Ice Magic (Book One of The Courts Of Fae And Witches)

5

|Two months later|

“Come on, Lilace!” Maliki laughed, jumping over a felled tree. Only one month before had she told him her real name, and now he still called her Lilac every so often.

“Coming, Mal!” Lilac said. “Hurry, Oak!” she said, looking behind her. The bear cub grew larger in the past month, at least to the point of a Saint Bernhard.

Oak galloped over to the blonde and kept running, trying to catch up to the male witch, who was faster than any animal she’d seen. Soon Maliki disappeared into the thicket of trees.

“Oh, come back, Mal!” she said, pushing her legs to make longer strides. Her heeled boots sank a bit in the moist earth. Her pale blonde braids fell and bounced against her back and shoulders. Her newly bought blue dress flew around her legs.

Maliki finally paused, not even panting when Lilace caught up with him. She, on the other hand, was panting heavily when she did.

“You did all right,” the witch said, bending to pet the bear cub. Oak licked Maliki’s long fingered hand. The male witch chuckled and stood, wiping his slobber-covered hand on brown pants.

“‘All right’?” Lilac said, jaw dropping, “I’ve been doing this for eight weeks! You make me run for an hour a day! I’m catching up,”

Maliki held his hands up in surrender. “You did excellent. There, happy?” he grinned, giving her a mock bow. “Shut it,” she said, giving him a shove. He stumbled, just to make her happy.

Lilac rolled her eyes, which she noticed had begun to ache. She rubbed at them, but the ache spread to her temple. “Kill her,” said a voice. She whipped around, seeing nothing besides Maliki and Oak. “Kill her, brother,” the voice went again.

“Who’s that?” she said, eyes darting around. Maliki gave her a worried glance from behind his round glasses. “Who are you talking to?” he asked, blinking. “You don’t hear that?” she whispered.

“Hear what?”

“That voice,” she said, “it’s telling someone to kill someone.” The witch cocked a brow. “I hear nothing,” he said moments later. “What do you mean?” she demanded. She opened her mouth, and her heart felt like someone had a vice grip on her skull.

“Kill the witch, Jack. Kill her. She needs not to see the world of Helganheim, nor the world of Fae.” the woman said. Her voice was chilling, giving Lilac shivers down her spine.

“I have to go,” she whispered. She bunched up her skirts and began to run. Oak followed behind her, large paws thundering down upon the soft ground.

“Lilac, wait!” Maliki shouted. Lilac didn’t turn at the pet name. She just kept running. Oak decided it was probably best to leave her be, so he stopped, and fell asleep.

Π

“I’m going insane,” she whispered, pushing branches out of her way. “This place is making me go crazy,” she panted, collapsing under a large tree.

“Hello?” a voice said. Lilac looked up and saw a faerie, a normal sized one this time. She had long black hair that was striped with purple and gold. Her eyes were as black as midnight skies. Long pointed ears peaked out from her hair. A nose ring glinted in the high noon sunlight. Black lipstick was painted onto her full lips.

“Hi,” Lilace squeaked, standing and brushing the grass from her skirts. “Are you mortal?” the fae girl asked. Lilac nodded. “Come inside. It’s going to rain soon,”

Π

Lilac sat on a rather comfortable couch. A cup of steaming tea rested on her hands. It smelled of jasmine, and something foreign.

“Where did you come from?” the fae asked, tongue rolling over her r’s. “My friend’s cabin,” Lilac replied, sipping the hot tea.

“A witch?” she asked. Lilac nodded again. “Maliki Monet? He’s the only witch I know to take in mortal like yourself,” the girl noted.

“I’ve lived with him for only two months,” Lilac said, setting the cup down. Her hands shook; she fisted them together to stop the shaking. “He is good with mortals,”

“What’s your name?” Lilac asked. “Blade,” she said, flipping her black hair back. “Lilace,” the blonde said.

As Blade the faerie opened her mouth, footsteps filled Lilace’s ears. “G?” Blade called out. “I am here, Blade,” another voice said. Another faerie stumbled into the den.

“Where have you been, Garland?” Blade asked. “Hunting,” said the faerie, Garland. She had wavy brown hair and wore a dress made of sewn-together leaves.

Garland saw Lilac. Her green eyes brightened. “A newbie!” she exclaimed. She rushed over to Lilac and cupped her face with her small hands. “But she is mortal,” Garland mumbled.

“Yeah, thanks for pointing that out,” Lilac grumbled, leaning back against the couch cushions. “Where’s Neya?” Blade asked. “Upstairs, probably. She said she had gotten a new spell book from the Queen the other day.” Garland said, waving a hand towards the kitchen. A pie appeared out of nowhere and floated into the den.

“Pie, Lilace?” Blade asked. She shook her head. “I need to get back to Mal,” she said, standing. “Oh, pfft,” Blade said, waving a lazy hand, “he’ll find you.”

At that moment, Maliki bounded into the tree house. His brown hair was mussed up and wet from rain and wind. His glasses were smeared with mud. “Lili!” he exclaimed, throwing his gangly arms around her.

“Yeah, hi Mal,” she said, patting his back. “Why did you run?” the male witch asked, pulling back. “The voices,” she whispered. The worried expression was back. “What voices?” he whispered back. “The ones I’m hearing,” she replied.

Lilac touched the tattoo on her wrist. Unthinkable, it read in cursive writing. She had gotten it at eighteen, the night one of her friends and her got wasted and went and got tattoos the other picked. She had that one, and her friend had a tattoo of a dancing unicorn with a top hat and tap shoes.

The tattoo was a reminder that she was brave enough to do anything she wanted.

“We should get go—,” Lilac began, but a crash cut her off. “Oh, Neya,” Blade mumbled, running a hand through her black hair. The dark fae run up the wooden stairs, Garland in tow. Maliki and Lilac glanced at each other, then dashed up the winding stairs.

Down the hall was an open door. Blade and Garland crouched in the room, another woman next to them.

Lilac stepped beside the fae women, glancing over their shoulders. Sitting there was a pale figure in a dark ceremonial robe.

The figure stiffened, whipping around. Blue eyes stared up at her. “The youngling returns after all,” she said, voice as soft and smooth as silk.

“She returns.”