Chapter 1

Valencia knew from a very early age that she had the sight. The second sight, the vision, whatever you want to call it. She knew that she could see things that others could not. One of her earliest memories was of her grandmother’s funeral, when she had just been three or four years old. She watched the tired ghost of her grandmother wander up and down the aisles, checking out who all came to her own funeral. Valencia finally caught her eye and waved to her and the woman had smiled and winked at her, causing her to giggle.

Valencia spent hours in her back yard, watching the fairies, gnomes, sprites and goblins that moved through the property. Once, a dragon had even flown over, leaving a trail of smoke. The magic folk usually had no idea she could see them, and she learned to let them think that or they behaved differently. When she was a child she had tried to talk to them but hardly any of them would ever speak to a mortal.

Once she pretended to read a book as she watched a goblin make love to a fairy for an hour or more. When they had finished, the goblin walked away smiling as the fairy dressed and re-arranged her clothing, humming softly to herself.

“What were you guys doing?” Valencia had asked her. The fairy ignored her at first but Valencia had asked again, leaning down towards her, making it plain who she was speaking to.

“Are you talkin’ to me?” the fairy asked, surprised. “Can you see me?”

“Yes. I just wondered what you were doing with that little man,” Valencia had answered. The fairy shook her head in surprise.

“Child, if you have to ask, you don’t need to know,” the fairy finally said, and disappeared in a green streak. Valencia knew how fast the magic folk could be when they moved. She went back to her book, disappointed. She had really wondered what they had been doing. And that man, he had that funny ... thing ... sticking out ... whatever had that been all about? The fairy girl did seem to enjoy herself at least...

Another flash happened, and a new fairy stood before her. Valencia knew in an instant that this was the queen of the fairies. She’d never seen the woman before, but she knew. The queen carried herself regally, like someone used to power. Like someone used to having her way.

“Your majesty...” Valencia said, or something close, in that magical language that only children can speak. She bowed to the woman. She would have curtseyed but she didn’t know how. The queen regarded her with surprise, just like the other fairy had.

“Goodness...” the queen said. “Are you a changeling, child?”

“No...” said Valencia, understanding what the woman had meant. “I’m a bridge, a go-between...” Somehow she knew that also, without ever being told.

“I see,” said the queen. “I have heard of such a thing, but never seen one. What do you see of our world? Everything?”

“Uh...” said Valencia, confused, wondering how to answer. “I guess so ... I see dragons and warriors and goblins and fairies and ... uhm ... devil things...”

“Yes. Interesting,” said the queen. “Well, we will have to keep an eye on you, child!”

That was it, pretty much. The queen disappeared, after giving Valencia a flower and a wink. She tucked the flower behind her ear, feeling it’s magic flow down over her body. That night she put it in a vase in her room, and watered it. She knew instinctively it really needed tears instead of water, and she was careful to cry on it occasionally so it didn’t dry up. That had been over five years ago, and the flower still sat on her desk in her room, as beautiful as the day she’d gotten it. Her mother had never seemed to notice it.

Valencia was nine years old, now. She was a very precocious child, very smart and clever. She kept to herself mostly, she had friends at school, but she was a loner. She lived an odd life, halfway between two worlds, seeing both yet belonging to neither. Valencia was an odd combination of grown-up and little girl. The things she saw in the fairy world expanded her mind and matured her for her age.

The fairy she’d spoken to, the girl she’d seen making out with the goblin, had befriended her. Friendships between fairies and mortals were rare and sometimes did not end well, but this one was special. The fairy, Exeleculpa, was still young, for a fairy. Valencia amused her, and the two had grown close. Ex lived in a tree by a creek near Valencia’s house, and they saw each other every day.

One day they were sitting on the bank of the creek, talking.

“Ex...” said Valencia. “What happened to my grandmother? How come I saw her just that one time?”

“Well...” said Ex. She loved Valencia’s questions. And she almost always told the girl the truth, which was also rare for a fairy. “Val. It’s different for mortals. They stay in the spirit world for a few days or weeks, I guess to get used to being dead or something, and then they go off to their version of heaven or hell. We, us fairies, can’t go there even to just look.”

“Oh.” Valencia thought for a while. “So there’s no way I can see her again?”

“Not that I know of.” Ex said. “The gatekeeper is strong, and harsh. I tried to peek once and I got my tail singed good. It burned for a month or more.”

“Ex. Where do fairies go when they die, then?”

Exeleculpa laughed out loud at that one.

“Silly!” She grabbed Val’s hands with her little ones and spun the girl around. “Fairies don’t die! You should know that!”

Ex was right, sort of. Fairies didn’t die of old age. But they could be killed, if the magic was strong enough. One day Exeleculpa wasn’t home, and Valencia missed her terribly. At the end of three days she was beside herself. She wondered if she’d offended the girl, or somehow drove her away. The next morning she raced to the tree Ex lived in, and there the girl was. She looked terrible, though. Her normal deep rich green was a light pastel shade. Her wings drooped, and she had an uncharacteristic frown on her face, at least until she saw Valencia. Then she smiled and flew into Valencia’s arms and they hugged.

“Oh, Ex...” Valencia said, choking up. “I thought I’d lost you...”

“I’m sorry, darling ... I had to go away ... something terrible happened and I had to make a journey ... I missed you horribly...”

“Oh, Ex ... I missed you too ... what happened?”

Ex was silent for a while, weighing in her mind how much to tell the girl. She was a brash impetuous fairy, though, so she just told her everything.

“It was Bradapentareaux, my half-brother. He was making out with a harpy and her mate caught them at it. There was a fight and part of the harpy’s claw broke off and finally burrowed its way to his heart and he died. We had to take him back to the old country and put him in a cave.”

“Ex...” Valencia was thoughtful. “I thought fairies didn’t die.” She felt sad for Bradapentareaux, although she had never met him. She felt saddest for Ex, though.

“Well ... Val ... we don’t die of old age or anything ... but we can be killed ... Brada was the first in over a hundred years, though...”

“Will he come back?”

“I don’t know.” Ex looked puzzled, like the idea had never occurred to her. Valencia knew that some people believed that people came back. She was too young to worry about stuff like that though.

A few days later when Valencia approached Ex’s tree, she could see something was going on beneath it. She stopped behind some tall grass and watched as a goblin pulled himself off of Ex’s slim green body. There was that funny thing again, sprouting from his waist! Ex took it in her mouth for a moment, even. The goblin tucked it back in his pants and walked away, singing. He walked right past Valencia as magic creatures usually did, not realizing she could see him.

Ex had her clothes back on by the time Valencia approached. Valencia giggled at her, and Ex looked a bit nonplussed. “What?” she finally said.

“I saw you and that goblin ... doin’t it...” said Valencia, still giggling.

Ex had the grace to look embarrassed. “Well, he asked so nicely ... and ... and I just can’t say no, I guess. I’m a fairy!”

Ex finally giggled, too.

“Ex,” Valencia decided it was time she learned a little about this. “What were you doing? What is that thing called? That thing sticking out of him?”

Ex did her characteristic pause to think, and then blabbed it all. “Val, that’s his cock. Haven’t you ever seen a boy’s cock in your world?”

“Well, yes ... we call them weenies though ... but I never seen one sticking out like that...”

“Well, it sticks out like that when it’s hard. And it gets hard so he can ... uhm ... Val. You know what fucking is?”

“I ... I know the word ... I know it’s a bad word...”

“In your world, it is, yes. Well ... fucking is when a boy sticks his ... cock ... inside a girl. It feels really good, trust me. Someday it’s all you’ll want to do, if you’re anything like me. Fairies do it, and mortals do it. The whole world, pretty much, revolves around it. Valencia. You are how old, ten?”

“Yes, ten.”

“Trust me, girl, by the time you are fourteen, it’s all you’ll want to do.”

Ex was a little off on her timing. By fourteen Valencia still hadn’t even kissed a boy, much less been fucked by one. She had seen Ex fuck and get fucked more and more often, now that Ex saw no real reason to hide it from her. Exeleculpa was a gurripador, a goblin fucker. Most fairies hated goblins and were disgusted by them. For some reason, probably a childhood experience, Ex loved them or at least loved being fucked by them. By the way, goblins aren’t like the goblins in folk tales, they are not nasty horrible-looking beastly creatures, they are just another form of magic life. They look pretty normal, although their thoughts are quite a bit different than the average fairy. They live underground and like to fight and steal things, from both other magical life and mortals.

Anyway, Ex had a reputation for fucking goblins. Goblins came from all around for a taste of her. And, she was tasty. She was tall, for a fairy, almost four feet tall. Slim and muscular and green as they get. She usually wore a little halter top that she’d made from a scrap of cloth, and often as not went bare down below. Fairies are weird like that. She had some nice boots that a goblin shoemaker had made for her and she was proud of them most of all. She wore a necklace with a single huge diamond on it, as big as a golf ball. She was just an average fairy in other words.

Valencia was, at fourteen, a striking and beautiful girl. She still looked a little little-girlish, and was still a loner. She had a good friend at school, Devonetta, but she had never told her about the fairy world and what she could see of it.

Valencia was beginning to wonder more and more what her part in all this was to be. She felt like there must be some reason that she, and as far as she could tell, only she could see the magical world that existed side by side to our world. She wondered if she was to play a role in something in the future. She wondered if there was a reason for it all.

One day, she was out by Ex’s tree, when the fairy queen paid her a visit again. Ex had been talking, and suddenly her face turned white and she bowed deeply. A stern voice behind Valencia said, “Exeleculpa. Get lost.”

Ex disappeared in a green streak. Valencia turned, and there was the fairy queen, looking royal and important in her silver robes. She regarded the child with what Valencia interpreted as interest, and maybe a slight bit of true warmth. Valencia bowed deeply to the queen. For reasons unknown to herself she wanted more than anything to please the woman.

“Well, well.” The fairy queen said. “We meet again. I have had good reports on you, child. You have behaved well. And you know how to keep your lips sealed.”

Valencia nodded. She was unsure what to say, so she said nothing. The queen continued.

“There are those among my people who believe you are something special. I haven’t made my mind up yet. Valencia ... I must warn you ... there is a battle brewing, in the lands of magic. You must be very careful. Some may try to deceive you and harness your powers for their own nefarious ends. You must be very careful.”

Valencia nodded. She didn’t really understand what the Queen said, but she saved it in her head to think about later and maybe ask Ex about.

“Valencia. I am giving Exeleculpa some authority to assist you and to watch over you for your safety. Please listen to her and do what she says. She will act for me when I am absent. Do you agree to that?”

Valencia nodded her head without having to think about it. She already trusted Ex. She would trust her even more, now.

“Child. If the battle comes here, if fight turns to war, it will be difficult. Wars in the land of magic are never pleasant. And there are some new ... new powers that walk the land. Your name should be Hope, not Valencia. Goodbye, my child. Stay strong.”

The queen vanished, not even leaving a streak behind. Exeleculpa crept back, awe on her face.

“Ex. What was that all about?” Valencia asked.

“I ... I don’t really know. Something is happening back East, that’s all I know. Something bad. A machine has been built, or something. Something that is a threat to us, to the fairy world, and the mortal world.”

“A machine?”

“Now you know as much as I do, darling.” Ex said. “Come on, let’s go down to the creek and try to catch some sharks.”

That night, after she went to bed, Valencia tried something that she’d never done before. She lay in bed, flat on her back, and tried to send her mind out of her body and find out what threatened the magic world. She never really felt like her mind left, but she did seem to feel something dreadful, just over the horizon. She came to with a shiver, and felt cold and alone. She wished Ex was there with her, but Ex hated being indoors. She finally relaxed, and slept.

“Ex?”

“What, child?”

“Could I do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make out. With a goblin.”

Ex laughed. “Sure, if you could find one willing. You are young and cute, you could probably do it. Most goblins don’t like mortals, but you have way more magic than any other mortal ... so you could probably find one who would. You still have that flower?”

“The flower the fairy queen gave me? Yes.”

“Sniff it every night. Make its scent a part of you. Say Praectecnica delphius simmeronimus a hundred times before you go to sleep. Drink a glass of tea with seven sugar cubes, a rose petal and a drop of your urine in it once a week. Taste yourself, your vaginal secretions, every time you masturbate, which should be at least once a day, by the way. And here, wear this beneath your shirt.”

Ex handed Valencia her diamond necklace. It felt huge and clunky to Valencia. She accepted it reluctantly.

“Oh, Ex, I don’t want to take your necklace!” she said. “I know how much it means to you!”

“No, really, it’s no big deal.” Said Ex. “The fairy queen said she’d replace anything that I spent taking care of you. I’ll just get a new one.”

Sure enough, the next day Ex sported a new diamond necklace, even slightly bigger than the one she’d given away. And it was a deep blood red, simply beautiful.

The necklace was a pain, for Valencia. She wasn’t really sure why she was wearing it. Would it help protect her from the threat that was possibly coming? Or was it to simply help her get laid by a goblin? It was huge, it felt as big as a baseball beneath her shirt. And it caused more trouble than anything in her short life had, so far. It almost blew the lid off the whole thing.

Valencia’s father, Ralph, was preparing to go on a business trip. He would rise very early the next morning and leave. That night, as she prepared for bed, he hugged her and told her he would miss her. The diamond pressed painfully into her chest, but she didn’t really think about it.

“What the heck are you wearing?” he said, rubbing his chest. Valencia was seized with fear and her mind raced.

“It’s ... it’s a necklace that Devonetta gave me ... it’s a friendship necklace...”

“Lord, it’s as big as a lump of coal. Don’t fall with that thing on, it’ll crush your windpipe.”

Valencia laughed and that seemed to be the end of it. It wasn’t.

While he was gone, Valencia had a bike wreck. She was going down a steep hillside, and something went wrong. She crashed hard, falling into some bushes and bouncing off a tree. She picked herself up, feeling many aches and pains and one major one in her wrist. She walked her bike home and looked up her mother.

Her mother took one look at her and off they went to the minor emergency clinic. They X-rayed her wrist and cleaned and bandaged her many scrapes. That seemed to be the end of it. Except ... when Valencia had been checked in they made her take off her shirt and put on a paper gown. She had removed the necklace, hidden it in her shirt pocket, and wrapped the shirt around it. She didn’t think of it again, until they got home and her mom was doing the laundry.

“Valencia...” Her mother appeared in the kitchen door. In her hand, hanging from the leather strap, was the diamond. Oh shit, thought Valencia. I’ve done it now. She wished more than ever that Ex hadn’t given it to her. How was she ever going to talk her way out of this one?

“Valencia, dear ... what is this?” her mother said, regarding the diamond as if it were a poisonous snake.

“Mom ... it’s just something that Devonetta gave me ... it’s nothing, really ... it’s called a friendship necklace.”

Her mother just stared at it. Her mother was no stranger to big shiny rocks. Her dad was a jeweler, after all. Her mom knew her way around the jeweler’s bench a little. Her mom had a few diamonds of her own, though none nearly as large as this monster.

“Valencia.” Her mom’s voice was hollow and sounded very far away. “Dear. For real?”

Valencia knew that every little thing she said from here on out would be examined and dissected minutely. She knew she was in trouble. She almost cussed Ex out, mentally. Shit.

“Mom. Okay.” She said. “I found it down by the creek the other day.”

Well, that was close enough to the truth that she might even pass a lie detector test on it. Valencia gritted her teeth, willing her mom to believe her.

“Valencia. I’m going to put this in the safe. I think your father needs to look at it when he gets home.”

Oh shit. Her dad would know, for sure. Her dad would know it was real. And that you don’t just find things like that lying around.

“Mom. It’s just glass or something. I mean, look at it. If it was real, it’d be worth, what? Millions?”

That was her last hope. It didn’t work.

“Yeah. Millions.” Her mom said, heading for the back of the house where the bedroom and the safe were.

“Mom! I’m going outside!” yelled Valencia. She raced down to the creek bank to where Ex lived. Sure enough, Ex was there, underneath yet another goblin. Valencia stopped, not wanting to interrupt them, happy just to find Ex. The goblin finally finished up and Valencia could hear Ex’s grunts and groans as she came. Ex slurped his cock clean and he disappeared into the reeds.

“Hi darling!” Ex said, not the slightest bit embarrassed. Valencia fell all over the other girl.

“Oh, Ex, the most terrible thing has happened. My mom has your necklace, the one you gave to me. She’d going to show it to my dad.”

Ex looked puzzled. “So? Mortals have diamonds too, right?”

“Yes, but not ones like that thing. It’s a monster. And they’ll want to know where I got it.”

“Well, I’ll go in your house tonight and steal it back. Leave the door unlocked. No problem.”

“It’s in the safe. Can you get inside and get it out?”

“Safe? What do you mean, it’s safe?”

“It’s in our safe.”

“What’s a safe?”

“A big steel box with a lock on it.”

“Is there a key?”

“Well, yes, but there’s a combination lock, too.”

“Combination lock?”

Ex seemed to be getting more and more lost. Fairies didn’t do machines well, they didn’t understand them or have any real interest in them.

“Ex. Can’t you just use magic or something?”

“Val, girl, if it’s one of your machines, it will work the same way for me as it does for you. If you can’t get in it then I can’t get in it either.”

“Shit.”

The two sat and talked for a while longer, puzzled by the mess. There was just nothing else to do, Valencia decided. She dreaded the return of her dad.

When her father returned, Valencia was in school. She came home to find both her parents sitting at the kitchen table, the necklace on the table between them. His loupe and some of his other jeweler’s tools were scattered around.

She felt guilty already. She could feel the flush of embarrassment burning up her neck, and she knew they could see it.

“Valencia. This is a very serious matter.” Her father was not his usual jovial self. She thought he almost acted mad at her.

“Valencia. You must tell us where you got this stone. You must tell the truth.”

She assumed her most innocent and honest demeanor. She realized that she needed more practice at it.

“Mom. Dad. Honest. I found it down by the creek.” She had decided to stick to her story. I mean, she thought, I can’t say a magical fairy that only I can see gave it to me.