“Take me to Faerie. I need to speak with Elle,” I told Mara.
She nodded as I stepped inside. Bashur stood next to me.
“He’s not a Urisk demon, right?” I pointed to the dog and laughed. The laughter died in my throat when her face drew into one of suspicion.
“Demon? Who taught you such things?” She petted Bashur’s head. “Urisk Fae are just lonely hermits. They just want friendship.”
I gulped. I heard they also ate small children, but was hoping that was a lie. “Okay,” I croaked.
“Who did you see?” she queried.
I shrugged, careful with my words. “Some old Fae. Come on, I gotta talk to Elle.”
We walked at a brisk pace back to her office, but just before we got there the house shook a little. Pictures rattled on the walls and furniture shook. I grabbed on to an end table to steady myself.
I looked back at Mara. There shouldn’t be any earthquake at Mara’s, since I was pretty sure we were in some in-between realm. Right?
“Was that normal?” I asked her, but by the way she was frozen and looking off into the distance like she was calculating something in her head, it was not.
“No. And it shouldn’t be possible…” she mused.
Before I could ask for another explanation, she led me to the office and I strapped in.
Was Faerie shaking? Is that why we were too? I hoped to gods not. I needed more time. I didn’t have the next crystal.
When I openedthe door into my home world, I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything looked normal and well. Fae were flying about at a slow and normal pace, the sun was shining down through the protections, and everything felt calm. Whatever that shaking was, it wasn’t Faerie.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” I told Mara, and she nodded before I closed the door.
I took the path away from the blue door and jagged rocks, walking briskly to the center of town.
There.Just who I was looking for.
Trissa was training six warriors. They held sticks, clacking them together with horrible coordination and balance. When she met my gaze, I called her over.
“How are you?” She hugged me, but when she pulled back her face fell. “Why so serious?”
I hadn’t talked to my mother’s loyal guard in a while; a lot had changed. “Everything about this new life is serious.” I surprised us both with that answer.
“That’s true.” She frowned. “Do you need my help?”
I nodded. “The crystals have been … tainted. One or all of them are dark now.”
She nodded. “The elders told me.”
I figured. They were close. “But I’ve found a way to heal them and I need you and Elle to accompany me to seek something.”
“Anything.” Trissa looked eager. Nothing was too dangerous for this woman. She was a lifer to the job. It was killing her to train people rather than be out there.
“I need you and Elle to help me fetch a bowl of water from the healing pool of Spring.”
There, I’d said it out loud.
She chuckled, looking ten years younger in that moment. “You’re joking, right? The healing pool went under with the rest of Faerie.”
I nodded. “I know, but the healing pool is still there, I’ve been assured.”
She sighed, running her hands through her hair. “We’d have to swim under the protections, and then from there—”
