Chapter 39

After Niamh pushed her way through the thick underbrush that bordered the Opari. Quinn followed her. Once inside and under the old-growth trees, the brush thinned out; he stood and got his bearings.

“Hold up for a bit.”

Despite his warning, the mind-speak startled her so much that she jumped three feet straight up and spun around ready to run back the way they came.

Despite the seriousness of their quest, he grinned an inner grin but carefully held his face blank as she gave him another of her looks that spoke volumes.

“Jerk.”

She sat and waited as he centered himself into the proper mindfulness. One did not travel the Opari heedlessly.

“Don’t get too far ahead of me, Niamh. This area is safe this close to the border, but further in things will get more dangerous. We’re in a hurry and I’d prefer not to have to fight our way in.”

She nodded wordlessly and started to cast in ever-widening circles and soon picked up the trail.

“The signs show that the girls are stumbling and falling a lot, a sure sign they were under some sort of enchantment.”

Quinn nodded and absently motioned her forward. His attention was snared by the immense magic of the Goddess. He fought his way free, trying to find the perfect balance point between detachment and singularity. Information flowed along the periphery of his consciousness. The problem with navigating the Opari was not too little data, but too much. The wonder of the complexity of life pulled at him. He felt he could sit and watch a single tree for years and still not plumb the depths of its mysteries.

Niamh, meanwhile, continued to track, watching for the signs of passage and senses fully alert to any danger.

Quinn was aware of the watchers that followed their progress. His fingers were constantly busy, signaling greetings to some and warnings to others. He was alert for any newly arrived predators that might not be aware of him and attack. He was determined not to harm any being if he could help it.

Opari gradually changed. At first there were the familiar clean mossy smells of northwest rain forest. Ferns and mosses everywhere. Shade-loving flowering plants like trillium and foxglove. Honeysuckle and Oregon Grape growing out of fallen trees. Gradually, the vegetation changed to a tropical jungle. Greenhouse floral smells. Water dripping everywhere. The further they pressed in, the darker it got. The canopy far overhead blocked out much of the light. The sounds changed as well. A cacophony of animal and bird sounds mixed with the hum of a billion insects.

“I don’t like this place. It’s growing more oppressive. I hate the feeling of being watched. How can you be so fucking relaxed?” Niamh’s ears were flat with apprehension.

“You’re picking up a subsonic warning song from a Dryad Clan,” Quinn said. “Probably from the big bamboo grove over there. They don’t like visitors. Their song has an odd beauty, but I admit it is an acquired taste. We’ll be past them soon.”

They continued that way for three hours, with Quinn occasionally stopping her and leading her in a large circle around whatever danger lay just ahead. Once it was to avoid a boggle band on the hunt. Another to avoid a grove of fruit trees covered in thousands of palm sized spiders.

“How far have we come?”

“We’ve come three or so hours. You measure travel here in hours, not distance. Opari has an alien topography. Distance-wise we’ve traveled maybe a half a continent or more. You can see the change in foliage. If you get off the trails, you can get lost in a time loop. It happened to me a couple of times. It wasn’t good.

“I don’t think I want to hear any more interesting factoids, “ Niamh shuddered.

“Hold on a minute. There is no reason for them to be traveling this way and they certainly didn’t need to bring Charlie along with them. This must be the Faerie seizing the moment for some entertainment—and I’m afraid Charlie is the subject.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Faerie-kind entertain themselves with trickery. They sup on emotions. They store and share memories of the dark ones like desperation, despair and death to sip on like a fine wine during the long boring nights of immortality.”

“He knows we will be following. He’s looking for a place to kill Charlie while we watch.”

They pushed on, trying for as much speed as they could while keeping the trail in sight.

They found her a half hour later. They pushed through some thick brush and stepped out onto a beach of sorts bordering an inland sea. A small island lay forty or so meters from shore.

Charlie was seated by a tree with knees drawn up to her chest. She looked lost, lonely and terrified—but she was still alive.

The island was connected to the shore by a massive fallen tree.

Niamh jumped onto the tree preparing to cross over to the little girl.

“Hold up,” Quinn ordered, “that tree is an illusion that will dump you into the water halfway there and you wouldn’t like what would happen to you afterward.”

She obeyed and padded silently over to where he stood. He couldn’t take his eyes off Charlie. The thought of failing to get to her paralyzed him utterly. He had no solution that didn’t look like a failure. The Faerie had boxed them neatly.

“What’s wrong. Just swim across and get her. It’s only thirty forty yards away.”

“This place is deadly. Undines dwell here. I came through here once before I was thirsty and stopped here for a quick drink. A mistake. Four of them lunged out of the water like Nile Crocodiles and pulled me in and drowned me. The Troll Women fished me out before they could eat me. Very unpleasant experience. Everything here is an illusion; like the log, the distance to the island is an illusion.

“Okay, well get your head out of your ass and think. There is always a way. You are the fucking Keeper for the Mother’s sake.”

Quinn looked at her silently for five or six beats, then walked to the water’s edge and slapped the surface of the beautiful clear green water three times.

Four humanoid creatures surfaced and swam to where he stood. They were female, five foot long tall with bone white skin Their hair was moss green and hung short of pointed elflike ears. Gill slits lined their throat. Huge yellow eyes watched him warily. Quinn thought they didn’t look too far from the popular conception of mermaids, except for formidable shark-like triangular teeth.