Faytes of the Otherworld: Fayted

The next day was quiet. The sky was a bit overcast, causing the late summer weather to feel a bit cooler. Dani spent most of her morning hiding in the tent, attempting to catch up on the sleep lost over the past seven years.

Nissa came and went a few times. Dani would periodically wake to see her entering with something, food probably, and then she would be off again. She figured the cat-like fae was enjoying the freedom.

By her wrist watch, it was just after four when a rustling outside of the tent woke her. She sat up abruptly and scrambled for the entrance, but by the time she poked her head out, there was no one. Another box, smaller than the last, was tucked under the tent flap. Dani toted it inside and removed the lid. Inside was an apple, a pasty, and a bottle of water. Next to the food was something wrapped in a worn piece of cloth, possibly once a shirt. Dani lifted it from the box and gently unfolded the flannel: it was a dog-eared copy of The Hobbit and with that perfect old book smell.

It had always been one of her favourites; she had a love for all fantasy stories.

Dani immediately opened the book and started on Chapter One while mindlessly munching away on her pasty of leftover chicken, carrots, and potatoes.

She had finally finished the last bite of her apple and was working on Chapter Eight when Nissa poked her head in the tent.

“Hello, darling; just checking on you.” Nissa circled the box before hopping onto her hind legs to peer inside.

“More room service? Well, aren’t you getting the Queen’s treatment.” Nissa read the back of Dani’s book. “And a book too?”

“One of my favourites.” Dani’s eyes appeared above the book pages, swirling with joy. Nissa knew how much she loved to read and how little she got to do so.

“Not going to question where they came from?” Nissa licked at the pasty leftovers on Dani’s plate.

“I don’t need to. They’re from Evan.” Dani flipped to the next page.

“Oh, yeah?” Nissa threw up a furry brow.

“He’s who left me food last night.” She replied, folding down the corner of the page she was on.

“Isn’t he a sweet one.” Nissa was now nibbling at the apple core.

“It’s almost time for dinner, you know. I heard some people talking about it down near the big cottage.” Nissa made small talk.

Dani had completely lost track of time while reading.

“Are you going to come eat with me?” She asked, switching out the shirt she had on for something slightly cleaner.

“Mmm, I don’t think anyone wants a cat running ’round while they’re trying to eat. Bring me back something?” Nissa stretched out on her scarves and closed her eyes.

“Of course.” Dani dipped out and went to satisfy the ache she still had in her belly.

(*)

Dani hung back from everyone in the mess hall and opted for eating underneath a rain safe awning. She watched everybody at a distance: standing in line for food, chatting with one another at their tables, milling around with tankards of what she assumed was mead.

Time stood still here; no one seemed to be outwardly bothered by the state their world was in. For a fraction of a second Dani felt peace, until Liam came sidling over to where she was eating.

“Good evening, Dani. I hope you slept well.” He was smiling, but she knew there was more going on behind that pearly grin than small talk.

“I did, thank you.” She popped a grape into her mouth.

“Could we talk for a bit; after dinner, of course. I have more that I would like to ask you.” Liam placed his hands flat on her table.

“Sure,” Dani spoke without thinking. No would have been a better answer, but she didn’t want to be rude more than she already had been.

“Right. See you at nightfall then.” Liam nodded at her and trod off back to his cabin. Dani breathed a momentary sigh of relief before going back to her meal.

Laughter from a few tables over caught her attention. Anessa was laying on one of the benches, her head in Evan’s lap. He was gesturing wildly with his hands while Pete pantomimed part of the story across the table. They looked like they were having fun, and she longed for that type of companionship. Nissa was one thing, but Dani had never really had much in the way of human friends.

As if she were boring a hole in the back of his head, Evan turned as Pete and Anessa were overthrown with a fit of laughter, and caught Dani’s eye. She quickly averted her gaze and before he had a chance to tell everyone that he would be right back, she was gone.

(*)

“Liam wants to talk to me, Nissa.” Night had almost fallen and Dani was still sitting inside her tent, worrying about something that might have been nothing.

“I know. You’re fine. Do you really think it’s going to be that big of a deal?” Nissa was at the edge of the tent, listening to the fiddle playing once again.

“It might be. I really don’t want to uproot again; we should have never stayed.” Dani shook her head before crawling to the entrance of the tent.

“I’ll try not to be long. Prepare to leave when I come back.” she dropped the flap as Nissa hollered, “You’ll be FINE!”

(*)

“Come in.” Liam’s voice reverberated through the cottage door. Dani cracked it open and stepped inside.

“Ah—Dani.” He set a book down that he had been reading and stood up to guide her over to a chair.

She was quiet as she took a seat and placed her hands in her lap.

“Why do you look so nervous?” Liam took his seat across from her.

“I’m not nervous.” She fibbed. Dani tried to calm herself down by steadying her breathing.

“I just want to ask you some more about the Fae.” Liam took out a pen and a notebook, ready to take notes.

“You saw my sketchbook; I told you most of what I know has been from experience.” Dani tried to curb the questions.

“Exactly: experience. I saw you, Dani. Angus up in the west tower told me about how you leapt off a nine-meter tall wall with nary a scratch. I saw you combat that troll; I saw you drive something into its neck, yet you had no weapons. And then I saw it again when you were fighting the Gnashe—er, goblins. You had weapons made of crystal.” Liam came at her with everything she had hoped he wouldn’t.

“Amethyst, actually.” Dani corrected him, quickly wanting to take it back.

“Where did they come from?” Liam focused all of his attention on her.

“Crystals come from the ground.” She tried to avoid the question.

“But where did you get them? They were over half a meter in length; you can’t expect me to believe that you had them on your person.” Liam suggested that her size would have made that impossible.

Dani was trapped. Usually, she was quick at coming up with a story or getting herself out of a tight spot, but at this moment she was at a loss for words. She felt the panic rising in her throat, and she swallowed hard.

“I—I—they are a part of me.” She sputtered.

“How are they a part of you?” Liam didn’t quite understand.

“They just are. It’s a gift I guess; from the Earth.” She was slowly starting to release more information; there was no getting out of this now.

“And what about everything else?” Liam tried to tell himself that this wasn’t as far-fetched as it seemed; they were dealing with faeries after all.

“I don’t know. I’m stronger than most, more flexible, agile…maybe smarter. There are things I can do no woman my size should be able to do.” Dani felt that she needed to be honest; not just with Liam, but with herself. She still wasn’t quite sure if she was fae, though it seemed that way.

“Show me.” Liam nodded, coming to sit closer to her. He propped his elbow up on the table and cupped his hand.

“You want to arm wrestle me?” Dani laughed in surprise.

“You said you were strong—prove it.” Liam wiggled his fingers.

Dani rolled her eyes and mimicked him, propping her elbow up on the table. Flexing her fingers, she placed her hand in Liam’s. It was warm, soft; she wondered if she should go easy on him. No, then she would just look like a fool.

“Ready?” She lifted her brow in anticipation.

“Go,” Liam called, but he didn’t have a chance. His arm flexed to push, but Dani had already put him down.

“I wasn’t ready,” Liam told himself that he didn’t have his bearings.

“Alright. On three: one, two—three!” Dani barked. Liam flexed, but she put him down once more.

“That’s not possible.” Liam pulled his hand from hers and wiggled his fingers.

“Best three out of five? I’ll even give you a head start.” Dani still had her hand at the ready.

“Three out of five.” Liam replaced his hand, ready to finally defeat her. He must have been subconsciously going easy on the small woman.

Dani gave the cue to go and let Liam push first. She let her arm slack but still kept her grip as he strained to push her hand towards the table. She was a few inches away from the surface before she used her full strength, slamming Liam’s hand hard into the table.

“Oh!” Dani’s hands flew to her mouth. Liam’s knuckles were bleeding as he stared down at his hand.

“How in the world?” He just shook his head, dumbfounded.

“I told you; I don’t know.” Dani just shook her head too.

Liam narrowed his eyes at her. Something was off about Dani; he knew it. This wasn’t normal, and the only other “humans” he had ever encountered with similar qualities were one of them.

“Who are you, Dani?” Liam now loomed over her.

“I’m Dani. Born and raised in London, England. My birthday is in October. I’m a Scorpio.” Dani just rambled—she had been caught.

“Are you—are you one of them?” Liam’s face was now closer to hers than she had ever wanted it to be.

Without thinking, Dani slid her chair back and darted for the door, bursting through it so quickly that Liam didn’t have any time to stop her.

(*)

“We’re leaving; NOW!” Dani ripped through the tent flap and began stuffing the scarves that Nissa was laying on in her bag.

“Whooooa, wait.” Nissa drew out her words as she rolled to a halt by the stone heater.

“He knows. Liam knows. I won at arm wrestling, THREE times.” Dani held up her fingers before rolling one of the blankets tight and cramming it in her rucksack.

“Congratulations?” Nissa was circling through Dani’s feet as she shoved her dirty shirt from earlier into the front pocket of her bag.

“I crushed him, Niss! But what started it was him confronting me about my special talents.” Dani slung her rucksack over her shoulder and exited the tent.

“Slow down, Dani. Where are you going?” Nissa trod as fast as she could behind her, trying to keep up.

“We are leaving. Liam knows. Evan has to know. I thought Liam was going to throttle me when he asked me who I really was. He thinks I am one of them.” Dani’s voice came out in short breaths as she picked up speed. Her legs may have been short, but she was ridiculously quick.

“So, what if you are?” Nissa slowed as Dani came to a halt in front of the castle walls and began to scale the stone.

She stopped mid-climb to look down at Nissa.

“We’re not all bad. I’m fae too, remember? We’ve been friends for years.” Nissa put her front paws up on the wall.

“You’re different,” Dani whispered.

“And so are you.” Nissa leapt up onto her shoulder, “But wherever you go, I go.”

Dani agilely scaled the wall to the top and dropped off on the other side. Despite the brightening moon, the long grasses of the field looked ominous.

She began to walk briskly through the brush, determined to go nowhere.

“You don’t have to do this, Dani. We can still go back. They didn’t say you had to leave.” Nissa was still hoping she could change her mind.

“But they will. Either that or they’ll kill us. You saw that one man shoot at you when you were trying to seek shelter; they aren’t green to this, Niss.” Dani started to pick up speed.

“They weren’t shooting at me; they were shooting at the troll. Protecting people like they wanted to protect us.” Nissa pushed the subject.

Dani stopped abruptly, “They want to protect humans, Nissa, not us. We aren’t human; we’re what they fear.” She shrugged Nissa off her shoulder and dropped her bag by a cluster of trees.

“What are you doing?” Nissa recognized that fire in Dani’s eyes.

“De-stressing.” Dani put her hands to her mouth and began to make weird whooping noises.

“Dani, no!” Nissa hissed, “Don’t call them!”