Chapter 16
"So
you're the daughter of the High Priestess," said Lokey to Pandora. The
group was somewhat at a loss for direction, so they were now doing what had
been their normal routine since they'd met--they were following Ian. Crystal
was now her normal size and being forced to rest before she did any flying,
which she was now doing by sitting comfortably on Magbert's shoulder.
"The
only daughter," said Ian and Pandora smiled at him.
"Then
I should properly introduce myself," said Lokey. "I am Lokey, Prince
of the Highbred Elves of Alkin." He kissed Pandora's hand with a
gentlemanly bow.
"And
an obnoxious idiot to boot," added Magbert with a smirk.
"Are
you really?" asked Pandora. The others laughed and she hastily added,
"I mean, really the Elf Prince?"
"Last
time I checked," said he, shrugging modestly.
"You
realize the whole Triangularate is out looking for you," she replied.
"I
realize," said Lokey, somewhat loftily, "that I am not fit to take my
father's place as Consulate, so I don't choose or deserve to be found."
"It's
a long story with a slight feminine hatred plot," explained Magbert.
"Slight?"
murmured Crystal from her perch.
"Quit
it," Magbert muttered back.
"What's
a triangularate?" asked Ian.
"It's
what you'd call the ruling force of Alkin Forest," explained Pandora.
"My mother and her priestess act as a sort of head of the nymphs in the
forest, which means that they pretty much know what's going on with all the
trees and the water and when the sylphs are down this low, she can even check
on the air. Mother stay mostly on the eastern side of Alkin."
"Lokey's
father, Counselor Imin, is our elven diplomat. He lives along the western side
of Alkin. His counsel communicates and settles disputes among the elves and use
their animal empathy to stay in tune with the creatures of the forest,"
"You
never told us that," said Ian.
"You
never asked," replied Lokey predictably.
"Then
there's your Queen Resa," said Pandora to Crystal, "and she takes
care of all the smaller fairy folk in Alkin, along with all the magic forces
that control it. So, she, my mother and Lokey's father decided to create the
triangularate, to keep Alkin from being endangered by any outside forces. With
all three attuned to a part of the forest, nothing can happen without someone finding
out first and the others coming to their aid."
"Except
your half-brother coming in and taking all the nymphs out," said Ian
matter-of-factly.
"Oh,
no!" gasped Pandora. "In all the excitement, I completely
forgot...oh, I've got to get home and fast!"
"Slow
down a minute, Pandora," said Ian. "Where did you think we were all
headed?" The others looked at him in surprise.
"Good
question, Ian," said Magbert. "Where are we headed?"
"Pandora's
people are in trouble, so we're going to warn them. Any problems with
this?" he asked defensively. Lokey sighed and Magbert shrugged. Who were they
to complain? After all, spontaneous adventure was what they'd been traveling
around for in the first place.
"Well,
why didn't you say so?" said Crystal, her wings already in motion.
"We coulda been there by now!"
"You
coulda, dear. The rest of us don't move that fast," said Magbert.
"Actually,
she isn't supposed to be, either," said Lokey.
"So
I'll wing it slowly," she groaned, flying off the take the lead.
Almost as quickly as she started, she came to a stationary hover. "Which
way?"
"That
way," said Ian and Pandora, pointing southeast toward denser wood.
"Got
it!" said Crystal determinedly.
"Follow
that limping lightning bug," smirked Lokey.
"Not
funny," she called back.
The
five traveled the entire day without pause while Pandora explained the
situation. They finally stopped for a rest as the darkness became too heavy
from nightfall and dense foliage.
"How
far away are we, Pandora?" Ian asked.
"Another
half day through thick brush," she sighed. "I know, we can't make it
tonight."
"It's
just that we were up all of last night with the Kathyrn deal, so it's kinda
hard for us to make much progress," explained Magbert.
"I'm
not tired," said Crystal, with a shrug.
"You
oughta be," Magbert replied, sitting down.
"If
she stops moving around long enough to think about it, she will be," added
Lokey. "Can't expect much mileage from these sprites, y'know."
"Shut
up, Lokey," said Crystal, sweetly saracastic.
"We'll
start early in the morning," said Ian. "Meanwhile, you can stay with
us so your brother's men don't attack you," he added to Pandora.
"At
least not without protection," added Lokey.
"Not
from you, pixie," smirked Crystal.
"Are
you implying that I am a mere pixie elf?!" snapped Lokey
indignantly.
"If
the little curly boot fits..." said Crystal, sticking her tongue out at
him.
He
leapt at her and she ducked behind Magbert. "Magbert, kill her!"
Lokey demanded.
"Well...well,
I just can't kill her; she's my girlfriend," said Magbert
piteously. "I wanna play with her a little while longer."
"Thank
you very much!" retorted his girlfriend, hovering with her hands on
her hips in vexation.
Magbert
laughed and blew her a kiss. "She did kinda owe you one, Lokey," he
said.
"Can
we all get some rest now so that we can start early doing heroic things?"
asked Ian.
Even
those who did not directly agree with Ian followed his directive, as was the
custom...
Pandora
lay awake for a long time considering her situation. So many things had gone
wrong because of her mistake, a mistake that would have been so easy to blame
on that weasel Gerald.
But
how could I have possibly thought that my own father would have agreed to such
a ridiculous idea as enslaving all the Alkin nymphs?, she thought
dejectedly. Only Gerald, whom I never should have listened to in the first
place, could be so crude.
But
it was certainly too late to shift blame around. Through her own fault, her
father lay dead, her mother, who had yet to even hear of his passing, was
furious with him and her half-brother was about to destroy the other half of
all she'd ever held dear. Her father had had no real army, but that was the
least of Gerald's worries. He would be dealing with defenseless nymphs, most of
which had never been out of the confines of Deep Alkin and would be caught
completely by surprise.
At
least, they will if I don't get there soon, thought Pandora, sitting up
determinedly.
Moments
later, she was up and making her way through the forest towards the secluded
glen her mother and several other nymphs, naiads and dryads called home.
"Don't
you think you'll need a little light?" came a tiny voice, followed by a
streak of light that past Pandora's ear and stopped in fron of her face.
Pandora
gapsed. "Crystal...!" she began.
"It's
just a little something I do," said Crystal, alighting on a nearby branch.
As she did, her light went out.
"Just
a little something you do," breathed Pandora. "You mean scare people
out of their wits?"
"That,
too," she laughed. "So, let's go!"
"Crystal,
you can't go with me..." began Pandora.
"And
you can't make me stay, so quit arguing because you're wasting valuable
time," finished Crystal.
"Wouldn't
you rather stay and let the boys know I haven't been attacked or kidnapped when
they wake up?"
"And
wouldn't you rather have a little company to insure something like that doesn't
happen?"
Pandora
laughed. "I'm not sure about the insurance part, but I guess I could use
the company."
"And
the light," Crystal added, resuming flight.
"Yeah,
that, too." The two start off again, this time with Crystal's light aura
leading the way.
The
forest maintained its silence for a moment, listening to the nymph tread
lightly through its foliage until it had enveloped the two in the muffler of
distance. Momentarily, another voice, much deeper than the more feminine ones
before it, broke the tranquility of the night.
"Did
she go?"
"Um-hmm,"
came a reply, sounding elven in tone.
"Did
Crys go with her?"
"Yep,"
came a different reply. There was a deep sigh as the voice continued. "You
should have expected this, Ian. My girlfriend is hardly gonna lay here and
calmly go to sleep when she could possibly be endangering her life and this
nymph of yours is just the woman to lead her into that, however accidentally
she might do it."
"Thank
you, Magbert, for putting that into perspective for me," replied Ian calmly.
"Now, had I not expected this from them, would I be awake?"
"There
is that," said Lokey. "By the way, the longer the two of you
talk this out, the farther they distance us."
"So
let's tail 'em," sighed Magbert, as they all rose.
"From
a distance," said Ian, "so they don't get suspicious."
"Well,
we've got the distance part down by now," muttered Lokey, moving off with
them into the night.