Close Encounters of the Magical Kind Read online

  Close Encounters of the Magical Kind

  By

  Jeffrey M. Poole

  www.AuthorJMPoole.com

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and locations appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or real locations, is purely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America

  For a complete list of titles available by Jeffrey M. Poole, including the best-selling fantasy series Bakkian Chronicles and Tales of Lentari, and the cozy mystery series Corgi Case Files, please click here!

  Acknowledgments

  This marks the 10th book that I have published, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I do have some people to thank.

  As always, I have to thank my wife. Most especially my wife. This story is the direct result of my wife waking up one morning, looking at me, and saying, “Get a notebook. I have an idea for a story.” This is essentially her story, which is why you’ll notice the main POV throughout this book is Sarah’s.

  I’d also like to thank my beta readers, and this time around I handled the beta readers a little differently. I created The Posse, which is family, friends, and readers who are willing to sacrifice their time to make sure I don’t look like an idiot when I hit the “Publish” button. Thanks for spending so much time helping me, offering suggestions, advice, and so on. Therefore, many thanks goes out to the following Posse members:

  Diane Bowlin, Elizabeth Davis, Dawn Nolder, Caroline Craven, Sarah Rice, Jody Kahiapo, Toni Trick, Wendy Egan, Jason Harvill, Amanda Barrow, Debbie Davis, Marie Howells, Kate Craven-liu, Krista Jasper, Amanda Jean, Tracey Bryuette, Deb Shapiro, Dorothy Roberts, Hellen Mcneil, and Tanner Erb.

  Handling the responsibilities of the cover this time around is the multi-talented Joe Shawcross, who knocked it out of the ballpark. Joe, you did an awesome job! I hope I can persuade you to do another cover or three for me.

  I’ve saved the best for last. I need to thank you, the reader, for continuing to keep the magical land of Lentari alive and allowing me to continue bringing you more stories! Happy reading!

  J.

  Joe Shawcross: http://joeshawcross.deviantart.com/

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 – To Fae or Not To Fae

  Chapter 2 – Validated Vision

  Chapter 3 – Aftershocks

  Chapter 4 – Sorcerer’s Apprentice

  Chapter 5 – An Empyrean Enigma

  Chapter 6 – Gateway Arch

  Chapter 7 – Eyes of the Beholder

  Chapter 8 – Needle in a Haystack

  Chapter 9 – Pool with a View

  Chapter 10 – Usol the Outraged

  Chapter 11 – Will You Accept This Flower?

  Chapter 12 – Unexpected Twist

  Chapter 13 – Moment of Truth

  Chapter 14 – Off the Market

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Submissions

  Dedication

  For Giliane, without which this story would have never come to be. You are my inspiration, my dear. Thank you for being by my side!

  Love you always & forever!

  Prologue

  “Don’t you just love our new cabin? I think it’s perfect. No neighbors, no noise, and no interruptions.” An attractive woman in her mid-thirties sank blissfully down onto the tiny, comfortable bed. With a small flourish, she flopped over onto her back and opened her eyes to take in the simple furnishings of the tiny one bedroom cabin.

  Just as her eyes settled on the bedroom’s only window, which afforded her a spectacular view of the surrounding forest, she heard a loud bang, followed immediately by a muffled curse. Wanting to see what her husband was doing, the woman rolled to her right and instantly got a mouthful of hair for her trouble. The small elastic band that had been holding her ash blond hair in a braid had come loose. Her tightly woven braid became completely unraveled in just a few seconds and had flung itself directly in her face.

  “Ack-pbth.”

  She felt around on the bed and after a few moments came up with the black rubber band. Deciding against trying to rebraid her hair, which would have resulted in a lopsided braid, she coaxed her hair into a ponytail and checked the small room. Her husband was nowhere to be found. Concerned, she sat up on the bed.

  “Steve? Where are you?”

  “Out here.”

  Sarah walked back into the tiny living room and found her 6’3” husband down on his hands and knees with his head thrust into the fireplace, looking up. He was muttering to himself as he poked around the chimney’s innards, presumably to find the flue. Sarah waited a few moments longer than she deemed necessary and finally cleared her throat. Her husband jerked up, cracking his head on the top of the fireplace. A resounding clang echoed throughout the small cabin. Sarah suppressed a giggle. It was the same clang she had heard earlier.

  “I’m sorry. That had to hurt.”

  Steve sat back on his haunches and rubbed the top of his head.

  “That’ll leave a mark.”

  “Can’t find the flue?” Sarah guessed.

  “Right. I was thinking about starting a fire. The skies are overcast, and it’s starting to drizzle. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

  “Isn’t this place just perfect?” Sarah asked, sighing contently. “No one knows about it. We can finally take a proper vacation. We owe him, you know.”

  Steve nodded. “I wonder what Mikal had to do in order to secure his parents’ permission to have this place built. I mean, do you hear that? We can actually hear the waterfall from here.”

  Sarah shook her head, “Mikal has some pretty impressive powers of persuasion, no doubt about it. I don’t know what he had to do, nor do I want to know. This is our cabin. It’s hidden, and it’s by our waterfall.”

  “What I do know,” Steve continued as he rose to his feet, “is that it was very nice of the king and queen. How long have we wanted to spend some quiet time here without getting mobbed by the people? Too long, if you ask me.”

  The waterfall in question was the same one in which Steve and Sarah had stumbled onto when they had first realized they had found their way onto another world. It was also the first time both husband and wife had encountered a live griffin. Two live griffins, for that matter. As a result, each of them now regarded the waterfall, and the tiny lake it had created, as their own private retreat in Lentari.

  Sarah knew that it was sometimes difficult for her and her husband to stay in their home in the capital city of R’Tal because of the simple fact that they were treated like celebrities. Between the royal family and the Lentarian subjects they had no privacy. Therefore it had been a nice surprise when Mikal had informed them that he had convinced his parents to have a secluded cabin built just for the two of them. After much debate, the king, along with significant input from the queen, decided the best location would be by Greenquill Falls, referring to one out of over two dozen small waterfalls scattered throughout the Selekai Mountains. This particular waterfall, Mikal knew, was one both of his former bodyguards knew very well.

  “I think we ought to go explore the waterfall.”

/>   Caught in mid yawn, Sarah froze. “What? Why?”

  “Well, you never know what we might find out there. We already know there’s a secret cave back behind the water. Who knows what else might be out there waiting to be discovered?”

  “Whatever’s out there can certainly wait until morning,” Sarah informed him. “It’s been a long day. I’m looking forward to a technology free night. No cell phones, no tablets, and no television.”

  “It’s awful quiet out there,” Steve observed, as he pulled some clothes out of his suitcase and transferred them to a small dresser. “Don’t you think it’s too quiet? I think we’re going to need some white noise of some sort.”

  “No we don’t,” Sarah contradicted. She slipped her arm through his. “Not as long as I have you. You are the perfect source of white noise. Just try to keep the snoring down to a minimum, okay?”

  “Hardy har har.”

  Extinguishing the two lit oil lamps Sarah climbed into bed and snuggled next to her husband. Hundreds of pictures of their day flashed through her mind. She closed her eyes and thought of her favorite moment, being their late night swim. She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

  ****

  Sarah awoke slowly, feeling more relaxed than she had ever been in her entire life. She cracked an eye open and noticed that it was still rather dark inside their cabin. She fervently hoped sunrise was still several hours away. Her eyes closed and she rolled onto her side. The next thing she noticed was that her bedding had vanished and been replaced by grass.

  Grass?

  Sarah gently swept an arm around her body. Yes, it was true. She was lying on a patch of plush, dew-covered grass and she was most definitely not inside her cozy cabin.

  Sarah instantly shot up and carefully looked around her new surroundings. Steve and the cabin were nowhere in sight. In fact, she wasn’t even certain she was still in Lentari. Her initial reaction was she had inadvertently activated her jhorun and had teleported herself to someplace else, all while being sound asleep.

  She frowned. While plausible, it was unlikely. Her jhorun, her magical ability, could instantaneously teleport her from one locale to the next in literally the blink of an eye. However, in order for her jhorun to work properly Sarah had to be thinking of where she wanted her jhorun to take her. She had to be able to focus on a destination in order for her jhorun to give her a successful teleportation jump.

  With wide, unblinking eyes, Sarah slowly stood and stared at her surroundings. She shook her head. There was no way her jhorun could have teleported her here. She had never been to this location before, let alone seen it. In fact, she was pretty certain no one in Lentari had ever stepped foot here before, provided she was still in Lentari.

  She took a few hesitant steps. She could sense something. It felt as though she was being pulled towards the trees in front of her. Something wanted her to start moving. Not sensing any malice, Sarah began to walk. Within a few minutes she knew without a doubt that she hadn’t ever been to this particular place before.

  In front of her was a dense coniferous forest city. The trees were like skyscrapers in the most amazing urban forest setting she had ever seen. The intricately carved structures rose hundreds of feet into the air. Walkways ran from each tree to the next, allowing whomever frequented the city to move from one building to the other without stepping foot on the ground. Her eyes were then drawn to a huge pine tree in the center of a large clearing. The tree was so massive that it easily dwarfed all the other wooden structures. Determined to find some answers, Sarah headed toward the gargantuan tree, hoping she’d be able to find some help.

  As she approached the huge evergreen she could see that the tree’s prolific root system had formed a canopy over the glowing path that led toward the center of the tree. Sunk into the base of the huge pine’s trunk were two exquisite amethyst gemstone doors. She studied the sparkling doors for a few moments before craning her neck to look up at the huge trunk that rose hundreds, if not thousands of feet above her head.

  Sarah squinted her eyes. If she wasn’t mistaken she could see what appeared to be windows all across the grand trunk. Many of the windows had lights that were flickering on and off. There were no other signs of people or inhabitants of this fantastic city.

  Sarah looked back at the sparkling gemstone doors and timidly approached. Both majestic doors silently opened, allowing her access to the heart of the tree. Sarah peered through the two doors and paled with wonder. The ‘heart’ was even more beautiful than she could have imagined.

  The center of the tree appeared to be the inside of a castle, complete with verdant light filtering down from the leaves above to illuminate every corner with a soft, emerald glow. The air itself seemed to glitter and sparkle, as if it had been infused with thousands of tiny fireflies. Sarah reached out to try and grab a handful of the lights but discovered the tiny sparkles moved like water through her fingers.

  “Lady Sarah,” a voice announced, breaking the silence. “Please come forward.”

  Sarah froze. The female voice had appeared out of thin air and spoke with assurance. It was strong; powerful. This was someone that was used to giving orders, Sarah decided. The voice sounded regal. A queen, perhaps? If it was, how did she know her name?

  Sarah looked down. A path had appeared. Following the path with her eyes Sarah saw that it led further into the depths of the tree. She placed a foot on the path. Deep down she knew she should be afraid but she wasn’t. She knew with absolute certainty that no harm would befall her.

  The light seemed to get brighter with every step she took. She blinked with surprise. There were now people lining either side of the path. In fact, every person she passed, be it man or woman, bowed to her, as if she were their queen. That couldn’t be right. These people didn’t know her, did they? And she certainly wasn’t a queen!

  At the end of the path were two jewel-encrusted thrones, which were occupied by a man and a woman. Both rose to their feet as she approached. Sarah fidgeted uncomfortably from one foot to the next. Should she bow? Curtsy? Do nothing? Deciding a curtsy would be the most appropriate Sarah gave it her best attempt. Feeling awkward, seeing how neither the strange king nor queen had yet to say anything, Sarah glanced up at the royal couple. Both the king and queen were smiling, which made her feel better. Somewhat.

  The queen stepped forward to take Sarah’s hand. As soon as the queen had moved, Sarah stared, awestruck. A thin pair of gossamer wings had flicked up and fluttered once. Speechless, Sarah turned to the king. He, too, had a pair of glittering translucent wings. How had she not noticed them before?

  They were faeries, only they were the biggest faeries she had ever seen. Weren’t they supposed to be small? Like pixie-small?

  “Lady Sarah, I am so glad you could come,” the queen said as she led Sarah through a doorway to the left of the thrones. The queen gently escorted Sarah to a perfectly round granite table and indicated one of the chairs. “I am Ria and this is my husband, Tivan.”

  Sarah turned to see that the king had followed them into the smaller antechamber. He took a seat next to his wife and took her hand in his own. He nodded at Sarah.

  “I’m sorry,” Sarah began, “but could you tell me where I am?”

  Tivan replied with a slight grin, “You are in the Fae city of Dynwe.”

  “Dynwe,” Sarah slowly repeated, as if that alone answered all her questions. “Where exactly is that? Am I still in Lentari or is this another world?” She watched the Fae king and queen give each other a coy grin. “Will you at least tell me how I got here?”

  “Please join us for a meal,” the queen replied, “and we will explain everything.”

  All of a sudden the lights in the room brightened considerably and the table was magically filled with an abundant feast. Roast meats, steamed vegetables, huge platters of colorful fruit, and enough examples of freshly baked bread to make an actual baker green with jealousy, filled the table. Servants appeared and began filling goblets, se
rving the food, and offering quiet answers when asked what certain dishes were. Satisfied that Sarah was being well cared for, Ria began answering questions.

  “First, to hopefully ease your mind, I can tell you that you are still in Lentari. We are presently located on an island off the western coast of what the humans call Capily. However, technically speaking, you are not here. Using a mixture of our magic, and your own teleportation jhorun, we have brought your ‘essence’ here. Your body is still lying next to your husband’s.”

  “I wasn’t aware that could be done.”

  “The humans know very little about Fae magic,” Ria explained. The Fae queen noticed her husband’s decisive nod of agreement and laughed. “It’s a notion we have no desire to dispel.”

  “I guess my next question would be why. Why would you bring me here?”

  The smile faded from the queen’s face.

  “We need your help, Sarah. Both you and your husband. We are dying.”

  Chapter 1 – To Fae or Not To Fae

  Sarah awoke with a start. She sat up in bed and looked at the sleeping form of her husband. He was snoring, as was the norm with him. At least it wasn’t too loud. She looked around the small room, noting that the light was growing steadily brighter. Sunrise had to be only minutes away.

  Sarah quietly slipped out of bed. She made her way to the tiny kitchen and carefully opened the wood burning stove so she could light the fire. Setting a kettle of water onto one of the burners, she made herself a steaming cup of tea.