The Winged Ones

Chapter Fifteen

Music . . . that’s what he could hear as the stood at the entrance to the cave. Rohan could hear the trickle of water, hear the many footsteps, hear the laughter, and hear the music. Husky and Electra stayed at the clearing, not wanting to go near the faeries, but Regan and Rohan had no choice if they wanted to summon the White Warrior.

            “This is it,” she said as she turned to him.

            “I guess so,” he replied. “Just remind me not to drink the fountain water.”

            She smiled. “Of course I will.”

            Rohan stepped inside the cave first, taking a couple steps before meeting up with what looked like a grand hall of sorts. There were waterfalls along the edges of the cave, the water glistening in the sunlight that came from above, had to come from above. There were people, all wearing as little clothes as possible without revealing too much, dancing and laughing. Every one of them had a pair of transparent wings that gave off a small amount of light. There were pink, white, purple, and blue, all colors of the balls of light that Rohan had seen earlier. At the back of the hall was a huge fountain, where all the waterfalls led to.

            A girl with long, pink hair and bright green eyes came over to him, smiling brightly. She wore a pink mini skirt that just covered her private parts and half a tank top, which too only just covered her privates. “Come dance with me,” she whispered, her voice sounding like the ringing of bells.

            Rohan hesitated, but knew that the only way he was to get close to the fountain, where he knew the Faerie Queen lived, was to dance with this girl, who was already dragging him off. Before he could get too far away, he looked over his shoulder at Regan, who was being led away by a boy with purple hair. He caught her eye and she nodded, agreeing silently with him.

            He didn’t know what had come over him, he just knew that his feet were moving to the rhythm of the music, and that the girl was bringing him every so closer to the fountain, the fountain he knew he was not supposed to drink from. The girl eventually stopped, standing close to the fountain.

            “You must be thirsty,” she said, smiling brightly at him. “Drink from the fountain and then we can continue dancing.”

            Rohan shook his head. “I didn’t come here to dance; I came here to speak to your queen.”

            The girl’s smile flattered briefly. “But surly you must be thirsty anyway,” she told him, bringing him to stand at the edge of the fountain.

            Rohan shook his head, knowing that he couldn’t drink the water. “No, I just want to speak with your queen.”

            The girl looked crestfallen, though turned toward the fountain, talking to it in a strange language that Rohan couldn’t recognize. The water seemed to glow, and a woman appeared. She looked older than all the other faeries in the cave, though just as beautiful. She had long green hair that went below her waist and bright blue eyes, though not as deep a blue as Rohan’s own. She wore a grass skirt, longer than what all the other faerie girls were wearing, and a pink tank top that only went down to her belly button, though covered a lot more than the others in the cave. Her wings were nearly transparent, though had a pink hue to them. She was barefoot as she stood in the fountain, staring down at Rohan. But what Rohan noticed the most was the small dagger, a charm, tied to a string that hung around the queen’s neck. That was the first item in the riddle, which was what Rohan needed.