“Thank you Sylphi, I will try to make myself, useful, for anyone who wishes so.” Darren, Captain Dylan’s sidekick snickered. Shade swallowed, somehow the massage did not sound like something she might need at all.

“That’s enough from both of you. I am sure our friends are much too tired from a long journey and just want to get some shuteye. Just show them their rooms already,” Captain Dylan snapped. He grumbled under his breath and gave Shade a dark look. She wondered why he didn’t seem to like her much. He doesn’t even know me, why would he be so mean?

It’s because the unknown is a thing to fear Shade. Never forget that, the voices chimed in.

Shade sighed, she agreed with her voices for sure. She just wasn’t so sure about the company here tonight. Especially Darren, he gave her the heebie-jeebies. He just radiated some kind of evil; it was all around him. She wasn’t sure why he was chosen to be one of their escorts: it did not seem very appropriate. Shade glanced at Sylphi. She’s no better.

The dark haired Sylphi was hanging off of Jack’s arm now, whispering something into his ear. She wondered if those two had a thing for each other or if it was one-sided. From the look on Jack’s face, he did not seem to mind her hanging on him, but frowned every now and then at some of her comments and giggling.

She reminded Shade of the mean girls back at school, always finding a victim to torture amongst the high school kids. Sylphi was the kind of girl that would make snide comments to a good girl and send her the bathroom, with tears streaming down her face and feeling humiliated. Shade narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Those kinds of girls thrive on other’s suffering. It would probably best to straight out avoid her, Shade thought. At least they were only here for a night and would not have to endure the Teleen’s ‘hospitality’ too much longer.

“What are you thinking about, dear Shade? Have we offended you in some way? You’re shaking your head with such distain. Has your stay been so unpleasant so far?” Sylphi asked. She had left Jack’s side once he had entered his room and now joined Shade at her side. She slipped her hand around Shade’s arms and bent closer to her. Her pale skin shone like moonlight, only with a slight bluer tinge to the glamour she wore. The smell of roses and another kind of fragrant scent surrounded her, as she invaded Shade’s personal space.

“Jack’s mine you know, I do hope you understand.” She whispered to her. “We are to be married soon. I know that being a woman; you must understand how rare it is to find such a wonderful strong and handsome man, like Jack. Just letting you know how very much he has missed me. I feel so overjoyed to have him back; he stays away far too long. Oh, here we are now!”

She paused, smiling deeply for Shade, a smile that seemed to cut into her like a knife, and full of things unsaid. “Your room, my dear. Do have a good rest, you will need it!”

Shade almost scurried into the room and turned to see Darren leaning by the open door with arms crossed, smiling at her.

“Do let me know if you change your mind about the massage. I find you most fascinating, Shade. I have never met a human before. It’s been quite a delight.” He snickered, bowing as he left. Darren had shut the door for her and when it clicked Shade ran to it, and turned the lock as quickly as she could.

She turned, leaning against it and let her breath out. Somehow she did not feel all right. Something about this place was setting alarms off in her head, like crazy. She pulled her pack off and rubbed her shoulders, as she looked about the room for the first time.

The room was gorgeous; it was really a cave and no windows. The air was cool with an undertone of dampness that left a bit of a chill. There was a nice large bed at the far wall, just opposite the door. It was piled with fluffy pillows and soft blankets and was neatly arranged as to not seem messy, but comfy. There was a wooden table to one side of the room that she placed her pack on; it was long but smooth with use and polished. Above it was a silver mirror with a vine design frame; it had crystals embedded all around the edges. It was breath taking but seemed out of place in that room. Shade stood there, staring at her reflection. She looked tired; a thin layer of dust seemed to stick to her skin and hair. That wasn’t what stopped her though. The mirror looked like it had a tiny ripple in it. It was as if she was gazing at her reflection in a still pool of water. It looked smooth and almost see-through. She reached out her hand, letting her fingers almost caress the surface.

Suddenly, almost as if something had turned it off, the mirror was once again solid. Shade’s fingers made a clinking sound as they touched the hard glass surface. It was nothing more than solid mirror. Shade stared at it for a moment longer, shaking her head again. Nothing is as it seems here. She felt like Alice, and was deep down the rabbit hole. She sighed and turned towards a door in the wall of the cave that was next to the table. She turned the crystal and wood knob slowly, praying that nothing awful would jump out at her. It turned easily and opened into a well-lit bathroom. She laughed and let a breath out. A bathroom… It was both modern but very well equipped, with a large claw foot tub on one side, and a large shower. The shower itself had several showerheads installed. It had no door to it but a drain on the floor that would reveal the water’s path. She reached in and turned the curved silver knob on the wall and watched with amazement, as water fell like rain and poured out of the spouts. She smiled; the water was the perfect temperature. She noticed soaps and a sponge on a ledge near the end of the shower; they were wrapped in twine topped with a bow. She shrugged her clothes off and stepped under the pouring shower. It felt amazing. The hot water ran down on her skin and rinsed the day’s soil away, swirling dirt down the drain.

She hadn’t looked for towels before she had entered the shower but she looked around the room once she had her fill of the shower and found that a neat clean pile was set out on the counter by the sink. She turned off the shower and stepped out; she then pulled one of the towels out of the stack and wrapped it around her body. She didn’t feel cold in here; the steam and warmth of the water seemed to swirl around her still. She pulled another towel out and rubbed her hair, then twisting it around her hair to pile on top of her head. She sighed; she had left her bag with her clothes in the bedroom. She groaned, hoping it wasn’t too cool coming out of the bathroom. The room was as she left it; she paused to glance at the door to the hallway, listening for any steps or voices. The stone walls seemed to insulate the rooms very well here, and she didn’t hear anyone. Natural soundproofing. She rummaged through her pack and pulled out a deep blue nightgown and underwear. After she quickly dressed herself she noted the air in here was much cooler. Her hair was still wet from the shower and felt cool on her shoulders. Shade stopped, her eyes widened and the goose bumps flared on her skin. She looked around the room and couldn’t figure out why she was so cold suddenly. She’d heard what sounded like a whisper. She saw nothing. Where had that voice come from? She held her breath, listening hard for anything else.

Her eyes darted around as she stood there. None of her spirit guides responded, like a mute button had been pushed. Shade didn’t like it. Something was wrong. She grabbed one of her daggers from her pack and listened. Looking around again, nothing jumped out at her and there were no more voices. Her heart raced and pounded in her ears. She held her breath listening. She sighed, it was probably nothing. She shook off the crazy feeling, tossing the dagger on the vanity table and walked to the bed. She slipped under the soft sheets and pulled one of the thick quilts on top of her. She sat up in bed looking around one more time before reaching over to turn off the lamp. She paused one more time staring at the mirror. Is it rippling again? She shivered and felt uneasy. I need to rest; I’m just really tired and exhausted. That’s why I’m starting to hallucinate. Tomorrow will be here before I know it. She then decided to reach for her pack and pulled out her cell phone. It still had a charge on it but she doubted there would be an outlet here to charge it. It read 10:45pm. Ugh, it’s getting too late!

They had planned to regroup for breakfast at six am and after that, continue on their journey. She pulled out her charger and glanced down the wall near the floor. The lamp was plugged into the wall too and there was an open outlet just next to it. She couldn’t believe her luck as she plugged her cell phone in. Faeries with modern technology! She wondered if all the rooms were like this or was she the only one with modern comforts in her room. For sure there would be iron in the conduits, running through the stone walls.

She shrugged; she would have to ask Jack about it later. The Teleen weren’t bothered by it, since they were made of electricity and blue fire, but what about her friends? It was something to ask about for sure. The palace at Guildrin had not had such amenities. The light had come from torch and candle and by some weird magical spell that illuminated the place as bright as by natural sunlight.

She lay back, sinking into the bed and sheets. She let the blankets envelope around her; embracing her body heat that was held in the soft sheets and making the bed feel like heaven. She reached over again and clicked the lamp back off. She tried to not look at the mirror again but instead closed her eyes and let herself slip away into sleep.

Chapter Six

“Shade.”

The blue fire was glowing all around her, crackling and popping all around. The walls seemed to be close to her, enveloping her like a cocoon. She stood up from the ground where she had woken. Is this real? A dream? She did not know. She felt the walls with her hands. The walls were hard, cool stone and the sound of her own breath echoed around her; but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The fire came from the other side of the room. It stood like a pillar, the size of a man. In fact, as she stared longer into the flowing flames, the image of a man surfaced on the fire. She gasped. The man’s eyes were closed and his hands laid crossed over each other on the hilt of a gleaming sword. The blade glowed with blue fire too. Its hilt was made of red dark rubies; the red flames spread from his hands onto the blade of his sword.

Shade walked towards him, asking who he was. He didn’t respond to her inquiries, no matter how much she pleaded with him. She kept walking towards him slowly, her feet were bare but they did not feel cold on the stones like she thought they should. Her heart pounded in her chest as she reached out to the man. “Help me,” she whispered to him, her voice faint and weak. Her fingers were almost about to touch the blue flame engulfing his body. She felt afraid, not knowing if the flames would burn or scald her hand. She needed to wake him, to make him help her out of this place, this tomb. His eyes flew open, bright white light poured out of them and his mouth as he opened it. A sound quite like loud ethereal music filled her ears to the point she had to cover them. The music seemed to scream into her. The words came now and they were booming.

“AWAKEN NOW AND RUN SHADE!”

*****

Shade’s eyes flew open. It was very dark and it took a moment or two for her eyes to focus and readjust. Was she awake or dead? Where was she? She felt panicked and couldn’t breathe. She reached over to the lamp on the side of the bed but without any light, she fumbled and sent the lamp smashing to the floor. The nightmare left her with a dull ache in her head and the disorientation made her panic. Just then, the room lit up around her like a spotlight. She stopped fumbling and stared at the silver and crystal mirror. It was aflame in blue fire dripping out like liquid molten rock, and it was crackling with white electricity. It poured out of the rippling surface, down the table and into the middle of the room into a shape of a pillar. The pillar morphed into a man.

Darren.

She screamed but then realized that no one could hear her through the solid rock walls. She pulled the blankets off her but did not have time to even get out of the bed, and head for the door before he had jumped onto her. He pushed her down and smacked her face. His cold laugh rung through her ears as he looked down at her, watching her squirm and kick helplessly.

His eyes pierced her as they gazed into her face. He had her pinned under his legs and squeezed her arms so hard, she felt them aching and burning in protest. There were surely bruises forming and marking her skin. He smacked her again so hard that stars flared in front of her eyes. She was almost blacking out and felt the iron taste of blood, warm and thick, in her mouth. The left side of her face felt on fire.

When her vision cleared, she took in the horror of Darren on fire. His blue flames roared around them but nothing burned yet, as though his fire was cool to the touch. To Shade’s surprise, she wasn’t burning under his grip. She struggled and squirmed in his hold but couldn’t move an inch. He must have given her a concussion or something. She could feel the room spin around her and her stomach lurched with the nausea. She blinked and tried to focus. “Darren, let me go, what do you want?” She coughed up a mouthful of blood and spit.

He laughed at her. “You pathetic mortal, I forgot how much you can bleed and injure so easily. No true fey would be so fragile. My apologies, of course. I do wonder though, why you aren’t burning up slowly into crumbly ash. I always did like to watch mortals turn into dust while I burn them. I’m just a little bit sick like that.” He snarled at her and hopped off the bed, never turning his glare from her. “Show me what you got, Shade. I want to know why you’re so special. What’s your secret? What is it that Jack won’t tell me?” His faced morphed from mocking to angry as his fire was flickering in and out. The fire flashed the room like a strobe, bright and it was disorientating. Shade tried to stand grabbing the nightstand and pulling herself upright. She could barely balance on her flimsy legs.

“There is nothing special about me, Darren. I’m just part fey, that’s what Ilarial said. That’s why they need me to get the Santiran fountain’s water magic. I’d think you’d have heard that by now. Really there is nothing else. I don’t really have any magic, I am still learning. I only have spirit guides who talk to me sometimes. I swear, I don’t know anything else!”