Faery Fire

            That late Spring afternoon in North America wasn’t quite as beautiful or golden as that morning in the Faery World, but it was still one of the best I’ve experienced. It was warm, but not too warm, and the weather was my favorite: blue sky decorated with fluffy white and silver clouds. 
            After asking stupid questions such as “Really?” and “Are you sure?” Ciaran finally believed me, and smiled back at me with such relief that he forgot to concentrate on his disguise and changed back into his normal form again as he hugged me tightly. It was a wonderful, long hug, but not ideal by any means. Neither of us smelled very great and were dirty and scratched up from traveling.

“How can you forgive me so easily?” he asked.

I laughed at him. “Because I like you.”

“Still? How can you?”

“Apparently you are hard to get over.”

The cheesiness of these words is of no consequence in the end, but as Ciaran rubbed his nose against mine and then kissed me, it dawned on me that some things... Some things are timeless.

            I saw that Ciaran's disguise was gone and laughed. “I thought you said you were good at spells that trick humans.”
            “Well, I would be if you'd stop distracting me.” he retorted, blushing a little. He changed back and held out his hand.
            I took it and started skipping towards the small town that turned out to be in the state of Washington. It was a resort town near Mt Baker. The prices were high, but at that point I'd have spent my entire month's rent just to use a real bathroom and a shower. I only got the bathroom, but it helped. We bought some camping supplies and food at the grocery store there. Ciaran wanted to splurge on junk food.

           "No, we don't need a dozen doughnuts." I told him.

           "But I like doughnuts!" His eyes turned sad, like a puppy’s.

           "Don't give me that face. We need more practical things, like trail mix. Besides, what would we do with the box afterwards?”  I started to move away from the bakery aisle, eyes on the list.

           “It’s biodegradable. Pleeeeeease.” he begged, throwing off my balance by tugging on my arm.

“What are you, five?” I laughed. “I don't have enough money to buy muffins, cookies, and doughnuts."

“I could get us a discount.”

My eyes narrowed. “How?”

“It’s easy. Just turn on the old charm, and... free food!”

“That’s not honest!”

“Well, no. But just my being here isn’t honest either.”

“You are not going to trick anyone.” I said firmly, pushing the cart into the long checkout line.

“Fine.” he retorted, and pulled me toward him, so my back was against his chest. I didn’t mind. We stood that way while we waited for the line to shrink.

“Nom.” Ciaran nipped at my ear. I laughed.

            It was the best date I’d had in years. Before we left, I used an ancient pay phone to call Megan and tell her that I was okay. I made some excuse about how it was a random trip that I forgot to tell anyone about. She didn't answer, so I left a message. It was pretty incoherent, since I'm not a good liar, but oh well.
            “Argh, why didn’t we take the horses?” I grumbled on the way back. Even with Ciaran’s help, the bags were heavy. “This could have been so much easier!”

            “I’d use magic if I could!” he apologized. “Jinge told me to use as little as possible.”

            “You wouldn’t have to disguise them. They look like ordinary horses to me, and besides, they’re so dirty I’ll bet you no one would have noticed!”            We climbed up the hill back toward the camp where Jinge and Donal were supposed to be waiting, and heard sounds of perturbed horses and fighting. Ciaran motioned for me to quietly put down the grocery bags and to follow him. We tried to be both stealthy and fast and hid behind some bushes for cover. Near the horses, we saw it was just Jinge and Donal sparring -- except it was more like Jinge attacking and Donal dodging for his life. Jinge had a long, curved sword that I hadn’t seen him carrying before, and poor Donal was only scrambling for any weapon he could find. I thought that Donal had finally made Jinge snap, and moved to break it up, but Ciaran stopped me.
            “This isn’t fair!” Donal yelped, throwing a rock that missed Jinge entirely. “Jinge! At least let me get a sword first!”
            “Your think your fight against Brand will be fair?” Jinge all but chased him up a tree.
            “Better than this!” Donal climbed up the pine tree like a squirrel. “I thought I was supposed to surprise him!”
            “Don’t be naive!” Jinge told him sharply. “There are no guarantees.” he sliced through the tree’s trunk (it was about ten inches in diameter) with a single sweep. The tree came crashing down. Donal jumped from it before it hit the ground and rolled.  

“There is nothing that will stop him. You cannot rely on anyone to save you.” Jinge cut away a few branches in between him and Donal. The boy tried to use a broken branch to swing back at him, but the huge half-goblin sliced through that as well.

            “No one is going to stop him from hurting you.” Jinge continued, his voice hard. “No one is going to help you! Not your mother, your father, or anyone who ever knew you!” He brought his sword down on Donal, but the boy lifted up his arm to block it, and it clanged off of some invisible shield.
            “Stop!” Donal scrambled to stand up again. “Why would you say that?”
            “Because it’s the truth.” Jinge said, not dropping his stance. “If you do not learn to fight, you will die.”
            Donal’s face hardened. “Are you going to kill me to prove that?”
            “If I have to. I’ll rid the two worlds of a weak king.”
            A sword formed in Donal’s hand, out of thin air. He charged at Jinge, and was knocked away, flying for a few feet. The boy shook his head and raised his sword again, this time, waiting for an attack. Jinge ran towards him, and Donal ducked under his sword and thrusted from the side. This was blocked quickly, but the fight grew more intense than it had been before, which I hadn’t thought possible.
            Donal was fast, but not nearly strong enough to compete with his opponent’s strength. He got thrown around a few more times, until at last Jinge threw him against the ground, and he lay there, winded.
            Jinge stood over him, shaking his head slowly and keeping the tip of his sword at Donal’s throat. “Better, but not good enough.”
            Donal opened his eyes. The sword Jinge was holding suddenly caught blue fire all the way up to the hilt. Jinge dropped it.  As he did, Donal jumped up, grabbed the flaming sword, and swung it at his bodyguard. Each blow that made contact spread the fire further. Jinge dropped and rolled away, trying to put out the flames. Donal stopped and lowered the sword. The flames went out.
            Jinge sat up. His clothes were still smoking and burnt, but his skin appeared to be fine. He smiled, showing white teeth.
            “That will do for now, my king.”