The Fallen Prince

My legs are braced apart and my fists are up, ready to fight for Kera. But the girl I love, the girl I need more than my next breath, isn’t here. I instinctually try to sense her, and I barely feel her even though she’s crying out. That worries me.

The bedroom is dark except for a soft light coming from my bedside lamp. Leo glances up from his book The Color of Science. “That’s three times you’ve been knocked out in as many days. It’s common knowledge the brain can only handle so many concussions. You need to slow down, or at least get a new game plan before you end up with only half your brain functioning.”

The clock reads 5:00 a.m. My heart is pounding in my chest and my breathing grunts past my throat. Something weird is going on. “Were you just reading out loud?”

He smiles and places the book on the bedside table. “Your grandpa is one tough old man.”

My fists slowly drop, and I finger my jaw. I have to agree. The place is tender. Probably bruised. “What’re you doing here?”

“Babysitting while they ‘figure things out.’ I’m responsible. Everyone knows that. You snore, by the way.”

“They don’t trust me?”

He stands and shrugs his shoulders. “Nope.”

“Smart.” I take a good long look at him. Nothing odd about his appearance. His hair is as messy as it’s always been, but something about him is different. I can’t place it.

He cracks his knuckles, a motion that’s awkward. Does he feel the weird tension in the room, too? “Bro, are you going to be a problem?” he asks.

So that’s it. He thinks I’m going to bolt. I am as soon as I can figure out a way to safely, and quietly, tie him up.

I echo his shrug and step forward. “No problem. Not if you get out of my way.”

He takes a step forward. “I can’t let you go.”

I step forward again, nudging at his space; my torso flexes, ready. He may be taller, but I win the muscle contest...and the weird power thing. “You don’t have a choice.”

“At least not by yourself. If you’re going, I’m going.”

Um, okay, huh? All my aggression suddenly dies out. “You want to come along? Why?”

“Because. I’ve got your back.”

Prickles of “been here, done this” race along my skin. “What?”

Leo slaps my shoulder good-naturedly. “I know I freaked when that thing showed up. Two monsters in close succession. That’s trippy. But I won’t anymore. Besides, I’ve been to Teag. I know what to expect. And you need me.”

Ah, hell no. He’s not going all best buddy on me now, is he? I like him, but he’s done enough. I shrug out of his hand. “Don’t take this wrong, but you’re a liability. You’re breakable. You’ve got no defenses whatsoever. You’re a dead man walking in that place. It’s only a matter of time.”

“I see where you’re coming from. Fair enough. I would’ve agreed with you yesterday, but now…” A smile splits his lips, flashing a wide, neat swath of laser-white teeth.

A something-is-definitely-wrong-with-this-picture feeling skitters up my back. “What’s changed?”

“Bodog’s waiting for you by the wall. I’ll meet you on the other side.”

With that, Leo disappears. Not a normal, walk to the door and leave kind of disappear, but a seriously abnormal one-second-you’re-there-and-the-next-you’re-not kind of wizardly disappearance.

I twist around, eying the bareness that is now my room in search of the tall, lanky dude. “Leo?”

No answer. Am I still dreaming? There’s the scent of bubble gum in the air. Leo wasn’t chewing bubble gum. I pinch my skin. A twinge of pain answers. Nope. I’m awake.

I’m totally freaked now. Leo isn’t like me. He’s normal. A human. There is no way he should be able to do that. I’m pretty sure I can’t do that. “Leo? Leo?”

I take stock of what I have on hand. Someone, probably Grandpa, stashed my sword in my closet. I take it and strap it on. Too much weirdness is starting to happen again.

Once my sword is secure, I go to the window. Fireflies swim in the air. One bumps into the windowpane and a small face reveals the truth. Pux.

Did Leo know they were out here? No way would he willingly go outside if he saw them.

I grab the sides of the windowsill and place my forehead against the cool glass, rolling my head back and forth, thinking. How did he just disappear? It’s blowing my mind.

He said he’d meet me in Teag. First the dream about Jason. Then Kera’s gone, and now Leo vanishes like a snow cone on a hot day. Someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to make sure I’d want to return to the first realm. “Okay, you win. Whoever you are, I’m coming.”

A dozen pux now hover outside at eye level. One turns and moons me. The others bend over laughing. Disrespectful little jerks. I’d be more than happy to smoosh them like the glorified bugs they are.

One lands on the sill and tries to open the window. I flick the glass and startle him off. I’ve got to leave, but I can’t, not with the pux waiting for a chance to play dirty. Grandma will have a fit if they tear through her house.

Oregon being Oregon, dark clouds have gathered and rain is imminent. An idea forms.

With a quick snap, I detach my pillow from its case and throw open the window. The pux scatter, twinkling like little fallen stars, alluringly innocent for those who don’t know better. I vault outside and push the window down tight so the little devils can’t get in. The buzz of their swarming softens as they hover, waiting to see what I do. Waiting for a chance to attack.

I’m not into waiting. I call on the energy stored in the heavy clouds overhead, and a sliver of lightning zips down and pops a pux. A sharp squeal, and steam rises from its little body before it drops to the ground like a rock.

Oops. I think I might have hit it a little too hard.

Oh well. Live and learn. Bending, I pick it up, see it twitch, hear it moan. It’s alive.

I drop it into the pillowcase and straighten. Cocking my right eyebrow, I throw the rest of the evil fireflies a wicked smile a la Jack Nicholson in The Shining. “That’s right, you little stinkbugs. I’m playing for keeps now. No joke.”

Panic infects the group. Their wings begin to buzz. I call on more lightning, spreading it into a network of power that stuns—instead of crispifies—dozens at a time. I walk forward, scooping them up as I do and dropping them into the pillowcase.

The process takes less than four minutes. After the last one is zapped and stowed away, I tie the pillowcase shut, sling it over my shoulder and head for the woods to find Bodog. If he knows where Kera is, then I’ll be his best friend forever.

The trees expand as my world shifts, like it always does when I enter the woods. Nature nourishes me almost as much as food. Before I knew who and what I was, I lived a half life, unsure of my place, until Kera showed me my true self.

As I go deeper into the woods, my legs stretch, making me faster than any human. Bushes and trees bend out of my way and snap back into place once I pass. The gateway to the first realm lies a couple yards ahead…and then I trip—seriously face-plant it in the ground. The bag full of pux flies out of my hands and snags on a far branch. Their buzz grows. The bag splits and they spill out like drunken ants.

My mind clouds. A queasy sensation has me feeling green. Rolling onto my back, I wrap my arms around my stomach and squint up through the trees. What hit me?

Tilting my head, I see the iron sculptures poking here and there among the trees. Groaning, I dig my heels into the earth and slowly inch myself back the way I came.

I’m an idiot! How could I forget Grandma clustering her iron sculptures at the main entrance between the two realms to keep the firsts out? The iron’s poison is ripping me a nasty headache and leaching all my power.

As I painfully scoot across the forest floor, a face materializes over me. Bodog prods me with a long stick. A staff of sorts. “Why lie here? We must go.”