Violet Fire

Evelyn shot up, her heart pounding. She began to pace frantically, pulling at her hair. Caleb rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb stifled a yawn.

“I just had a dream about Juliet,” Evelyn gulped.

Caleb sighed wearily. “You’ve had several dreams about Juliet.”

Evelyn shook her head. “This was more than a dream, Caleb. Juliet is here.”

That brought Caleb to his feet. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Evelyn stilled to face her husband. “Oh, Caleb, she’s so lovely. But her eyes…”

“They’re not…?”

Evelyn nodded, biting her lip. “We tried so hard to keep her from the curse.”

Caleb pulled his wife into his arms and let her sob against his chest. “We won’t let the curse win. I promise.”

When my eyes opened I was staring up into endless leaves, broken only by the sunlight filtering through. I groaned and tried to sit up, but the sharp pain behind my eyes sent me back down again.

“Making up your own spells can do that to you,” Derek said from my left.

The events of the previous night flashed in front of me, and I winced when I remembered what I had done.

“What happened?” I didn’t really want to know.

“Inteus and his herd went home,” Derek replied softly.

“Will they be ok?”

“They’ll be just fine.”

“And the villagers?” I hated how much my voice shook.

“You saved Inteus’ life, Juliet.”

I turned my head to look at Derek, wincing. “Does that make up for what else I did?”

Derek sighed, looking away from me. “Sometimes things happen when we protect the ones we care about. It never gets easier,” his eyes finally met mine, sending a chill through me. “And you never forget.”

“That’s the second time my instincts have cost someone else their life,” I whispered. “Will it happen again?”

Derek reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “But what you’re feeling is a good thing, Juliet. It’s when you stop feeling that you should be worried.”

Evanna gave me a foul cup of tea that eased my headache and we were off. Derek assured me that the safe place we were headed wasn’t very far away, but by late afternoon I was ready for the journey to be over. We followed one of the roads that snaked through the Great Wood once it began to get dark.

“You don’t want to be caught wandering in the Great Wood at night,” Evanna told me, glancing around warily. “There’s no telling what’s lurking.”

Derek and I lit witch lights to guide us and keep potential threats at bay. Even so, it felt like there were unseen eyes watching our every move, getting ready to strike.

“We should avoid camping out in the open as much as possible,” James’ eyes never seemed to stop moving as we ventured deeper.

“There’s an inn just around the bend,” Derek replied, his own voice subdued.

It seemed like an eternity before we came around the bend and spotted the inn. We walked up the path to the door, passing a barn and a chicken coop. The front room was half-full of people, most of them eating at long, low wooden tables. A plump, middle-aged man came up to us; I took him to be the owner. At first he was very friendly to us; then when he saw me his expression turned suspicious, and when he saw Damon there was unconcealed hatred on his face.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no room for you here,” he said gruffly, pushing us toward the door.

“You have plenty of room,” James growled, his eyes flashing in the dim light.

The inn keeper quailed under his gaze for a moment before drawing himself to his full – and considerable – height.

“I won’t have the likes of him in my inn,” he growled, pointing at Damon.

Derek tried to keep calm, but his eyes flashed as he spoke. “We will pay double whatever the scum you’re putting up is paying.”

A glint appeared in the inn keeper’s eye, but one look at Damon stamped out his greed. “You couldn’t pay me all the gold in Loridian to put up that creature.”

Evanna grabbed both Derek and James before they could lunge at the inn keeper. Alaric helped her push them outside with me and Damon trailing behind. The door closed with a bang behind us and we started walking back toward the road.

Derek swore, calling the inn keeper a few choice names before kicking at a bucket in the yard.

“I’m sorry, Damon,” Derek said after he had gained some composure.

I looked around at our company, shocked by the rage still boiling inside Derek and James.

“I’m the one who is sorry,” Damon replied, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.

Evanna laid a hand on his arm, her anger contained to her stormy eyes.

“Now what will we do?” Alaric asked.

“The only thing we can – keep walking,” Evanna replied with a quiet sigh.

The shadows were growing very thick as we continued down the road. We found an old, burned-out cottage less than a mile away from the inn. As we turned off the road I tried to suppress a growing creeping sensation. I started to hum, trying to block the feeling from my mind. The song was a tune that I barely recognized, like a memory starting to fade, but it always comforted me.

“Where did you hear that song?” Evanna asked me quietly.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, surprised that she recognized it. “I’ve known it as long as I could remember.”

Evanna nodded, but said nothing more. We quickly made a little camp in the shelter of the cottage, a crackling fire replacing our witch lights to ward off threats. We had a meal and settled down in relative silence, the gloom of the Wood hanging over us like a fog. Evanna made watch assignments and promptly went to bed, followed by James, Derek, and Alaric. I laid on my side and watched the fire dance, sleep hovering just out of reach. I glanced away from the flames to see Damon watching me.

“Tell me about your world,” Damon requested after a few minutes of silence.

I sat up so that I could better face him and satisfy the curiosity burning in his eyes.

“Well, for one thing, we don’t have magic,” I replied.

“No magic?” the idea seemed almost outrageous to him.

“If we do, it’s pretty well hidden. We have machines that do work for us,” I said, and started trying to describe cars and airplanes and cell phones to him. He drank in everything, fascinated by it.

“So you have metal wagons that take your wherever you need to go, and metal dragons to fly you anywhere in your world?”

I smiled. “Basically.”

“I want to see your world,” he whispered, looking at the dying flames.

“Maybe one day you will,” I replied just as quietly.

“I hope so.”

We sat in silence for another minute or two. Damon was lost in his thoughts, making me feel guilty for breaking into them.

“Are you going to explain to me what happened at the inn?”

A flicker of frustration swept over his face before he turned it away from me.

“What is there to explain?” Damon was failing to keep his voice steady. “I’m different, so I must be dangerous.”

I sighed, too tired to try to break through his walls. “If it helps, I don’t care that you’re different.”

I laid back down and put my back to the fire. I was already falling asleep when Damon’s low voice reached my sleepy ears.

“It does help.”

We left early the next morning, wanting to leave the Wood as quickly as possible. Thanks to Evanna and Derek, we reached a sheer rock face just after lunch. We stopped outside the mouth of a cave set into the rock face. Derek turned to Damon.

“After you,” he said, gesturing for Damon to take the lead.

Damon nodded and strode forward boldly, not looking back to see if we were following. I shivered as we entered the gloom.

“Why are we in this cave again?” I whispered, wincing as my voice echoed through the darkness.

“Because you’re a fugitive and we need to stay off the main roads,” Derek reminded me gently. “And this isn’t a cave, it’s a tunnel.”

My next question died in my throat as a humming sound filled the cavern. I glanced around, the echoes from the rising and falling pitches making it impossible to find the source.

“What is that?” I asked, accidentally bumping into Damon.

Damon’s expression was grim, his grip tightening on our pitiful torch. “Dragon song.”

“Is that bad?” my voice was barely audible.

“Dragon song is what some call the sound that a dragon makes before it flames,” Derek explained calmly. “It happens as the dragon raises the temperature in its gut, causing a flammable chemical secreted there to mix with its saliva-”

“What Derek means to say,” Evanna interrupted. “Is run.”

We didn’t need to be told twice. We followed Damon through the tunnel, the temperature noticeably rising as we ran. I glanced over my shoulder to see an orange glow rapidly becoming brighter.

“In here!” Damon yelled, gesturing to a small side tunnel.

Damon waited for everyone else to enter, pushing me in before him. I cried out as the jet of flame burned past the entrance and Damon moved to more fully block the entrance to the narrow tunnel. The searing heat lasted a full minute before we were able to dart back into the main tunnel. I froze as a pair of amber eyes appeared at the far end of the tunnel, latching onto me. A low growl met my ears, blending with the dragon song.

“Hurry,” Evanna urged, grabbing my wrist and yanking me.

I refused to look back again as we ran, following Damon’s lead once more. The dragon song stopped, and the tunnel gradually began to heat up. There were no side tunnels through this stretch, but there was a faint light ahead.

“Run as fast as you can!” Damon yelled over his shoulder.

We all put on a burst of speed as flames filled the tunnel behind us. I dove at the end of the tunnel, crying out as searing pain raced across my legs. I felt tears racing down my cheeks without my permission as I dragged myself away from the tunnel entrance.

“Juliet, are you…” Derek trailed off as he looked down at my legs, and I knew it was bad. “Let me just…”

He touched my leg ever so gently and I gasped, nearly blacking out from the pain. Derek’s face set and his hands began to glow.

“This will hurt,” he warned as the light intensified.

My fingers dug into the dirt and my vision became blurry. Damon was coming over, his brow wrinkled with worry when she burst from the tunnel entrance mere feet from Derek and I. The dragon was a brilliant shade of red, the sunlight rippling across her scales as if she were made of fire. Her amber eyes found me and her body went rigid, looking like a cat getting ready to pounce. She was slender, but her rippling muscles testified to her strength.

“Derek,” I half-groaned, staring over his shoulder at the dragon.

“I’m almost done,” he replied tensely, sweat starting to drip into his eyes.

The she dragon had me frozen in her gaze, her slit pupils contracting as she prepared to make her move. A blinding flash of light tore my gaze from the dragon, diverting her attention as well. Where Damon had been standing was a growing column of flame and green light. My scream was lost as a mighty roar shook the ground. Where once there had been a man, there was now a green dragon. This dragon was slightly bigger and stockier than the she dragon, and although I could hardly believe it, those eyes were unmistakable. It was Damon.

He didn’t hesitate before plowing into the she dragon, knocking her off-balance. The she dragon snarled, her dragon song starting again. Her whip-like tail came straight for Damon’s head and I cried out again. Damon ducked, letting the she dragon knock herself off-balance this time. I didn’t notice that Derek had finished until he pulled me out of the way of the fight.

“Halfling!” the she dragon snarled, surprising me.

“Dragons can talk?” I asked Derek, never looking away from the giant reptiles.

“Some,” Derek replied, pushing me again as a tail came whipping towards our heads. “Others have become so removed from people that they are little more than feral animals.”

There was a sound like nails on a chalkboard as the she dragon raked her claws down Damon’s chest. Damon roared, sinking his teeth into her shoulder. A shiver ran through me as I watched Damon toss her like a rag doll. The she dragon rolled up before she could crash into the rock face. Damon roared, standing between her and us. Damon flamed into the sky, then roared again, challenging her.

“You protect that thing,” she sneered, gesturing her head towards me.

Damon’s silence was answer enough. The she dragon shifted so that she could look me in the eyes and Damon followed her movement. She shot him a glare before turning her attention to me again.

“Hide behind your friends while you can, but know that the wild dragons,” she shot a withering glance at Damon. “Are no friend to your kind. If you ever venture out by yourself, you will answer to Menhit, Alpha of the North Dragons.”

Menhit shot one last hateful look at Damon before disappearing into the tunnel again. Damon stayed exactly as he was until he was sure that Menhit was gone before relaxing. Damon shifted back, refusing to look me in the eye. Derek left my side to look at the claw marks across Damon’s chest, but I remained where I was. Alaric came to stand by me, his face unreadable.

“Are you all right?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied absently, still watching Derek and Damon. “I’m guessing Aleia did something to piss off the dragons?”

“In a sense, yes.”

Damon snuck a glance my way, looking away quickly when he realized that I was watching. He grimaced as Derek probed his wound and I had to look away.

“So now you know Damon’s secret.”

“Yes, now I know.”

Damon didn’t say a word the rest of the day. He wouldn’t even look at me. I waited until we had made camp before I cornered him next to a stream, our empty water skins in his hands.

“You’re avoiding me.”

Damon glanced up at me for a split second before plunging the first water skin into the stream.

“Silence isn’t going to scare me away,” I folded my arms across my chest.

“Is anything else going to scare you away?” Damon’s voice was barely audible.

I sat next to him, taking the water skin he had filled and corking it. “No.”

Damon let out a long breath, the tension in his shoulders easing. “You’re certain?”

The sight of him tossing the she dragon like a doll flashed through my mind, my hands folding together to keep from shaking.

“Is that why you didn’t tell me? You thought I would be scared of you?”

I dared to sneak a peek at his reaction, watching the shadow settle over him.

“Everyone I have ever known is afraid of me, Juliet. Even Claire and Eoin,” his voice was taut. “They hide it well, but I can see it in their eyes.”

I reached over and slipped my hand into his. “You aren’t the only one.”

Damon met my eyes fully and warmth rushed through me. He ran his thumb against my skin gently, sending shivers up and down my body. He broke eye contact after a long moment to survey the pile of empty water skins sitting next to him.

“We should finish,” he started to pull his hand out of mine.

“Let’s just sit for a few minutes,” I replied softly, not relinquishing my hand from his.

His eyes widened a little, but he nodded. I scooted a little closer, laid my head on his shoulder, and watched the stream hurry by.

The others shot us knowing glances when we returned, well, all except for Alaric. The looks he shot Damon as we settled for the night were dark and brooding. After about the tenth time I noticed, I glanced across the fire and saw that Evanna was watching me. She held my gaze for almost a full minute before turning away to give out watch assignments. I couldn’t help but feel like there was something going on that I was missing.

My eyes flew open as a cold sweat trickled down my back. The fire was burning low, casting long shadows over the trees. My heart beat started to slow as the remnants of my nightmare fled into the darkness. Sleep was just within my reach when two low voices pulled me back from the edge.

“If you have something to say to me, just come out with it,” Damon’s voice had an edge to it.

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” Alaric replied airily.

“I think you do,” the calmness of his voice sent a shiver through me.

“You and Juliet took such a long time this afternoon, I was merely concerned for your safety,” the nonchalance had turned to ice.

Damon’s voice had become a low growl. “I see the way your eyes follow her.”

There was a short bark of laughter. “Are you truly going to question my intentions? Should she even be alone with you?”

I heard the distant hoot of an owl as the silence stretched on.

“Juliet’s decisions are her own,” Damon’s voice was calm again. “I won’t be influencing them.”

Another brief silence. “Agreed.”

There was some rustling as Alaric went back to sleep, a sigh from Damon, then only the crackling of the fire. And me? Sleep was the last thing on my mind.

“When are you the first up?” Evanna plopped down next to me.

I turned my gaze from the canopy of the tree I was leaning against.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I replied with a yawn.

Evanna gave me a searching look, her intense blue eyes stormy in the dim light. “Would it have something to do with those two hot heads?”

“I wouldn’t necessarily call them hot heads,” I picked at the grass next to me.

Chuckling, Evanna shook her head. “You’ve bewitched them both.”

“I really don’t see how,” I replied sourly, pulling a whole clump of grass out in my hand.

“We don’t always have control over these sorts of things,” the gentleness of her voice brought my head up. “You just sort yourself out before you go worrying about other people.”

Evanna laid a hand on my arm briefly before getting up to wake up the others. I sat for a few minutes longer, my fingers running through the grass in my hands. Derek called my name and I let the blades of grass slip out of my grasp as I rose.

“Welcome to Faerie,” Derek’s sweeping arm took in the valley before us.

The hills that surrounded Faerie were covered in trees, but the bowl of the valley had been cleared. Tents of all different sizes and colors stood among grass huts and a couple of wooden cottages.

“The valley is our main camp, but our refuge stretches out into the trees to the north and east,” Derek explained as we started down from the tree line. “The elves and fairies prefer to build houses and nests in the canopy.”

I ducked instinctively as a large shadow passed over us. Both Damon and Alaric took a step closer to me, hands on their swords.

“Derek!” a warm voice called as the shadow landed in front of us.

The horse’s wings folded neatly against her shiny black sides, her cream colored mane shifting around her silver horn as she tossed her head. A tall woman with copper skin and thick black hair jumped lithely from her back. Her bright green eyes shone as she grinned at Derek.

“Hello, Nila,” Derek nodded politely, but his reception was considerably cooler than hers.

Nila turned her face away from Derek to try and hide how it fell. In doing so, her eyes met mine and her face lit up again.

“You must be Juliet!” she bounded forward to give my hand a vigorous shake. “We’ve all heard so much about you.”

I felt my face flush, and I shot Derek an accusing look. “And what exactly have you heard about me?”

Nila nearly squealed with excitement, putting an arm around my waist and propelling me forward. I looked over my shoulder as Nila jabbered in my ear. Derek spread his hands helplessly, grinning. I shot him my best glare. Welcome to Faerie indeed.