Magic in the Key of Joy (A Wylde & Cray Adventure) UIC2022

Chapter 8 - Cray Zieh Little Thing Called Love

I'm crying. I can't seem to stop, but every now and then the image of Wylde bringing Sunny back to life – through singing, no less – makes my heart catch in my throat, and the tears just flow. First, how the hell did he do that? And second, he didn't even question if he could do it. He just did it.

Wylde - I don't know what to think. I've seen his face and dreamed of him for centuries, as lover and destroyer. But I could never have dreamed up his absolution of a murderous demon, or his resurrection of Sunny.  Yet, throughout all the conflicting visions, one thing is now as certain as the dawn and dusk - I love him.  Luna was right.

I brought him to Mount Skyfire, to meet Baelena. Mainly because such an unprecedented act would not only awaken her, but also the Sluagh and their earthly minions. The whole of Fey was on high alert. So why, in the names of the Firstborn, was I being made to wait? Even Sunny, who by all accounts should be resting, was glaring at Baelena's guardians. Luna was keeping was keeping watch over Wylde.

(Do you know who we are? Who we've brought? And we must wait interminably for the crone...)

"Language!" I cried.

(Excuse me, the elder, to finish her toilette and see us?)

The troll on the right said "Yes, yes, and yes."

The left added, "Your complaints have been noted, and will be reported to the appropriate committees. In the meantime, you must wait. Silently."

(For Fey's sake, silently? Seriously? All of creation is awake!) moaned the ferrcat.

"Sunny, let's sit by window. I want to ask you a few things." I really did, because after nearly squeezing the life out of him, he decided he wanted to keep this new life he'd been granted and folded space, taking Wylde and the rest of us with him. Skyfire reaches about one mile above the clouds, and the view of the primal plane was breathtaking. No wonder some Firstborns had chosen to stay.

I wasn't sure how to frame the question, being that his kind were exceedingly rare. Pre-Wylde me would have spent time on how to word it, phrase it and say it. But post-Wylde me just needed to say it, with no editing.

"What was it like, dying? Did you have any consciousness at all, after...Mara bit..."

(No,) Sunny said, curling up in his lap, his long neck standing at attention and looking right at me. (It happened quickly, and I remember feeling unimaginable pain for, maybe, 2 seconds. I don't remember anything after that. Then I remember thinking – to borrow one of Cherriere's expressions, 'What the actual fuck?' and having you squeeze the breath out of me. Then I saw Wylde, didn't see or sense Mara, put two and two together and came here.)

"Nothing else? No sense of peace, no overwhelming love, or warmth, or accomplishment?" I ask, hoping to hear something comforting or something concrete.

(I'm afraid the afterlife, at least for Luna and I, simply isn't there. Sorry, Cray. But I have gained a greater appreciation for the mortals. Compared to us, they're here and gone in an eyeblink. I'm going to spend more time doing things that enjoy, and things that mean something. Like watching out for you, and Wylde...and maybe a few other mortals, here and there.)

I must have given him my raised eyebrow look, because he immediately followed up with, (And I absolutely did not just say something sentimental.)

"No," I agreed, "Absolutely, you did not."

(And if you breathe a word of this to...)

(I already heard, you great big teddy bear of a pussycat-ferret hybrid.)

(Luna, is there any change?) I ask.

(Well, he's smiling. And he'd been snoring earlier, so thank goodness no more of that awful sound!)

Startling them, both trolls simultaneously intone, "The Elder will see you now." Sunny drapes himself around my shoulders as I walk to the stone door, which vanishes to reveal Baelena robed in Seer's dark plum, sprinkled with silver stars which are constantly shifting. She once said she wished it could just be plain and hempen, but the upper echelons demand pomp and circumstance.

(Hey, he's opened his eyes!)

"Yes," says the Fey's Grand Seer, "Let us go see how Mr. Thingh is doing." The right troll guard accompanies us down two flights of winding stone staircases, ending in front of a high, wide alcove. The desk in the center is attended by a young elf, who nods approval. We walk and seat ourselves in front of a dark glass circle. And again, we wait.

"Where are you keeping him?" I inquire.

"Somewhere very safe."

"This isn't a waiting area I'm familiar with."

Baelena places her long, slender fingers on my arm, and smiles. "May you never become familiar with it, dear great grandnephew. It's only meant for visitors with rare or serious conditions. Mr. Thingh is the first human who's been here since Arthur Pendragon."

The dark glass shimmered, and suddenly showed our reflections. "Come, we must go while conditions are right. Move, move! And keep walking!"

We walk into and through the mirror. It's quite cold, although there is no breeze. After 10 steps, we emerge in a small cottage. It's warm and humid. I look through the window and see coconut palms, and dark-skinned natives conversing over a fire, on which something is cooking. And in the distance is an island covered in domed buildings, temples and an arena.

(Come on in. He's waiting for you, says Luna.)

I don't see any doorways. What I do see is a staircase leading downwards. Baelena is already descending. The walls are lit with recessed lights, solid rock that's been hand-carved and inlaid with beautiful mosaics of island elves.

"Aunt Bae..." I begin, and I'm immediately corrected by the troll, who says in a deep voice, "She is to be addressed..."

"It's all right, Cracker-of-Skulls. Formalities can be dropped for family."

"Forgive me, your most exalted..." the troll responded.

"Including you! Now, nephew, you were saying?"

"Aunt Bae, where is this place?"

"If I tell you..."

(Wylde guessed it on the first try. So, he'll tell Cray if you don't.)

"Humans can be so annoying without even trying! Very well. Millennia ago, we created a bubble here, what the humans would call a bomb shelter. Firstly, it was to protect ourselves from all the nasty seismic disturbances; and secondly, because the humans were busy colonizing everywhere, and that was just rude. So, we placed heavy deflection spells all around. The humans have two names for this place, and both apply. This is Atlantis, and it's inside our shelter, called the Bermuda Triangle."