“I have an idea.I mean, I don’t know how much it’ll help,but it can’t hurt.Something happened recently to put the Gems of Enoch intoplay, right?I mean, that’s why you were able to find mine in Scotland.Andthat’s why Shrike invited me to that ghoulish dinner party.”
“Yes,” he said slowly.“I’ve been wondering what’s up withthat, as well.”
“Then let’s grab the crystal horn and go.”
“Where?”
She grinned.“Where else?Middle Earth.”
ChapterEleven
Razr could tell that Jedda was still shaken as theymaterialized in theelvenrealm, which she’d said wasknown to her people asFilneshara, TheTimeless Lands.Maybe being here on her home turf would be good for her, wouldease her rattled nerves and help them both find some answers.
That was, of course, assuming they could find her sister.
“That’s a pretty cool trick,” he said, as the tourmalineshe’d summoned for travel between elven hotspots and theTheTimeless Lands disappeared back into her palm.
“Tourmaline is the only stone that allows us to travel here.We can only possess one at a time, and it can’t be heavier than two ounces.Anymore than that can throw us into dead space that we can’t come back from.”
“That sounds kind of horrible.”He checked out theirsurroundings, disappointed that they could be anywhere in the earthly realm.They were at the top of a grassy hill surrounded by forest and meadows, whichwas scenic and colorful, but nothing special.
“It probablyishorrible,” she said.“No one hascome back to describe the experience.”
He frowned at her.“Then how do you know it exists?”
She pointed to a pond nestled in the valley of more rollinggreen hills in the distance.Its mirrored surface reflected sunlight fromoverhead and bright, candy-colored flowers in the meadows, not a single ripplemarring the image.
“We can see them in the reflection sometimes.No one goesthere except kids looking to scare themselves.”She shook her head.“It’s likewhen human kids play Bloody Mary with a bathroom mirror.Except this is real.”
“Have you seen them?”
She shivered and started down the dirt path toward thetrees.“My sisters and I went to the pond when we were girls.We saw three…Iguess you could call them apparitions.”She swallowed hard.“I can’t imaginebeing trapped like that, clawing at the surface and hoping someone will saveyou.”
Er, yeah.Razr’s punishment wasn’t looking so bad now.
A lavender-scented breeze rustled through the trees as theyentered a jungle forest unlike anything Razr had ever seen, and the deeper intothe woods they went, the more he realized he had been wrong about this realm.The trees swayed with the fragrant wind, their limbs heavy with silver-lacedleaves that sprinkled glitter with every gust of air.It was clean here, withno hint of industrialization.No smog, no chemicals, no man-made filth.
As they walked, the trees got taller and more ornate, andJedda giggled when he stumbled to a stunned halt.Mushrooms littered the forestfloor, lit up like little neon bulbs in every color imaginable.Tiny wingedcreatures zipped between them, bouncing offtheir caps before darting upward in sprays of sparks.And here, in this forest,the treesgrewaround gemstones of every shape andsize, their trunks surrounding them like string art.
“This…is extraordinary.”
“Yeah,” she sighed.“It is.”
“Do these gemstones provide energy?”
She nodded and continued down the path.“They powereverything here.Every tree grows around a gem, and each gem grows bigger withthe tree.In the center of my town there’s an oak growing around an emerald thesize of an elephant.”She pointed ahead, where the forest parted to reveal avillage of buildings fashioned from live trees and thick vines, and there, atthe very center, was the elephant emerald.
He couldn’t stop staring in awe as she led him through thevillage, which bustled with activity, from people hawking baked goods ortending to gardens to a blacksmith who set a gemstone into each weapon hecrafted.
“They’re enchanted stones,” Jedda told him as they walkedpast.“His weapons sell for a mint in other elf realms andSheoul.”
“There are other elf realms?”
She inclined her head in greeting at an azure-haired femalewho passed them with a basket of apples.“There are two, both connected to thisone.The elves of those realms aren’t allowed inFilnesharaexcept to trade.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged.“They’re kind of assholes.”
