*Ridley couldn’t see anything beyond a moving flash of white ahead of her as she followed someone she did not know through the mist. The hand she had been holding had let go of her soon after they had left Jake behind. The sound of wings had faded. The song she had heard such a short time ago was gone.
It was eerily quiet in the Veil. Even the unevenness of her breathing was lost in the mist.
Where was Jake? Had he gone off to confront the Dark Fae again on her behalf?
Thanks to him, she was beginning to get a handle on how things worked in his world. Somewhere around here was a line she had to cross. The Dark Fae couldn’t do the same. If she crossed that line she would be safe. She would find out what she had been born to become. But what about Jake? Would becoming something other than Ridley Stone mean she wouldn’t see Jake Silver again, except on the few occasions when the Veil was thinnest?
She told herself she wouldn’t mind Jake being a dragon if she could see him right now. After watching him shape-shift, thoughts of the past, and of dreaming, had been shaken up by a startling reality call.
The person she was following stopped suddenly. Mist parted to reveal the identity of Ridley’s latest traveling companion, and it turned out to be the beautiful golden-haired female who had flown in a bubble to Jake’s backyard.
Ridley forgot to breathe.
“He will return,” the vision said to her as if she had read Ridley’s mind. “Dark Fae warriors have never been worthy adversaries for a dragon.”
“It’s my fault he has to deal with them,” Ridley said.
Cool fingers touched her face. Cool green eyes stared back at Ridley. This female was so like the fairies in the old storybooks and drawings. The resemblance was so astounding, Ridley wondered if she might have made this up.
Her companion was gloriously festive in her simple attire. Long blond hair the color of a summer sunray fell to a narrow waist, over a sheer white tunic and a shimmering lavender-colored coat that changed color each time the female moved.
Crystals in the headpiece circling her forehead were crowded by tiny pine cones and ivy, and the whole effect was looked a lot like the strings of Christmas decorations on the Stone family trees.
The female’s image wavered slightly, so that it was difficult for Ridley to pin down her features. The expressions on the pale oval face, like the colors on her clothing, changed from one second to the next without settling.
Ridley blinked to try to clear her vision. Nevertheless, she felt that something special was taking place. Seeing this female felt right, if not completely acceptable as an alternative to Jake.
“When do we get there? Get this over with?” Ridley asked.
The female’s laughter carried that same distant sound of bells that had fascinated Ridley for most of her life. She briefly closed her eyes.
“You’re here now,” her companion replied.
All Ridley saw was more mist. She didn’t understand what this female was suggesting, and longed to see Jake walk up behind her.
“Where?” she managed to ask. “Where are we?”
“Home,” the beautiful golden female replied.
Afraid to take another step, Ridley said, “I think I’ll wait for Jake if you don’t mind.”
Long, cool fingers laced with hers. “He will be along. I promise.”
As Ridley stood side-by-side with a prime sample of the species Jake had labeled as The Fair Folk, the mist began to clear away, as if one wave of the Faerie female’s hand had sent it scurrying.
*
The Dark Fae had sent only one warrior into the Veil. It wasn’t hard for Jake to lead that warrior’s winged horse away from the entrance to the Land of Light once it had entered the mist, though that horse and its rider could not have crossed into the Fair Lands anyway. It really was a last-ditch effort by the Dark Fae to even have tried.
The entrance to the Land of Shadows existed farther to the North, which meant the horse was flying blind in a section of the Veil that didn’t welcome the opposition or shadows of any kind. If Jake hadn’t been here, the Fair Folk would have picked up the scent of a foe and come forth to meet the threat.
Jake heard the warrior urge the horse forward, and knew there would be harsh repercussions if the winged steed refused to obey its master. So the pair flew right toward Jake without realizing it.
Jake descended quietly. One soft slap of his webbed wing against the horse’s glossy black side sent it veering off course. The warrior cursed loudly. His flying horse snorted its displeasure and wheeled around in a wide circle, driven on by the Shadow on its back.
They just wouldn’t get the message. So Jake blew out a stream of fire that touched the upper ridge of a black wing, and the flying horse dipped dramatically. The warrior cursed again and shouted for Jake to show himself. But that wasn’t really necessary since the Dark Fae was the trespassing aggressor here, and far from where he belonged.
Inside the mist of the Veil that was essentially Jake’s home away from home, Jake was master. He was familiar with every inch and smell. He whipped his wings around and flew so fast in tight circles, the wind he created beat against the flying horse, stopping its forward progress as if it had run into a wall. Without proper buoyancy, the beast’s flapped furiously, getting nowhere, until it dropped downward and all four hooves hit the ground.
All that was left now was a second stream of fire that wafted between the rearing black legs, and the Dark Fae’s flying steed turned around so quickly, the Dark Fae warrior was unseated.
As the flying horse soared again into the air, this time without its master, the warrior got to his feet, drew a silver sword from a leather scabbard, and waited for Jake to show up.
*
Unable to process what she was seeing, Ridley’s legs finally gave out. She sat down on a hillside covered in tall grasses and patches of fluffy white snow.
“This can’t be real,” she chanted over and over, as if enough repetition might force her to believe that.
The mist had cleared away to reveal what looked to Ridley like Alice’s Wonderland. It was the kind of place she would have created as Wonderland, anyway, if she had the ability to conjure up a fairytale. Dead center in the scenery in front of her was the tree. The tree. Her tree. The sight of it was more astounding that anything that had happened so far.
Jake hadn’t lied. She had reached the place she had always wanted to find. She was here in the canyon at last.
She stared up at the giant snow-tipped evergreen in awe, basking in its illumination. There were so many lights, she had to shield her eyes from the glare. The glow it cast on her skin brought feelings of warmth. Ridley realized that in this moment, she no longer felt cold or lost.
A flush began near her throat, and rose to her cheeks as she continued to stare. Her shoulders twitched. She ignored the strange tugging sensation between her shoulder blades, and just sat there, content for the time being to finally, at last, be where she wanted to be. This is where the magic lived.
She had arrived in the place Jake had said no one else in her family could have seen or found because it was meant for her. Only for her.
Her glimpses of this incredibly magical place had been meant to call her to a home she had never known, and to join a race of beings she had never thought existed.
“Changeling,” she whispered.
“Not anymore,” the golden-haired female said, again offering her hand.
This time when Ridley stood up, the quiet filled in with that same melody she had become familiar with. The one Jake had said was her song. She was afraid to close her eyes, and afraid to keep them open. Above her, the tree was a beaming out its special kind of magic.
She wanted to dance and to forget everything other than being here now. She wanted a coronet of crystals and pine cones, and to wear a shimmering lavender coat. Ridley desired to have a voice made of bells and to experience all of the magic this special place had to offer.
According to Jake, none of this was an accident.
“What do I do now?” she asked her fair-haired companion seriously. “Who am I to be? Am I like you?”
The female’s pale fingers touched a spot on Ridley’s temple, which brought back a memory of Jake doing the same thing. “It will take time to unlock what has been hidden for so long,” she said to Ridley.
“How long?”
Her companion wagged a finger. “Only you can say.”
“How do I say whatever it is I need to say in order to find out?”
“For now, be content to be home. Dance. Sing. Enjoy. Others will want to meet you.”
There were others here somewhere. It all seemed so fantastical. Utterly inconceivable.
But Ridley couldn’t stop herself from searching the spaces beyond the light. She wondered if she could see her old backyard from here, or if that also had disappeared now that she was inside of the magic, instead of just looking on.
If she were to find the house, would Jake be there, looking back at her?
What was wrong with her? Why was she thinking of something else when she now had what she desired?
One word…
“Jake.”
All of a sudden, the magic didn’t seem quite so magical without him. This new phase, her new self, didn’t seem quite so doable. She didn’t want to become something Jake wouldn’t be able to recognize. She didn’t want to be something he couldn’t relate to.
She would fight their enemies with him if necessary, if they could be together. She would…
The companion who had led her the last few steps through the Veil stood beside her wearing a sympathetic expression that stayed in place. “Not yet,” she said to Ridley. “Decisions are not for this night. We’re here to celebrate our holidays and your return. It’s time to join us, Ridley Stone, and to rejoice.”
Ridley nodded numbly, smiled, and glanced up at the most beautiful tree she had ever seen. The big tree at the center of her new magical life sparkled in all its holiday glory. The melody of her song ran through her like a wave of warm water.
She fought off the sound, and closed her eyes.
She fisted her hands and gritted her teeth.
And then she turned around and ran straight for the misty floating edge of the Veil that had brought her to the land of her dreams.