goll. His feyfire cloak vanished as I stared down in wonder at this miracle.

I cried tears of joy, even as the effort was tiring my body quickly. "I can fly," I whispered, voice shaking.

Then it was too much, my strength exhausted from simply hovering above the floor. I lowered quickly, Goll caught me when I would've tipped over.

"I flew," I whispered to him, tears brimming my eyes.

His smile beamed with pride and something more tender. "You did, my mizrah."

I hadn't even noticed the three sprites were back to singing their song merrily, flying and dancing around us midair.

Pulling from Goll's arms, I looked down, knowing there were new words etched into my skin by the gods. "What does this new sign mean?" I asked Goll.

He looked down, but it was Tikka who zipped over and tapped my wrist. "It says healer ," she told me delightedly, seeming to want to beat Goll to it.

"Healer?" I asked in a whisper, blinking back the tears.

Goll's hands were wrapped around my upper arms. He gave a gentle squeeze, smiling at me. Without me saying, he knew how important my healing magick had been. But I didn't feel I had that power living inside me. Not yet.

I turned to the sprites. "What do I do now? Will this magick help against the plague?" I asked Zu.

All three stopped singing, still joyful as Zu flew back to us. "Yes, when you have all of the words," she answered. "But the god words are bigger than the plague."

"I don't understand," I told her.

"You will. But you must ingest all of the texts."

"Why?" I asked. "What happens then?"

"The spell is not complete until all the words are together."

"Two more! Two more!" yelled Geta and Tikka.

I had the prophecies in my book on the other two texts, though I needed Goll's help deciphering exactly where to find one of them. The other was quite clear where to go.

"Are they all like this one?" I asked, wondering if they'd all be in pools of water.

But they went back to singing their strange song, circling higher and higher until they zipped out of the opening of the cave and left us altogether.

When I turned back to Goll, he was looking at me with an enigmatic expression. "What is it?"

He cupped my face. "How do you feel?"

Smiling, I admitted honestly, "Absolutely wonderful."

"Good." He nodded, still frowning. "I can sense magick inside you. Old magick. Like what I sense in the lower depths of Vixet Krone. Like what emanates from N?kt Lykenzel."

Blinking back to the moment I swallowed the words in the vial, the god-touched text, I told him what I'd seen in the brief vision. "It was definitely Elska. But what did she mean they must mourn and remember their magick and goodness or all will perish?"

"I don't know. It could simply mean we must end the wars between dark and light."

"But the war is over," I told him.

"That does not mean all of Lumeria or Northgall will accept this truce. This peace. There is always someone ready and willing to lead another fight." Then he heaved a sigh, taking my hand, and led me back to the pool. "The gods will give us the answers when they are ready."

"Then we must find the next text and discover what they want."

"I don't fucking like it." He stopped at the edge of the icy pool and slipped in first, reaching up to help me in. "You were in pain when you swallowed the words."

I stepped down into the water with a shiver and slipped my arms around his neck, not yet ready to take the plunge back under, needing his warmth and comfort for a moment longer.

"I was, but I think that's only normal when a fae takes in that sort of power. I feel fine now. Better than fine." My wings flickered at my back. "And for a moment, I could fly. This is right, Goll. Whatever this is. We must follow the path through to the end."

"Let's return to N?kt Mir and get you warm and fed. Then we can take a look at your book again to see exactly where the other two are."

Bracing myself for more of his foul temper, I nodded. I was absolutely certain Goll wouldn't like it.