The Oracle of Avalbane

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Zach

 

     The feast was awesome. I was relieved that we had normal food, although it was heavy on the vegetables and fruits. Garrick said they eat very little meat; the only time is special occasions like tonight. There was even entertainment, Elves singing songs about their past deeds and great adventures. I think Kate appreciated that more than I did—she’s big into music and sings for stuff all the time. I started to volunteer her to add to the night’s festivities but she kicked me hard under the table. Too bad she can practically read my mind.

     Garrick stayed to talk to his parents, but Kate was still tired, even after her little nap, so we headed upstairs as soon as it was over.

“Hey, thanks for not volunteering me to entertain.”

     I grinned. “It was tempting.”

With my stomach full, I was getting a second wind and it was a beautiful night. “Do you want to go take a walk?”

     “No, and you shouldn’t either. We need to get up early and figure out how to get Cole back,” she reminded me.

     True, I thought, so I said good night and kept on going. As I stood at the windows in my room, I could see the paths with their little twinkling lights. They called to me. Okay, not really, but I was curious—and not a bit sleepy.

     Then I saw something strange. Deep in the woods, I could see lights flickering. These were larger than what I thought of as the Christmas lights and they were multi-colored. Were the Elves having some kind of party out there? I imagined I could hear music.

     That was all it took for me to forget about going to bed early, so I crept down the stairs. I didn’t meet anyone on the way down and the castle seemed deserted but I thought I remembered the way out.

     Sure enough, my great sense of direction didn’t fail me and I found the way easily to the paths below my room. The stars were bright and the twinkle lights lit up the path, so I didn’t really need the flashlight that I’d brought out of habit.

     Before long, I began to hear singing. It didn’t sound like a party now, but there was definitely something going on. I hurried on, not even noticing that I had left the path and was weaving through the trees towards the colored lights.

     The smells--delicious, incredible, tantalizing--hit me before I could see anything. Even though I’d eaten well at dinner, my mouth started watering.

     Then I saw them: three Faeries. I thought Tania was beautiful, but these three were way beyond that. I stopped and just stared at them. The first one that I saw was dark, her skin caramel-colored, her hair and her almond-shaped eyes a dark mahogany. Her dress, what there was of it, was like an orange flame and her wings glowed red-gold behind her.

     I knew I was gawking but I couldn’t help it. Then she smiled at me and I kind of melted. Wow.

     “Hello. Have you come to sample the delicacies of our Faery Market?” Her voice was husky and so warm and inviting.

     I suddenly realized that they were standing behind a table laden with sweets that looked scrumptious.

     “I just finished dinner,” I said stupidly to one of the Faeries who was holding out a piece of cake. She shimmered blue-green in the lamplight, almost as if she was underwater. Her eyes were the mesmerizing turquoise of tropical ocean pools. I realized she was even more beautiful than the flame-colored Faery.

     “There’s always room for dessert,” she purred and came out from behind the table to bring me the cake. As soon as she got close to me, the aroma from the cake seemed to wrap itself around me and I took a big bite. It was more than delicious, it was intoxicating and I wanted more. The sugary sweetness melted in my mouth, bite after bite.

     “Oh my gosh, this is incredible,” I muttered between bites, knowing I sounded ridiculous but not caring. I had to have more.

     I strode over to the table to see what else I could find. What a great idea, to have the Faeries come out here and do a dessert bar.

     “Here try this pie,” a pink Faery offered. “It’s strawberry, your favorite.”

     How did she know? I smiled at her as I took a bite of the melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Her skin was all rosy and clouds of pink-white hair framed her perfect heart-shaped face. I suddenly knew that she was the most beautiful one of all.

     I opened my mouth so she could feed me a strawberry with tons of whipped cream on it. It got all over my face, but she sort of kissed it off.

     It was probably a couple of hours later when I finally started back. I was in a pleasant dreamy stupor. What a night! I’d never had any problems with girls but the idea that three such gorgeous women would be so fascinated with me—well, it was way beyond cool. They seemed to want to know all the details of my boring little life. Between their sweet caresses and all that yummy food…who was I to deny them what they seemed to find so interesting?

     I wondered around for a while before I realized I was lost. When had I left the path? I didn’t really remember. My vision was doing something weird too—it was like the trees were breathing and the air shimmering.

     “Stupid,” I muttered out loud, looking around, trying to get my bearings. I turned on the flashlight because it seemed suddenly darker. I was feeling a little strange, kind of fuzzy. My stomach was beginning to hurt too from eating so much and suddenly, I was really, really tired. What time was it anyway? I kept going until I finally couldn’t walk anymore and sank to the ground.

I felt like an idiot. Worse, I was beginning to suspect that I had been played. What all had I told those Faeries anyway? Why were they so interested? And what were Faeries doing in the woods right outside the Elves castle?

Orla...

     Groaning, I sank lower and lower until I was lying flat on the ground. I looked up at the stars and saw that they were getting dimmer. Daylight wasn’t far off. I could only hope someone would eventually miss me and come to find me because I wasn’t going anywhere. The cramps were getting so bad that I writhed in agony. 

     As I lay there panting from the pain, I thought about how I’d gotten into my fair share of trouble and gotten punished for it—but I’d always survived. Now, I had a bad feeling that maybe I’d really messed up. There had to be poison involved. No simple dessert should make me feel this way, no matter if I had pigged out and eaten too much. Just thinking of all those sweets now made me vomit and I retched, over and over.

     “I’m sorry, Kate,” I whispered. She might save one brother but I was pretty sure she was gonna lose this one.

What an idiot I was…

So many regrets…

Memories of home and family filled my head. Even the idea of being the Oracle that had scared the crap out of me sounded good…

I felt revulsion for the Faeries who would destroy this beautiful country, who had destroyed me…

Please, I begged…just one more chance…

But I could feel the life leaving my body and tears leaked out along with it.

So sorry…