Close Encounters of the Magical Kind Read online

  “Well,” Steve began, as he scratched an errant itch behind his ear, “you said we’re looking for a tree. That one has a whole mess of ‘em. Want to start there?”

  Sarah shrugged, folded the map, and handed it to Steve. “We might as well. Here, you’re a better artist than I am. You get to start sketching out which islands we’ve been to.”

  “Oh, swell,” Steve grumbled. He took the pencil Sarah was holding out to him, unfolded the map, and seeing how there wasn’t a place for him to work, dropped down to the ground. He started to sketch out the island’s shape when Sarah smacked the pencil out of his hand. Confused, he looked up and saw that she was holding a blank piece of parchment out to him.

  He unfolded the large piece of paper and set it next to the map. Next, he quickly sketched out the coastline, taking into account the curve of the land and the huge peninsula that was jutting out into the water, and placed an X where he thought the island would be. He’d have to wait to sketch the actual shape once they were on it.

  Fourteen Xs and four hours later, Sarah watched Steve rise painfully from the ground of the latest island that had been explored. Her husband tried to rub the kinks out of his aching back. This island, just like the dozen or so they had already checked, was completely covered by trees. On a side note both husband and wife were pleasantly surprised when they learned the islands weren’t nearly as large as they had looked from the water. Thanks to Sarah’s jhorun they were easily able to jump from one side of an island to the next, and then to jump anywhere else Sarah could see they needed to go. The tiny chunks of land were sometimes so close together that they could have waded through shallow water to get to the next one. Other times the next nearest island was at least ten miles away. Thanks to Sarah’s jhorun it was little to no effort to jump from one island to the next. It was just time consuming.

  Sarah retrieved the map from the ground, folded it, and tucked it back into a pocket. She waited until her husband had folded up his rudimentary map and had shoved it into his back pocket. She looked around the secluded glade they were in and decided this was as good a place as any to have lunch. Thanks to an arrangement she had with the queen, and consequently with the chief cook, whenever she and Steve went out on an excursion a picnic lunch would be packed and waiting for them. It used to be left on the bed in their quarters in the castle, but now that they had their own residence, Sarah had arranged for the lunch pack to be left on a table in the Antechamber.

  She held out her arms and teleported their lunch to her. She smiled the instant the old pack appeared in her arms. She shouldn’t have been able to do what she just did, since the Antechamber was specifically designed and enchanted against jhorun. However, that being said, there were a small handful of people who had jhorun strong enough to defeat the protective enchantments cast upon the king’s private chamber. She and her husband were two of them.

  Sarah set the pack down on the ground and settled beneath the shade of a large pine tree. About to object, Steve saw that she was setting out containers of food and wisely refrained from saying anything. Sarah unwrapped a chedra – a meat and cheese roll – and handed it to her husband. She did the same for herself.

  They ate their lunch in silence, each reflecting on the events of the day. Steve grunted once and held out a hand to Sarah, all without looking up. Sarah’s eyes narrowed. She looked around their makeshift campsite, selected a broken twig, and dropped it onto his outstretched hand. His hand automatically closed, but then sprang open as if he thought he had latched on to a bug.

  “What’d you give me that for?”

  “Well, what did you expect? You grunted, so I assumed we just reverted back to caveman days. I figured you must either want a slab of meat or a big heavy club. That stick was the best thing I could find.”

  Steve regarded her as though she had finally lost her mind.

  “I wanted the map, you goofball.”

  “Then ask me for the map. I don’t speak ‘caveman’.”

  Once the map was spread out on the ground Steve compared it to the one he had created. He pointed at the last half dozen islands they had visited.

  “You have to admit that most of the islands we’ve seen so far could have been prime candidates for your Fae Island.”

  “None of them had that tree,” Sarah reminded him. “It’s kind of a deal breaker, dear. No huge tree then no faerie city. It means wrong island.”

  “Don’t you think if this tree is as big as you say it is then we’d be able to see it without stepping foot on the island? These islands aren’t that big. We’d see it.”

  “Not necessarily,” Sarah countered. “Do you remember when you mentioned something about the faeries being as big as me and then suggested maybe I had been shrunk?”

  Steve nodded, “Yeah, what about it? Do you think that you had been shrunk when you were on that island?”

  Sarah shrugged, “It’s hard to say. How would I have known? Everything looked like it was on the right scale.”

  “Except for that big tree,” Steve added.

  “Right. With the exception of that tree, I’d say I was normal sized.”

  Steve suddenly stood and started pacing.

  “Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way.”

  “What do you mean?” Sarah wanted to know.

  “If the faeries were living on an island that was within eyesight of Capily then I think it’s safe to say they would have been noticed before.”

  Sarah nodded, “I’ll go along with that.”

  “Now,” Steve continued, warming up, “using that same logic, if what the queen told you is true and they are living on an island off the coast of Capily, then I’d say we need to focus our attention on islands that are farther away from the coast.” Her husband looked off to the west, out over open water. “We should be looking for islands that are as far away from the coast as possible.”

  Sarah shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. Ria, the Fae queen, specifically told me that their island was off the western coast of Capily. She didn’t say that it was way out to sea, but off the coast. It can’t be as far away as you’re suggesting.”

  “Hmmph,” Steve grunted, silently disagreeing. “Then where do you want to search?”

  “I think you’re partially right,” Sarah told him as she also turned to face west. “I say we should look for islands close enough to be visible from the coast but far enough away to discourage people from trying to explore it.”

  “That’s where I disagree,” Steve argued. “If someone in Capily can see this island then they’re gonna wonder what’s on it. I still say it has to be out of range from the coast.”

  Sarah was silent as she studied the open water. She held a hand over her eyes and studied the western horizon. Then she looked up at the clear blue sky for a few moments. She pointed out at the water.

  “What does that look like to you?”

  Her husband looked where she had indicated. He held a hand over his eyes and squinted. Sarah shook her head and sighed.

  “I’m so getting you in to see the eye doctor. Or else getting you glasses.”

  “Bite me.”

  “Well? What do you see?”

  “A fog bank. So what?”

  “A fog bank,” Sarah repeated. “On a warm sunny day like today?”

  Steve’s brow furrowed. He glanced up at the cloudless sky and then returned his gaze to the distant bank of clouds. It was over five miles out to sea and, judging by the size of it, at least a few miles long.

  “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. You need humidity for fog to form. You may have noticed, but that huge body of water out thataway would accomplish just that.”

  “That is a lot of water,” Sarah observed. She saw her husband smile victoriously. “However…”

  His smile vanished.

  “In order for fog to appear the humidity has to be extremely high. Yes, there’s water out there, but believe it or not, it’s not enough to cause fog. There are no clouds. Ther
e’s no water in the air. It’s too warm and sunny for that.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  Sarah pointed at the distant fog bank.

  “What do you want to bet that fog is hiding something?”

  “Oh, come on,” Steve protested. “Do you really think if that fog was hiding something it wouldn’t have been discovered by now? That’s gotta be the oldest trick in the book.”

  Sarah turned to look east, towards the distant shore.

  “I’ll bet we’re far enough away so that people on the shore wouldn’t be able to see the fog, let alone know it was there.”

  “Again, what’s your point? You want to teleport out to a bank of fog? What if there isn’t a hidden island there? What if there’s no land? You’d be dropping us right in the water.”

  “So what if I do? You can dry us, can’t you?”

  “Well, yeah, I suppose.”

  “Steve, it’s an anomaly. I think we should check it out.”

  “How are you going to be able to teleport there? You can’t see anything but the fog. If there’s land there it’s completely hidden from sight.”

  Sarah clasped his hand tightly in hers.

  “Just trust me.”

  Steve screwed his eyes shut, “Just tell me when you’re gonna do it. I’ll take a deep breath. I would recommend you do the same, Ms. Smarty-pants.”

  “We’re not getting wet. There’s an island there. I just know it.”

  “Mm-hmm. Deep breath.”

  Sarah smacked her husband on the arm. With his own hand. Hard.

  The coast of the island they had been on vanished, replaced instantly by a fog covered wooded glade. Narrow beams of sunlight filtered in through the treetops, giving the glade an ethereal appearance. Husband and wife stood silently, hand in hand, in the middle of the clearing. It was deathly quiet. There weren’t even any birds chirping.

  “Told you,” Sarah whispered.

  “You were lucky, lady. I was totally expecting to get dumped in the water.”

  “If you still want to go swimming then you’re talking to the right person. Say the word and I’ll drop you out in the ocean.”

  “You love me too much to do something like that.”

  “I love you just enough to keep you in line.”

  “Snot. So, what’s the word? Is this the right place?”

  Sarah released his hand and started exploring the glade.

  “I’m not sure. It certainly feels right. I won’t know until I look around for a bit. Come on. Let’s see how big this island is.”

  They turned to the left and headed south. At least Sarah thought it was south. She might not be able to see the sun but she was fairly certain south was to the left. She could never fully explain to her navigationally impaired husband how she always seemed to sense which direction was which. She just knew. Just like she knew south was to the left. Besides, something was pulling her that way. Until she knew for certain it was the Fae then she was going to keep that little tidbit to herself.

  Thirty minutes later they emerged from the thick of the trees into another clearing. This one was larger, almost perfectly spherical in shape, and devoid of anything but soft grass. Sarah approached a spot in the center of the knee-high grass and bent down to run a hand along the tops of the grass blades.

  “This is it. I was right here. This is where I woke up.”

  Steve joined her to stare down at the indicated patch of grass.

  “If you were sleeping on the grass then shouldn’t it have been tamped down? I don’t see any bent blades, or depressions, or anything else that would indicate you were here.”

  “It was a dream, remember? They said that my ‘essence’ was here but that in reality I was still lying next to you. So physically I was never here.”

  “Like that clears anything up,” Steve muttered.

  Sarah took his hand and pulled him close.

  “When I woke up I went that way. Come on. Let’s see what’s there.”

  “What made you go that way?” Steve asked, curious.

  “The only thing I remember was being pulled, not forcefully, but firmly in one direction. I didn’t think I was in any danger so I didn’t object.”

  Steve shrugged as he looked left, then right, and then finally behind him, “Alrighty then. We go that way.”

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Well, if this was the place you were at before then I was checking to see if anything looked different.”

  “You mean you’re checking to see if we shrunk?”

  “Right.”

  “I haven’t seen any huge trees yet. I think we’re good.”

  Sarah closed her eyes as they walked. This was definitely the right place. Her skin was tingling. Her pulse was racing. There was something here, something in the air that made her feel more alive than she had ever felt in her life. She looked over at Steve to see what his reactions were. His face appeared guarded, she decided. She was pretty sure he didn’t believe her when she said that she had been there before. She stopped three steps later.

  “What is it?” her husband asked, alarmed. His hands had turned red. “Is something the matter?”

  Sarah turned to him and smiled, “Do you believe me? Do you believe I was here before?”

  Steve stared at her. Sarah could just picture him wondering what her reaction would be if he answered her honestly.

  “I believe that you believe,” he finally answered.

  “And if I can prove it?”

  “How?”

  “See those three trees up there? All lined up in a row?”

  “Yeah. What about ‘em?”

  “Directly on the other side will be a path.”

  “Mm-hmm. You sound sure of yourself.”

  “Because I’ve been here before,” she reiterated.

  They walked to the three trees growing side-by-side with each other and paused. Steve had leaned around the closest trunk and had noticed the beginnings of a well-cared for cobblestone path.

  “Okay, you’re making a believer out of me.”

  Sarah stepped onto the path, pulled her husband to her side, and headed off. Knowing which way to go was easy. All the memories from her dream were still fresh in her mind. Sights, sounds, smells; all were still there, as though she had just woken up from that dream a few minutes ago.

  Guiding her husband deeper into the wooded island, Sarah drew up short. The trees! The trees had tiny little dots of light on them! She was certain Steve would claim it was light getting reflected by something, but she knew otherwise. She had found the city! All she had to do now was…

  “Whoa!” Steve exclaimed, interrupting her thoughts. “Check that out! What’s causing that? Some type of glowing bugs?”

  Rushing forward, eager to see if the tall majestic pine tree was where she had remembered it, Sarah guided them towards the trees she knew was the Fae city. The arboreal city, Sarah remembered, using Steve’s word-of-the-day.

  “This is it!” Sarah excitedly told him. “This is the city! Do you see the lights? Running up and down the trunks?”

  “I thought you said they’d look like skyscrapers.”

  “Look! Look at the tree from this side!”

  Together they walked around the trunk to inspect the opposite side. Her husband stared in shock. Sarah leaned up against his side as they observed the tree. Steve whistled with amazement.

  The tree, while appearing to be a normal tree from the forest side of the city, was just that. A tree. But, if you were to enter the city and gaze at the city side of the tree, a whole different scene would be revealed. The tree had been carved, right from the base of the trunk an inch or two above ground level, all the way up as high as they could see. Doorways, windows, intricate stairways that spiraled up the trunk as it ascended or descended, everything had been painstakingly carved onto the surface of the tree.

  “Man, those carved trees are everywhere!” Steve whispered.

  Sarah slowly turned around a
nd gasped with astonishment. It was just as regal and wondrous as she had remembered. She singled out an oak tree that had a staircase starting just at ground level and spiraled up, completing a full loop around the trunk every three feet.

  “Welcome to Dynwe,” she reverently announced. “I knew it was real. I just knew it!”

  “Okay, okay, you were right and I was wrong.”

  “Again,” Sarah added. Her husband grumbled at her. She continued to stare at the closest carved tree. “The city is so pretty, don’t you think?”

  “Umm, I can’t help but notice how small those windows and doors are, not to mention the stairs,” Steve announced. “I definitely don’t think you were shrunk, babe. I think the opposite. The king and queen must have increased their size to be able to talk to you.”

  Sarah started to turn to her right to respond when her eyes landed on a trunk much larger than its neighbors. In fact, the trunk easily dwarfed every tree they could see. Together, both husband and wife stared at the base of the gigantic tree and slowly lifted their gaze up to peer at the distant canopy far over their heads.

  “That’s one mother of a tree,” Steve observed. “How did we not see this from that other island? Look how tall this thing is. I swear the top would be touching the clouds, if there were any up there. There’s no way we missed that.”

  Sarah’s gaze dropped back down to the ground.

  “Speaking of things we’re missing, what happened to the fog? Why isn’t it foggy in here? Look around the city. No fog. However, I can still see it through the trees right over there. Outside of the city, fog. Inside, nothing. Why do you think that is?”

  “At this point, it’s anyone’s guess,” Steve muttered. “It’s probably their doing.”

  The path sloped down as they approached the base of the enormous trunk. The mammoth evergreen’s prevalent root system became a canopy over their heads as they descended lower. Set in the base, just as she knew they would be, were two amethyst gemstone doors. Both doors were closed but silently swung opened as they approached.