Read Online Worlds Without End by Caroline Spector - Free Book Online

my neck.
    “I can’t believe you’re using that.” Caimbeul said.
    “Whatever works.”
    “Primrose necklaces to reveal faeries?”
    “Yes.” I said. “And you’d better put yours on. I don’t want to lose you.”
    He snorted.
    “I know it hasn’t occurred to you before, Harlequin.” I said. “But you don’t know everything. Some magic isn’t complex—some is made up of simple things. And sometimes, that’s the most potent magic. Because it’s so obvious that everyone overlooks it.”
    “But I thought this was to allow humans to see faerie.” he said.
    “Oh, come now.” I replied. “How many humans were ever able to see faerie without their permission, help or no? No, this magic is from before human memory.”
    He pulled the necklace from his pocket. It was wilted and droopy. With a sigh, he slipped it over his neck. It hung there limp and pathetic, faded green and pink against his black leather jacket.
    Sucker.
    I hid my smile and went back to following the lights. Every time I thought we were about to catch up, they moved away. This went on until my patience began to wear thin. Then, all at once, we were at the top of a hill.
    A group of oak trees stood to one side, their leaves mostly gone. A circle of toadstools ringed around the trees. Inside the ring, the lights flickered and bobbed about. They melted and changed shape, and eventually I saw what I had come for.
    Dancing around the ring were an assortment of the strange and fearful creatures of faerie. Please, no laughing. I know that in recent times the idea of faerie has come to mean something other, and much more pleasant, than what it really was. But since the Awakening, I suspect that Disney notion has flown out the door.
    For the most part they were dressed in rags or pieces of plants. Their thin, sinewy bodies were pulled and bent into grotesque shapes. With their mouths opened to smile, they revealed rows of sharp, pointed teeth. Some sported wings while others had antennae flowing back from their brows. They all had the pointed ears that we elves share. Giving rise, no doubt, to the rumors that they are our descendants.
    Spriggans danced with leprechauns while fir darrigs tripped the unwary. Goblins and pixies tried to swing each other out of the circle. They whirled and danced and laughed. The shadows they cast flickered and strobed. It was Dante’s vision of Hell.
    One of the dancers broke from the group and ran over to us. It grabbed my hand and pulled me forward.
    “Welcome, mother.” it said. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
    “What of my friend?” I asked.
    “He is of no account right now.”
    We were in the center of the ring. The sharp, wizened faces of the faeries jerked in and out of shadow. I had thought they were much smaller than me at first, but now I saw we were the same height. Or perhaps I was shrinking. Like Alice.
    My feet moved along with the music now. I looked down and saw my jeans and sweater were gone, replaced by a long flowing gown made of silver silk. We spun around and around and suddenly . . .
    * * *
    I am on the deck of a large ship. It floats in the sky. Magic propels it. Magic that brings both good and evil to this world.
    I’m dancing here.
    Dancing with trolls. We sail through the dark night sky, laughing and dancing like children. One of the trolls is old and wizened. He wears a long robe embroidered with patterns. His flesh is wrinkled and thick like an elephant’s. But he is kind. And he is my friend.
    The faces of these trolls flash before me, the memory of them clear and bright as day. I’d thought I’d forgotten them. But no, that was just a story I told myself.
    Now I’m standing on the deck of the ship. It is the afternoon. The ship is in the middle of a battle. The trolls are fighting, but where is my friend? I go to look for him.
    I find him below-deck lying in a pool of blood. He’s broken his leg. I have some knowledge of healing and I try to help him. But I’ve brought more