Chapter One

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As the arrow soared skyward, I knew I’d never see it again; I just hoped it didn’t hit anything important.

“Excellent work, my young pupil. You’re improving,” I offered, trying to remember just what exactly was off in that direction.

“How is that possibly an improvement? The target is that way,” Ann sighed, pointing straight ahead. “I just tried to shoot a cloud. And not on purpose.”

“Well, for one thing, at the least arrows are firing up into the air and not down into the dirt,” I began thoughtfully. “And for another, you’re managing to release the bowstring without hurting yourself. These are both vast improvements.”

“If this is elvish sarcasm, you have to tell me. I think it’s a rule,” Ann deadpanned, adjusting her glasses.

I wasn’t sure how elvish sarcasm would differ from regular sarcasm, but I smiled and said, “You have been training now for a month, yes?”

“Five weeks,” Ann muttered.

“Yes, five weeks, and in that time, you have made improvements. No matter how small, any improvement is still a step forward.”

Ann scoffed at that but didn’t respond immediately, and I knew her frustration. She was comparing herself to me, rather than herself. As long as Ann did that, she would never be pleased with her progress, and for now, I wasn’t going to tell her she should do otherwise. As long as she wasn’t satisfied, she wouldn’t give up, which could be occasionally useful, but she would need to learn her own lessons in time. Ann would gain nothing by my spelling out those lessons for her.

“Did you ever suck at this?” she asked after a moment.

“Of course,” I remarked. “You cannot be proficient without first failing.”

Ann looked as though she wanted to respond to that but lacked the words to do so. Without another word of protest, her shoulders slumped with resignation, and she sighed and said, “Dude, whatever you say. Should I go try to find that arrow, or...?”

“I believe the arrow can wait,” I said with a smile, quite sure the arrow was now a permanent fixture on the hillside. “You’ve earned a break.”

“Works for me. Can we get out of the sun though?” she asked as she wiped her fingers across her hairline. “I think the heat is getting to me.”

I nodded in agreement. It didn’t feel unusually warm, but Ann didn’t share my constitution, and her complexion was starting to look a bit pallid now that I thought about it. “Perhaps some cold tea will do us good,” I suggested.

Ann offered me a look that suggested I said something foolish. “Do you mean iced tea?” she asked. “I don’t think anyone says cold tea.”

“Oh my friend, you are in for a treat,” I said. “There is quite the difference between the two!”

With our gear put away, we rounded the path back towards the side of the house, past the swimming pool and other outdoor entertainment that I’d never use. If I never hosted another party in my life, it would be too soon. I thought of the debauched events I’d played host to for Abarta and shuddered for a moment, thankful to be free of those obligations.

Until just a few months ago, I’d been bound to serve a Celtic deity, a trickster god named Abarta, until a moment of weakness caused him to transfer ownership of me to a friend, Elana Black. Elana was, as it turned out, an obligation of his born from his perverse idea of love. Abarta had sworn to protect her, even as her demise would be vital to his other sworn duty, that of returning his family to our plane of existence. I was merely a pawn in his greater schemes, though a useful pawn nonetheless, and in charging me with training and protecting Elana from physical harm, he had unwittingly set the two of us down the path of true friendship. But over the course of nearly two hundred years, I’d been made to do so much more than that, most of which I was not proud of. Elana hadn’t owned me for more than a moment before restoring my freedom and breaking the magical bonds that held me, and the rest is history.

“I still don’t know how or why you got a place this big,” Ann asked as we stepped inside. “I feel like this is where like, Brad Pitt would live or something.”

The size of the house was still something of an embarrassment for me, given that I was its sole occupant. Nestled in an intentionally remote stretch of Thousand Oaks, along with a host of very wealthy individuals who valued their privacy, stood about ten-million dollars’ worth of house. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, which I was sure would surprise Ann, but it had everything I needed in the short term. Distance enough from Los Angeles that I could lay low without so much distance that I couldn’t be available if I were needed. More than enough land that I could keep my skills sharp, and most important of all was the full-time security detail to keep out anyone who might “accidentally” happen to find me. The reach of my former master was far and wide, and I didn’t trust him to consider our business truly concluded.

“Well, I wouldn’t get used to it,” I sighed. “I have accumulated more than a couple of favors in my time, and this happens to be one of the bigger ones.”

Ann looked around with an inspecting eye and asked, “So this is what? Fae Airbnb?”

I chuckled in spite of myself, all things considered. “You could say that,” I replied, opening the refrigerator to retrieve the pitcher of cold tea I’d prepared earlier, suspending the tea pouch above the brew and allowing a portion of the liquid to drip before discarding it.

“You mind if I just lay down for a minute?” Ann asked, mildly out of breath. “I guess it was... are you seriously not hot right now?”

“Please, of course,” I responded as I poured our glasses. By the time I had made it to the living room, Ann was sprawled out on a couch looking as if she had just run a marathon.

“Ooh, gimme,” she replied greedily as she eyed the cool glasses in my hands.

“This will do you good,” I said, handing the tea to her. Half the glass had been emptied by the time I sat down.

A sound of satisfaction involuntarily left my friend as she rested the glass on her forehead. “You were right, that was magic.”

“I’m glad you approve.”

Ann seemed to steady her breathing in relative silence for a moment, resting her eyes as she did. “Is it cool if I ask you something?”

“Of course,” I responded, moderately curious. “What would you like to talk about?”

“Your like, origin story?” Ann asked. “Or childhood or whatever? Sorry, I know it’s weird, and we’re cool but like, I don’t really know anything about you prior to, you know, that thing last year.”

That thing she referred to was our troubles with monsters, gods, and sorcerers. I could understand how she had difficulty pinning down which thing to reference. I could also understand her curiosity. Our friendship had always developed in the present, and over the couple of months we’d gotten to know each other the subject of my past never really seemed to come up.

I took another sip of my tea before replying. “I’d be happy to answer your questions, but perhaps you could be more specific?”

“I don’t know.” Ann hesitated. “Maybe just... your story?”

“Very well, my young friend,” I began. “This is a story that I have told myself many times. When I am alone, before I rest, and even in less convenient times. It is the story of my life. But this time will be different, because for the first time, I will be able to share that story with someone else, and I am pleased to know that you will be my first.”

“Okay, that sounds kind of like the start of a fairy tale,” Ann said cautiously.

“Perhaps,” I acknowledged. “I come from a faraway land, unknown to the people of this world, in a city called Verisia. I was born to the kindest and most supportive woman I have ever known, my mother, Aeleth. She was a hero, a healer, and my friend.”

“Moms are pretty great,” Ann agreed sleepily.

“My mother was responsible for everything I had become, with one key difference. She was determined to stay in Verisia for the remainder of her days, and I was tempted to follow in the footsteps of my father and seek adventure.”

Ann perked up at that. “Your parents split up?”

“They are... together,” I said carefully. “But they are apart as well. Verisia is a thriving, welcoming community. Our city is a hub, travelers pass through coming from all over, and our elven knowledge and craftsmanship is highly sought after. However, our people are connected to the land under the city in an extraordinary way. We can be happy there for all our days, sharing a bond with the land. But if we leave, the land rejects us, and we are not allowed to return.”

“So then why did your Dad leave?” Ann asked, then quickly added. “I’m sorry if that’s too personal.”

I shook my head from side to side. “Not at all. I do not know specifically what he sought, but I’ve always believed that his was a gamble that my mother would follow him eventually and they would seek their fortunes together. It was a wager he lost. My mother was dedicated to helping her people and to raising me. And she excelled at both, I might add.”

“But the call to adventure was too great?”

“Ha!” I laughed in spite of myself. “Not hardly. Of course, I’d always been curious, certainly, but leaving for riches and glory never held enough interest for me on their own to convince me to leave. And seeing the good my mother did for our neighbors and those who passed through was more than reason enough to suppress that remaining curiosity. Until of course, he came along.”

Ann sat up at that, nearly spilling her tea. “A fella? An evil warlord intent on razing the city? Oh! A distant prince who required the help of a champion to save his kingdom?” Then, becoming aware of exuberance and looking ashamed she slumped back down into the couch. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Quite all right, it’s nice to know that someone is invested in my story,” I assured her. “And you were right the first time, it was a fella, as you said. Alistair Wright. He was an odd man, very funny and very earnest. He’d come from no land that I’d ever heard of, though I’m certain you are familiar with England.” Ann nodded vigorously at that as I continued. “For better or worse, I’ll always remember how we met. He was lost in Verisia and slammed into me as he was staring at what I could only assume was the sun. He fell to the ground, I helped him up, and it seemed as if we’d always known each other somehow. He spent months in town pining for me—and forgive me—I grew accustomed to his company. Until the day he told me his secret.”

I didn’t say anything more for a moment, unsure if my friend was prepared to hear what came next, but the silence, as uncomfortable as it was, told me that I’d already come too far to stop now.

“Alistair told me one day that he needed to return home and that he’d reached my fair city by way of entering into a book authored by a man named Charles Godfrey Leland. That my world, for as real as it seemed, was not real to him. Not until he met me, and I had made it real for him.”

“He was like me!” Ann exclaimed. “And Elana and Olivia! He was a traveler!”

“He was a traveler,” I confirmed. “But nothing like you. He invited me to come with him, told me that he knew of a very powerful individual who could grant me the ability to move between worlds as he did. And I was... I was young, roughly the age you are now. And I was stupid; I hadn’t thought about what I’d be giving up. And the thought of never seeing him again was unbearable. And so I—”

The sound of the glass thumping against the floor as it fell snapped me back to reality and I saw my friend was now shivering and sweating, her eyes closed and her head tilted in a way that no one could fall asleep to. Her breaths were suddenly shallow and audible. “Ann!” I shouted, moving to her aid.

No!

This wasn’t just exhaustion; this was something else entirely. She’d begun to sweat everywhere, and her skin was hot to the touch. Ann was running a fever. Her pulse had quickened and—

“Please don’t stop the story on my account, you were just getting to my favorite bit. Unless, of course, you think, perhaps, your story was just so exciting that she slipped into a coma.”

I recognized the voice before I turned around. I’d never wanted to hear that voice again, but somehow I wasn’t surprised that out of all the enemies I’d made, he would be the first to find to me. Nor was I surprised that he’d be the one stupid enough to test me when I was no longer chained.

“Boy, she sure went out like a light, didn’t she? Really hung in there. Poor little trooper, though to be fair, I was getting a bit bored waiting like this,” the man continued.

I turned back to see him with my own eyes, and there he was with his white slacks and pink button-down shirt, dressed for all the world like he’d just stepped off a yacht and wanted people to know it. The fool wasn’t even wearing shoes. There was one exception to the ensemble, and that was the wizard staff that he clutched with his left hand, and I was sure I wouldn’t find it in the latest J Crew catalog.

My skin became hot and my vision narrowed at the sight of him, all smug and smiles as he stood just outside the opened sliding glass door, and he seemed to notice. “Oh, there she—”

I didn’t give him the chance to finish as I hurled Ann’s glass at his face. He responded with the flash of a blister shield, sending shards of the mug exploding to his left and right, but he didn’t anticipate how badly I wanted my hands around his neck, and before he could respond to my frontal assault, I had cleared the length of the room and tackled him through an unfortunately placed patio table.

His grip on the staff loosened and he parted from it as we rolled wildly through the yard. In one fluid motion I managed to grip his throat with one hand and pick up a broken chair leg with the other and brought him up with me as I pinned him to the side of the home with a painful-sounding thud. His eyes rolled hard, and he winced, gripping my wrist with both of his hands.

“I swore I would kill you!” I seethed, menacing him with the improvised weapon.

“Don’t think... Ann would appreciate that,” he gasped, his eyes looking back into the house.

Ann. Of course. His timing wasn’t a coincidence; he must have done something. But if the goal was simply to hurt me, he wouldn’t have stood around to gloat. He wanted something.

“How did you get in here?” I pressed. “How did you even find me?”

“Magic,” he choked out through a pained smile, as if that answer was explanation enough for anything.

Not being content with that answer and lacking any faith in him whatsoever, I jammed the jagged edge of the chair leg into his thigh as I released my grip on his neck. “This is your femoral artery. Try anything, and I let it out for a little sunshine. Now talk.”

“Oh relax, I’m a wizard, yeah? Did you miss that bit? If I were trying to kill you, I wouldn’t have had to say hello first,” he said, tenderly rubbing the sides of his neck. “Besides, it’s not as if I’m here looking for a Valentine; I’m here with business.”

“I would never do business with you!”

“No, I don’t imagine you would.” Annoyance laced his voice at that. “Hence, your friend.”

Jabbing my weapon about half an inch further into his leg, I snarled, “What did you do?”

“Poison, obviously. I would have thought that was obvious at least; please try to keep up. Very exotic, very mystical, and very rare. It just so happens that I am the only one who can help.”

“Then help as if your life depends on it,” I threatened. “Because it does.”

He smiled at that and calmly put a hand down on the chair leg, gently pushing it away from his thigh. “No one is hurting anyone today. You have too much to lose, and I have use of you.” He reached into a pocket on the front of his pants and retrieved a necklace, holding it up for me to see in the sun. It was a thin, gold rope attached to what looked to be a ceramic flower about the size of a half dollar, six lavender colored petals attached to a yellow pistil. “This right here will not only help stave off the poison coursing through your friend’s veins; it will act as a countdown of sorts. As the amulet absorbs the poison, the petals will wither. Unfortunately for poor Ann, I’ve loaded her up with enough poison to kill, well, you.”

“So this is what then? A finger in the dam?”

“Consider it incentive. You can save her, assuming you do as I say. If you accept, I will give you a location and a name. There will be a task waiting for you. Complete the task, get the antidote. Simple as that. Refuse, and I suppose you could consider this a farewell gift of sorts. You’ll get to watch slowly, moment by moment, as the petals fall from her neck until she expires.” He craned his neck into the room to look at Ann and continued, “Though if you have questions, I’d make them fast, I’m not sure how much longer she has.”

“Of course I have questions! Why would you do this? Why me of all people?” I yelled. “What could be so important to you that you’d risk death by attacking me like this?”

“Let’s get one thing clear to start with: you’re not going to kill me because if you want any part of this, you’re going to swear otherwise. Now if we’re good on that, the matter of your task is just going to have to be one of those wait and see scenarios that I know you’re oh so fond of. But the important bit, the really good part...” He paused and smiled at me, taking a bold step in my direction, his eye contact unblinking. When he spoke again, it was to mock me. “I know that Chalsarda is a free elf. And with no master, you’re little more than a stray. Now do you want to help your friend or not?”

More than anything in that moment I wanted just to run him through right then and there and be done with him, but if I allowed myself that satisfaction there was no guarantee that I could find an antidote in time for Ann, even with the amulet. I doubt he would have come here if there was any chance of my discovering a cure on my own. Like it or not, I was going to have to play along. For her sake.

“What is the deal specifically?” I asked, trying to maintain any semblance of control in this situation.

“You perform the task given to you tomorrow, and I will see it to it that you are given the means to make your friend, Ann Bancroft, well again. And for such time as we are working together, you will bring no harm to me. Do we have a deal?”

My grip on the chair leg tightened as I tried to fight back the creeping sense that this was a terrible idea. It was no good though; he had me here. There was no other way. I dropped the chair leg and snatched the amulet from his hand. “Fine, we have a deal.”

“Let me hear you say it,” he said, looking quite satisfied with himself. “Let me hear you say my name.”

I made an agreement with myself—no, a promise to myself, that when this was finished, he would never hurt me or anyone ever again. I stared at him hard enough for him to know exactly that and didn’t stop until I could see in his eyes that he knew I would be coming for him. Right when I felt he was ready to flinch, I did as he asked.

“We have a deal,” I said slowly. “Alistair.”

***