Hazel stared at the spot where Gaelyn had stooped and vanished. Looking back at Cl’rnce and Great and Mighty, Hazel asked, “So, will you stay here, or will you come help save my Wizard Partner?” It seemed so normal to say the words. None of her fury at Gaelyn’s secrets crept in. Whatever lies Gaelyn had told, it didn’t matter. Besides if Great and Mighty’s translation of the scroll was accurate, Gaelyn was meant to be Hazel’s ally and help. Hazel couldn’t let the friend she’d always trusted be slaughtered by the unicorn, no matter what. And together they would save Hazel’s drive-me-crazy brother.

Cl’rnce snorted. “That was not really a question. More like a Hazel order. And I feel pretty okay, by the way. Good enough to do this.” He dragged air into his lungs and then spit out a flame that caused the dirt at Hazel’s feet to glow. It was encouraging, but Hazel heard the wheezing in his chest. He was still in so much danger.

“That’s new.” Great and Mighty hurried to the shining dust. “What did you do?” She held up a hand. “Don’t tell me. Let me guess.”

“No!” Hazel yelled. “There is no time for the pair of you and your Look-What-I-Can-Do games. Say it in short specific sentences. What does the glowing dirt mean?” She glared at Great and Mighty who shrugged.

“No clue,” Cl’rnce said.

“As always, clueless,” Hazel snapped.

“I know,” Jeschen said. “I am Fae after all, with a touch of Jinn, and I know both magicks. So I know.” She waited, her eyes skipping from Hazel to Great and Mighty to Cl’rnce.

“Go on,” Hazel said trying to leach the irritation out of her voice. She was certain the part about Jeschen being part Jinn was important. After a moment’s quick thought, she knew why. It explained how Jeschen could travel from the Fae plane to the Dr’gon realms.

They already had Silkkie for that, but Hazel couldn’t see her. Typical that when Hazel needed the cranky Silkkie, she wasn’t around. It was hard to entirely trust either Jeschen or Silkkie. But Silkkie would protect Gaelyn, and for some reason Jeschen seemed to want to help Cl’rnce. The two together could be a sure way to get to Gaelyn and Cl’rnce. Amazingly the two people she thought were her enemies might turn out to be the way to save Gaelyn, the Fang, and Cl’rnce.

Right now, she would trust the Jinn who wasn’t hiding somewhere.

Clearing her throat, Jeschen said, “We can use the glowing dust to track Gaelyn. I hate to say this, but I can sense that Cl’rnce is sicker than he lets on. I am particularly good at sensing health in other creatures.” She paused for a second. “I know this will sound like I’m making it up, but along with his more fragile health, his eyes are fixed on the glowing trail. I am pretty sure he now has that rare ability to track a moving trail. Kind of like he can sniff out any food crumbs left behind even if they bounce from plane to plane or from place to place.” A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth, making her look even more like someone’s nice old grannie.

“Okay, but tell me why you are here. I’m pretty sure you didn’t poison Cl’rnce. I think you tried to save him. So, you aren’t an assassin. But, you are Fae, even if you are part Jinn. The Fae were banned from the Dr’gon Realms. Why did you come if it wasn’t to harm the Primus? And make it fast,” Hazel said.

Jeschen hung her head again. “I’m a spy. The Summer Queen sent me to find Gaelyn.”

Clenching her paws so she didn’t do something very rash, Hazel asked with gritted teeth, “Spying! Why are you spying on Gaelyn?” So many possibilities flew through her head. Jeschen could be checking up on Gaelyn to make sure she still served the Fae.

“The Summer Queen is very fond of spying and dedicated to knowing everything that goes on around her, and … her son. Not through me, but she learned that the unicorn was renewing her war on the Dr’gons. Her curiosity sent me to find out if Monad had managed to get to the Dr’gon Realms. When I told her Gaelyn was there, she sent me back to keep an eye on her. The Fae part of me sensed Silkkie with Gaelyn, even though Silkkie was hidden from all other Jinn. I kept an eye on both of them and found a place for myself in the kitchen. Those Dr’gons, wizards, and knights: they’re pretty special. I hadn’t seen Monad, but I suspected she had been around, so I looked all over, even in that Do Not Enter tower. I didn’t know until too late that Cl’rnce had been poisoned … I had to help, even if Summer Queen had never said I could.” She shrugged.

Hazel decided. There was no time to ask more questions. Jeschen’s eyes seemed to beg her to believe. Since Silkkie was probably protecting Gaelyn when she spoke so poorly about Jeschen, Hazel would take the chance and trust Jeschen. “Let’s get going. What do we do? Sniff the dirt like Gaelyn did?” She grabbed a fistful of glowing soil.

“We could, but the faster option would be for each of us to be sprinkled with it.” Jeschen took a deep breath. “I’m going with you. As both Fae and Jinn, I can help. I will help.”

Hazel nodded. She scooped more dirt and dumped a portion in each hand or paw. When each of the four of them had a bit of the shining dirt, Hazel said, “Now what?”

Great and Mighty said, “I know. A basic transportation spell, with the dirt as the pointer.” She chanted, “Take us to the dirt’s home,” three times before Jeschen could say a word.

Hazel had a bad feeling, but the chant happened too fast to stop. As usual.

When nothing seemed different, Hazel sighed. Maybe this was for the best, because she couldn’t get rid of the feeling they really needed Jeschen to take them across planes. Great and Mighty tried hard, but she still bumbled many spells.

“We’re here,” Jeschen said.

Hazel looked harder. It still looked like they were in the Greater Haven garden.

“Well, about time,” a snarky small voice said. “Where have you slackers been?” Silkkie strutted over to the others and sniffed. “Oh, good idea. Dr’gon-fired dust. That won’t attract Monad in a snap.” She rolled her cat eyes in that irritating know-it-all way she had. “Honestly, I should never have left you.”

“Where is Gaelyn?” Hazel asked, then realized she had not asked the right question. “How did you get here? I thought we left you in …” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Silkkie. Was it before Gaelyn had left? She stared at the thick greenery around them. It was so dense it was like a wall of leaves and vines. It seemed familiar, though hopefully not Haven garden familiar. “Are we in Elm Court?” she asked hoping they had transported correctly after all.

As she spoke, their surroundings blurred and the wall of green seemed to thin. She could make out individual plants at last. Towering above them she recognized the ancient trees of the forest that circled the Fae in Elm. Hazel breathed a little easier since Great and Mighty’s spell had worked for once.

“What are you doing here?” Jeschen asked the little cat-Jinn.

“Complicated. I came ahead of you to find help.” Silkkie looked like she was a hero.

Dr’gon-fast, Hazel swooped her up. “What are you up to? Help? There’s no one here. And where is Gaelyn?”

“Elm Hall with Monad,” Silkkie said. “The help we need, the rest of the Elm Fae army stands around you right now. They can see you, but you can’t see them. Gaelyn protected them with invisibility when Monad took Gaelyn to the Court Hall. I think Gaelyn is counting on her Fae army to join her.”

Hazel wasn’t interested in long explanations of what had happened. She simply wanted to get to Gaelyn and capture Monad, to do whatever it took to make Gaelyn and Cl’rnce safe again.

“The unicorn can see you even now,” a voice said from close to Hazel. “We are sure our Queen wants us to follow undetected. We were about to do that when you appeared.”

“So, we go to the Court and get the stupid unicorn,” Cl’rnce said.

Great and Mighty stretched out a hand and pulled it back as if she’d touched something Hazel couldn’t see. “I can cast an invisibility spell on the rest of us. The problem is that I can’t be sure once I do it that we’ll be able to see the Fae, or they’ll see us. That could make things complicated.”

“I agree,” Hazel said. “Skip making us invisible; I don’t want to chance the Fae army not being able to see us.”

“Follow us, then,” the invisible Fae said.

Hazel rolled her eyes, but Silkkie piped up. “I can see them. Gaelyn must have left that for me. Follow me and them.”

“Fae?” Hazel asked. “We can’t see you, so please speak from time to time so I am sure Silkkie has you in sight.”

“Don’t trust me?” Silkkie asked. “I’m hurt.”

“No, you aren’t,” a voice came from beside Hazel. She did not turn, thinking it was one of the invisible Fae guard. But a hand tapped her purple and pink spotted arm. She looked over. “Ian?”

“I’ve come back to bring Gaelyn the army she needs.”

“Help them out,” Silkkie said. “I’m leaving.” She disappeared.