Into the Land of Valentia

Chapter the Twenty-First

XXI

Something was dripping rhythmically. 

The sound had no distinct beginning. Vivica had been immersed in the thoughts of her own grief, but slowly the steady plopping of liquid broke through her concentration. She lifted her head and was met with total blackness. Her eyes were swollen from crying, which was likely to blur her vision, yet she did not believe this was why she found herself unable to see anything.

She raised a hand and waved it to and fro. She could not even see her own limb through the impenetrable gloom. Either there was no light to be found, or the magus had taken her vision.

Her head tipped back and she allowed another tear to fall.

"She is quite a pitiful sight."

Vivica's head snapped back up. "Who's there?" 

"We do not take them if they are not." 

"Very true."

"More grief that way."

The response was a giggle.

Vivica struggled to her feet, lurching about uncertainly. She recognized that giggle. It was the same one she had heard in the forest before she had been transported towards James. These had to be fairies. She was certain.

Her hand reached over her shoulder reflexively, searching for an arrow from her quiver. Instead, she grasped at air. Her heart squeezed. 

"You cannot just jump into a lake and expect your quiver to hold on for the ride," one of the voices scolded.

"She does not have her bow anyway. Silly girl."

Twisting her head from left to right, Vivica tried to pinpoint where the fairies were standing. Their voices kept coming from different locations, but she could tell there were only two of them. "I didn't jump," she accused. 

"I suppose we did pull you in a little," the fairy who had giggled said with a sigh. 

"You dragged me down and then made me watch as—" Vivica infused as much fire into her tone as she could, but then tripped over something and tumbled backwards. She landed hard on her butt. "Oof!"

She heard a giggle. "I suppose we should allow a little light for you."

Then the magus had not taken her sight. Vivica waited for the area she was in to be lit. She was taken aback when a small glow began to grow close to her face. She drew closer, curious. It looked like globe of water infused with fire. The flame swirled within a slowly expanding orb. The orb grew to about the size of her palm and bobbed around in the air near her knees. Within its light, she could see that she had tripped over the remains of a tree stump. Sprawled on thick green grass that looked nothing like the snow coated clearing by Mirror Lake, Vivica could not even guess at where she was.

"Would that be better for you, then?"

Vivica scowled up at the speaker. "What would be better is if you let me—" For the second time, she was cut off mid-sentence, this time by herself. Never before had she seen a fairy. Few people had. 

They were small. 

This was her first thought. Most fairies only grew to be about fifteen centimetres tall, and these ones were no exception. They flitted in the air a few feet in front of her face, wearing twin expressions of pensiveness. Fairies had the ability to become taller—which they called the Gift, and received on their twenty-fifth year—as well as anything else they desired. Otherwise, it was purported their magic didn't work on themselves. Which was why they enjoyed using it on humans as much as they did.