Mommy,” she whispered as she tossed in her sleeping bag.
Ali awoke with a start. Her voice had startled her. Had she been asleep? Strange, she did not remember passing out. Yet it felt much later.
Ali climbed out of her tent and stood. Karl continued to sit on the boulder, his back to her. His head was down now, though. He might have been asleep.
The moon had risen high in the sky. She must have been asleep for several hours. The woods were bright, it was like daytime. Yet the light could be wiped out in a second by the shifting clouds.
Staring at the sky, Ali saw the clouds as vast kites made of cold mist. She was supposed to have control over the water element. Could she pull their strings? Or were they under the control of another? The clouds seemed to haunt the sky. It was as if they had entered the human dimension from the elemental kingdom. The cold wind blew and she shivered.
Ali realized Paddy was missing. But even as she searched for him, he reappeared. He could have been sleepwalking, or maybe he had just gone to pee. He stumbled back into camp, his eyes half-closed, and plopped down on his pile of leaves. A second later he was snoring peacefully. But he talked to himself as he slept, occasionally mumbling the name Lea, and it made her wonder if he had a girlfriend in the other dimension.
Ali walked over to Karl. He raised his head as she neared, looked at her. “What are you doing up?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“Your turn to sleep. What time is it?”
He checked his watch. “Two-fifteen.”
She sat beside him on the boulder. The moonlight suited him. It took away his tan but made his clear blue eyes gleam all the brighter.
“I don’t even remember falling asleep,” she said.
“You were tossing a lot.”
“You were watching me?”
“I was keeping an eye on the whole gang,” Karl said.
“Did you see Paddy leave and come back just now?”
“I saw him leave. That was a while ago.” Karl glanced over his shoulder. “Did he just come back?”
“Yes.”
“I must have dozed for a few minutes.”
“That’s okay, you’re exhausted. Let me stand guard.”
Karl stood and yawned. “Wake Cindy or Steve before dawn. They have to do their fair share.”
“I will,” she said, although privately she thought it would be better to let her friends rest. She did not feel tired anyway. Her right arm continued to ache, though.
“Wake me if you hear anything. Anything at all.”
“Sure,” she promised.
Karl patted her shoulder. “Goodnight Ali.”
Karl crawled into his tent. Ali stood and walked silently around the camp. Better to move, she thought, keep warm. But the jacket Steve had given her was thick and comfortable, and it had a hood. She was glad she had taken the time to fix it. It was not like she could afford a new jacket. She wondered if her father would notice the switch.
Ali thought about her father then—the long lonely roads he traveled to support them both. He could be halfway across the country by now. She wished there was more she could do for him. He was a great man, he had not deserved to suffer so much.
The moon vanished. Just like that, the clouds stole it away, and the forest was plunged into a deep gloom. Again, she felt as if the clouds taunted her. She and her friends were at a mile and a half elevation. The clouds couldn’t have been that much higher. Yet they looked far away, untouchable.
The rain came a few minutes later. For a moment the wind stopped to let it fall. Then the drizzle was grabbed by the breeze, and whipped into her face. More than anything else she wanted to climb back into her tent and try to stay dry.
Ali feared the night, though, now that it was so black. She knew she had to stand guard. She feared the things Nemi had told her, especially about the elementals who stalked the forest, looking for humans. It was still not clear to her why they had suddenly decided to attack after all these years. They hadn’t even tried to talk to humanity about the pollution. People deserved a chance to change their ways.
“Listen to me, I didn’t think so a few days ago,” Ali said to herself. Last week she had wanted to scream at the lumberjacks. Now she just hoped Ted got better.
The rain did not get heavier but it did manage to work its way deeper into her hair and skin. She began to get real cold. One shiver led to another; soon she was trembling like a leaf. Even walking did not help. It was then she decided she had to do something drastic.
Ali did not know how to call on her power. The first time—with the trolls—it had just come. The second time—when she had grabbed Paddy—the same thing had happened. But now she sat on the boulder and willed it to come.
“Now,” she whispered.
It was not long before her call was answered.
A strange heaviness grew in the pit of her stomach. Yet the sensation was not unpleasant. It was almost as if that part of her body got thicker, more dense. She felt a strength there, a power that seemed to tell her without words that it could be moved. But moved where and for what reason?
She had an answer to that question.
“Rise above and form an umbrella over my head,” she said.
Ali felt the energy spread out. There was no magic light, nothing to see or hear, but it was definitely there. She felt as if her body expanded with the power, until she was ten times bigger. Of course she remained the same size, but she had to tell herself that was true. Otherwise, it felt as if she was the invisible umbrella.
More important, the rain stopped falling on her head.
“Cool!” she gushed as she saw how the rain came within fifteen feet of her head before pouring off to the side. The force field—she did not know what else to call it—was dome shaped. She willed it to expand further, to cover her friends, and was delighted to see it obey. The drizzle no longer fell on their tents, nor even on Paddy.
Still, the force field did not feel separate from her. Only then did she realize her power came from inside, not outside. She wished Nemi was with her to see what she was doing.
Then something odd began to happen. At first she wondered if it was connected to the use of her power, but then dismissed the idea. The clouds came lower, swooping in like a bank of fog. That was not so unusual, but when they began to flash with lightning she got worried. Because this lightning was not accompanied with thunder. And it was red.
“Red lightning?” she said aloud. “There’s no such thing.”
A dark figure flew out of the clouds. Ali caught only a glimpse as it swooshed by. Bat shaped, it appeared as tall as she, with wide black wings and a skull-like head. At its center burned a red light. It shook its claws and that red light caught fire. A laser bolt shot past Ali’s head and struck the tree behind her. The bark exploded in flame and a large branch crashed to the ground.
“We’re under attack!” Ali shouted.
The cry was not necessary. The noise of the toppling branch woke everyone. The gang was on its feet in seconds. But they were dazed, they did not understand what was going on. Ali did not know what to tell them.
Three more figures came out of the clouds. They flew just above the trees. The red light at their centers swelled like exploding lightbulbs. More laser bolts flew toward the ground. Ali ducked—all the guys did, including Paddy. But Cindy was too stunned. A bolt caught her on her left shoulder and she went down with a loud cry.
“Cindy!” Ali cried, rushing to her side. Cindy’s shirt was on fire. Quickly, Ali put it out and grabbed Cindy and dragged her behind a tree. The creatures had disappeared for a moment but Ali knew they would be back. “Can you walk?” Ali shouted at Cindy.
Cindy nodded, grimacing in pain as she held her arm. “What are they?” she gasped.
“Do you know?” Ali shouted at Paddy, as he leapt behind the rocks.
“Dark fairies, Missy!” he shouted back, peering into the foggy night.
“What should we do?” Steve asked, reaching for a stick.
“Run!” Paddy said.
“We can’t run! Cindy’s hurt!” Ali called, as she leaned Cindy against a tree. Ten feet to her left, another tree had caught fire. Red smoke poured into the glowing clouds, creating a ghastly soup. “How do we stop them?”
“Use your powers!” Paddy advised.
“Yeah! Use your powers!” Steve agreed.
The creatures came again, six this time, a hideous line of giant bats in the burning night. Not sure exactly what powers she had at her command, Ali stepped from behind the tree and tried to raise the magical umbrella that had protected them so well from the rain. The energy field expanded; she felt it stretch out like an invisible wall before the swooping monsters. Once more, for the third time, she saw them twitch their claws and watched as the red light blossomed at their centers.
The red bolts fell on her friends; her shield did nothing to stop them. Apparently she could deflect water, but not fire. Trees cracked and exploded all around Ali. She felt incredible heat on her head, reached up and discovered the hood of her jacket was on fire. Karl put it out with his hand before it could catch her hair. His handsome face, caught in the glow of the burning trees, looked stunned. Yet he had not collapsed in terror, none of them had. Ali thought that was a miracle in itself.
“We cannot stand here and take this pounding!” he said.
The figures disappeared into the glowing clouds. They were like divebombers, just getting ready for another deadly run. Ali searched for Paddy. He was still behind the rocks, looking none too happy.
“What do they have in their hands?” she shouted at the leprechaun.
“Fire stones!” he shouted.
“Tires?” Cindy asked.
“Not Firestones,” Ali said. “Fire stones.”
“Aye,” Paddy said. “Fairy magic, very powerful.”
“How do they work?” Ali asked.
“Don’t know. Dark fairies don’t tell their secrets. Can you not stop them, Missy?”
“I’m trying,” Ali replied, searching the ground for suitable rocks. The strategy had worked with the trolls. Of course here her targets were smaller and moving fast. She saw a couple of medium-sized rocks and picked them up.
The six dark fairies returned, burning shadows in the fiery night. Ali saw their fire stones start to kindle and took aim. A red bolt exploded the bush near her leg and she let go with the rock. Her arm was a rocket launcher—there was so much power in it.
A perfect shot, the rock hit the center fairy in the head and the creature plunged from the sky and vanished behind the trees. The creature’s partners let out ear-piercing shrieks and wheeled to the sides and disappeared in the clouds.
“They’re running!” Steve exclaimed.
“Don’t think so, laddie,” Paddy said.
The five dark fairies returned, coming at them from several directions. That made it much harder to hide behind the trees. In fact, they couldn’t hide. The red bolts sizzled within inches of their faces. A spark touched Ali’s ear; she felt as if a firefly was trying to sneak in her brain. Her friends cried out—she assumed someone else had been hit. There was too much confusion, too much fire!
Ali let fly her second rock, missed completely. The monsters retreated into the eerie fog. More trees had caught fire. Flaming smoke poured into the evil clouds.
“Who was hit? Was anyone hit?” she demanded.
“They burnt me hat!” Paddy said, disgusted, his charred hat in his hands. “Pa gave me this hat.”
“They’re coming at us from all sides!” Karl said. “Use the backpacks as shields!”
The idea was smart; they each reached for a backpack. Even Cindy had recovered enough to defend herself. But Ali could not hold a backpack and fight at the same time. She was the only offense they had. She would have to risk it, she decided. Bending over, she gathered three more rocks.
The dark fairies would not give up. Again, they came. Again, red bolts fell all around them. This time she got off a good shot. But it only stunned the creature—the fairy did not fall from the sky. For the first time Ali began to feel that their situation was hopeless.
Karl must have figured the same. He pulled her aside as the monsters momentarily flew out of sight. The backpack in his hands was in ruins. It was her’s—all that was left was smoked granola and fried almonds. Even if they survived the night, there would be nothing for breakfast in the morning.
“We have to split up,” he said. “It’s our only chance. You’re the strongest. Take Cindy with you, try to reach Overhang. I told you, the place is easy to defend. I’ll stay here with Paddy and Steve, try to hold them off.”
“It doesn’t matter! Just go! If we can’t stop them here, then we’ll split up. I’ve let Steve study the map, and Paddy knows these woods better than any of us. Let’s all try to meet at Overhang in one hour.”
Ali was anxious. What he said made sense, but it felt wrong in her gut. Yet she could not think of another plan. “We could all get lost in the woods,” she said.
“It’s better than dying.” He picked a fresh backpack off the ground. She thought it was his. “Take this, take Cindy. Sneak out of here right after their next pass.”
She accepted the backpack. “You have to take care of Steve.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Karl promised.
The dark fairies returned with a vengeance. They came straight down upon them, aiming for their heads. Once again, Ali set aside her pack to get off a shot. But her rock exploded in midair—the creatures had zapped it.
Thankfully, on this run at least, no one got hit. Nodding to the others, Ali picked up the backpack, grabbed Cindy by the arm, and snuck out of camp.
Ali had only a vague idea of where they were going. The map of the mountain was clear in her head, but that was not the same as saying she knew the area. Plus, with the moon gone, it was hard to see. Could fairies see better than humans in the dark? She wished she had asked Paddy before she had left.
Cindy’s shoulder was hurting but she didn’t complain. Ali admired her courage. She held Cindy’s hand as they hurried north. But she dared not use a flashlight, or cross over to the path.
They stumbled through the woods, running into each other as often as they ran into trees. Behind them the light of the fires changed into a haunting red mist as the clouds came between them and their friends. Ali thought she heard someone scream in pain.
The hike was a nightmare. The clouds hugged the woods. The trees were like disembodied spirits that kept blocking their path. Or else they were the spirits, trapped in a bad dream with no exit. Ali kept expecting to run into more dark fairies.
“Do you know where we’re going?” Cindy asked, gasping for breath. In their terror, they had forgotten about the altitude but it had not forgotten about them. Ali felt light-headed from the thin air.
“Sort of,” she said, adding, “The main thing is to keep moving.”
“I’m worried about Steve,” Cindy said.
“Karl and Paddy will take care of him.”
“How do we know the leprechaun didn’t lead the dark fairies to us?”
“Paddy wouldn’t do that,” Ali said. Then she remembered how Paddy had left the camp. And Karl had not been sure how long the leprechaun had been gone.
The drizzle let up some, which was good and bad. A strong rain would have put out the fires. But not having cold water splashing in their faces gave them one less thing to think about. When they could no longer see the fires behind them, they stopped to catch their breaths.
“Why are there good fairies and bad fairies?” Cindy asked.
“Why are there good people and bad people? I don’t know. How’s your shoulder?”
“It’s burned. It hurts like crazy.”
“I have Karl’s pack. He was carrying a first-aid kit. When we reach Overhang, I’ll put something on it.”
Cindy looked around in the dark. “We’re never going to find anything in this mess. We’re probably going to have to wait for the sun.”
Ali had thought the same thing. The idea was not appealing. Dawn had to be at least two hours away, maybe three. Could the dark fairies attack when the sun was up? Paddy would know.
They started off again. They had not gone far, however, when the crazy night caught up with them in an unexpected way. Directly in front of them, through the clouds, the forest glowed a sober red.
“We’ve been hiking in circles!” Cindy cried.
“Maybe,” Ali admitted.
“There’s no maybe about it. We have to turn around.”
“No. Then we’ll be even more lost. If the camp’s in front of us, then we should go to it to get our bearings. I want to check on the guys anyway.”
“What if the guys are gone?” Cindy asked. But what she was really asking was: what if the guys are dead?
Ali sighed. “I don’t know.”
The next few minutes were some of the longest of their lives. They half expected to find the guys lying on the ground, burnt to ash by the dark fairies. But when they reached the edge of the camp, Ali was relieved to see the guys were gone, with no sign of them around.
Yet there was a troll trapped in the center of the fire. He looked like the one Ali had hit the other day on the leg with a rock. Pacing back and forth, trying to escape the flames, the creature limped badly. To her surprise, she saw the troll had her white sweater tied around his neck.
“So that’s where it went!” she exclaimed.
“What?” Cindy asked.
“He has my sweater.”
Cindy squinted. “What does a troll need a sweater for?”
“Like I would know?” Ali added, “I don’t see the guys.”
Cindy hesitated. “Do you think the dark fairies carried them off?”
“They didn’t look big enough to lift a bunch of boys.”
“Spiders are not big but they’re strong for their size.”
“True. But we’re talking about fairies, not insects.”
“What should we do?” Cindy asked.
Ali didn’t answer. She watched uneasily as the fire closed in on the troll. Already sparks were landing on his hairy hide, and his yellow eyes shone with terror. She should have no sympathy for him, she thought. He and his pals had tried to kill her twice and he was, after all, only a troll. Like Paddy said, they were big stupid beasts that ate everything in sight. Still, it was hard to stand by and watch him die. She said as much to Cindy.
“What?” Cindy cried. “You want to save him? He’s a monster!”
“I didn’t say I want to save him. I just said it’s not easy to watch him burn to death.” She added, “Maybe we could save him.”
“I’m not risking my life to save a troll!”
“Then I’ll save him,” Ali said.
“How?”
“I don’t know how.”
“But why?” Cindy asked.
“Because he’s alive! He doesn’t want to die!” Ali added, “He’s like you and me.”
Cindy studied the troll. “He might be like you, but he’s certainly not like me.”
Ali pointed. “Look, I can climb that tree behind him, crawl onto a branch above him. Karl has a rope in his pack. I can drop the rope down and he can climb to safety.”
“Excuse me? That tree is about to catch fire. You get up there and it’ll collapse and you’ll land beside the troll. Then he can enjoy one last glorious meal before he dies.”
Ali stepped forward. “I’ll think of something.”
Cindy grabbed her arm. “Ali, you’ll die!”
She smiled. “Funny, but all of a sudden I’m sure I won’t die. At least not today.”
Ali circled around the camp and the bulk of the fire. The tree she had spoken of was near the rocks Paddy had used for his pillow. But Cindy was right—several of the upper branches were already on fire. It made Ali wonder if she needed a new plan.
Or did she simply need faith? Nemi’s words came back to haunt her.
“When will I face the other tests?”
“Soon.”
“And each test I pass, I gain more power?”
“Yes.”
“What if I fail one?”
This was the third test, she realized, it had to be, the test of fire. She had to face the fire, she had to show no fear. Well, maybe she could show a little fear. Getting buried alive and thrown in the river had scared the heck out of her, and she had still passed those tests. She believed Nemi, that the situations had been set up by nature. The main thing to do was to save the life of the troll while staying alive.
More branches caught fire above her. Hopeless, that way, she thought, the tree.
Ali stood on the rocks, above the camp. Between her and the troll was a wall of fire. But if she took a running start, and flew through the air, the flames probably wouldn’t hurt her. Then what? Like Cindy said, she could get trapped beside the troll.
The question was: how much did she trust herself?
“In the end I’m the one who has to take the tests,” she said.
Ali choked on the smoke. Her lungs felt full of cinders. She could not stand here all night debating with herself. The troll had a space of ten feet left to survive in. His hide would catch fire any second.
Ali turned, jogged back a few steps, and then ran forward. Her speed carried her off the rock ledge, through the air. Throwing her arms over her face, she closed her eyes as she soared through the flames.
Ali felt the hot singe of the fire wall pass by. Reopening her eyes, she crouched low so she would roll when she hit the ground.
Her landing was far from smooth. Her right hip hit the ground hard, and she rolled too far. She almost ended up in the fire. To her surprise, it was the troll that stopped her.
Lying on the ground, her hair only inches from the flames, she looked up into his frightened eyes and wondered if she should say thank you or let out a scream. He had a powerful grip on her shoulder.
Yet it was the troll who spoke first.
“Fairy?” he asked in a voice that sounded like a man in its deep tone, but which was a hundred percent little boy in its innocence.
“No, I’m a girl.” She added, “I’m here to rescue you.”
The troll helped her up. He pointed to the fire, and then to his arms. “Hurts,” he said sadly, and once again he sounded like a lost little boy with the vocal cords of a giant.
She petted him; he was dirty and smelly. “You poor dear. We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“Fire stop,” he said.
“That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to stop the fire,” she said.
Since she had seen the trapped troll, she had been wondering if she had the wrong idea about her control over the water element. Sure, it had been fun to make an invisible umbrella. But was it possible to pass the test of fire with what she had learned during the test of water?
Rather than stopping the rain from pouring, could she make it pour?
“Maybe I should have tried it out before I got myself trapped,” she wondered aloud. She knew that was not true, though. She had to face the fire like she was, putting everything on the line, including her own life. She said to the troll, “I need to sit for a minute and close my eyes. I’m going to make it rain.”
He nodded anxiously. “Rain hard.”
Good advice, a drizzle wouldn’t save them. The heat from the flames made the camp feel like an oven. Ali pulled off her jacket as she sat down, trying to concentrate. But even behind her closed eyelids, the fire could be seen. Smoke filled her nose and she had to cough. They had seconds left to live. How was she supposed to concentrate?
In that desperate moment, a surprising calm settled over her. The heat of the flames, the smoky air—they all seemed suddenly far away.
The truth hit her like a thunderbolt.
There was no need to invoke her magical powers!
She had already passed the test of fire, she realized, when she had decided to risk her life to save the troll. Already fire was under her control! She could do with it what she wished!
Ali opened her eyes and stood. The troll stared at her, at the sky.
“Not raining,” he said, worried.
She grabbed her jacket and smiled and offered her hand. “I’m going to tell the fire to let us by. Don’t worry, it will obey me.”
He did not hesitate, he took her hand. Her fingers, in his massive grip, felt lost. But he was gentle; he seemed to believe everything she had to say.
Ali turned toward the fire and held out her free hand. “Let us pass!” she snapped.
The miracle happened all of a sudden, the fire parted. The flames could have been alive; it was as if they arched their spines to avoid them. Holding onto the troll’s hand and staring straight ahead, Ali stepped over the smoking ground. In a minute they were clear of the fire and standing beside Cindy.
“Does he talk?” Cindy asked, eyeing the troll nervously.
“Yes,” Ali said.
“Is he going to eat us?”
Ali let go of the troll’s hand. “Well?” she asked him.
The troll patted her on top of the head. His palm was bigger than her entire skull. “No hurt,” he said.
“What about me?” Cindy demanded.
The troll licked his dark teeth and Ali saw a hint of green spit.
“Hungry,” he said.
“No,” Ali said. “I saved your life. You’re not to eat me or any of my friends. Do you understand?”
He nodded. “Nice girls. No eat.”
“Some of our friends are boys. No eat them either,” Ali said.
He nodded. “Nice boys. Nice girls.”
Cindy fanned her face. “I don’t know about you, but I’m cooked. Let’s get out of here.”
“Just a second,” Ali said. “I have to save the trees.”
Cindy was exasperated. “Why don’t you save the whole world while you’re at it?”
Ali caught her eye. “That’s what I’m trying to do,” she said evenly.
Cindy stared back, for a moment, perhaps trying to make a point, then lowered her head and said, “How did you walk through that fire anyway? That was a neat trick.”
“I’ll tell you later,” Ali said, walking away. “Give me a minute alone.”
“What if he attacks me?” Cindy called after her.
“How do you know he’s not a she?” Ali called back.
Not far from the flames, she sat to concentrate. Maybe it was not necessary, the sitting, but closing her eyes seemed to help. Again, she felt the heaviness fill her body, and she let the power stretch out above her head. But this time she let it rise up high, above the clouds, into the clear sky where the moon shone throughout the night. For a second she thought she saw the moon, but it might have been her imagination.
Then Ali brought down the power.
She willed it toward the earth, pressing on the clouds from above, as if they were giant wet rags she could squeeze with a magical hand.
It began to pour.
She opened her eyes and smiled as the rain washed over her face. The cold no longer bothered her. The fire would be out in a few minutes, and then she would turn off the water and rescue the guys.
Earth, water, fire—all three were at her command now. Sure, the dark fairies had started out the night on the winning side, but they were going to be toast when she got through with them.