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Kidnapped!
Author's note: You'll have to read the previous stories to understand the
plot of this one.
Invited
into the home of two Eyrie brothers, Treali gave them her total trust. After
all, they seemed so harmless. They wouldn't hurt her and Tessa. Would they?
Evidently, the younger one would. After a
brief skirmish with Tessalea Bordorian, Maloporg kidnaps Treali and begins to
take her to Craggy Peak, where he will meet up with the Guardian of the Star.
It is on this path where we resume our tale…
The blizzard on the mountain had quieted,
but Treali's heart was still in torrents, wind buffeting her soul and screeching,
downing out her pleas for help. She felt so tired after walking without rest
for hours on end, but still had enough energy to revolt against the one who
held her hostage. "Where are you taking me?" She demanded of the silver Eyrie
behind her. "And what have you done with Tessa?"
"Pipe down, you pathetic, sniveling excuse
for a Faerie," Maloporg sneered, poking Treali's back with the tip of his sword
and jerking on the rope that bound her hands like handcuffs. "And keep moving!"
Treali tugged the rope rebelliously, causing
Maloporg to stumble a bit. Quickly regaining his balance, Maloporg shot his
prisoner a look that could shatter glaciers. "Do that again and I'll kill you."
"Ha!" Treali sneered, looking at her captor
in the eye, the faintest reflections of starlight burning within. "If you had
wanted to kill me, you would have done so before now. No, you want me alive.
I know it. Now what have you done with Tessa?"
"You ain't gonna quit struggling till
I tell you!" Another jerk of the rope sent Treali falling onto her chest. Roughly,
the steely gray Eyrie turned the Faerie over so her back was to the ground,
her chest was exposed and he was looking her in the eyes. Swift as lightning,
he brought the sword down so it hovered an inch from her chest. A smile lit
up his face as he saw the terrified expression in her eyes. "If you really
must know, Dessro, I killed her. Yes, with this very sword. Perhaps the sweetest
thing I've ever done in my life."
For a brief moment, time seemed suspended.
Fear, pain, weariness, all left Treali as swiftly as a Noil fleeing Balthazar.
All that was left was… emptiness. Nothingness. Then, as Treali's mind began
to grow accustomed to the idea, an unbelievable anguish began tearing up her
heart, just as cursed dark faeries had once torn her wings. It was as though
she were falling all over again, except harder, faster. The bits of starlight
she was beginning to reclaim were extinguished like a snuffed candle, leaving
trails of smoke befouling the air and bringing tears to her eyes. "Tessalea
is… dead? B-but she c-c-can't be!"
"Believe it, Faerie girl," Maloporg said
with a gruff, barking laugh that seemed to bash the air from Treali's lungs.
Flinching from the laugh, the former Earth Faerie gasped for breath. Maloporg
seemed not to care. "And let me tell you; revenge is sweet."
"R-revenge?" Treali could hardly get her
mouth around the word. "Y-you killed her for… revenge? What did she ever do
to you?"
"What does it matter to you?" Maloporg
asked, a goofy grin lighting up his face. "You'll spend the rest of your wretched
life in the prisons of the Guardian. If it doesn't kill you outright. Now let's
keep moving."
Treali followed like a helpless Poogle
pup. Her mind was too numb, her muscles too sore, and her will too burned out
to resist anymore. Images of Tessa kept flying through her mind. Tessa is…
dead? Tessa is… dead. Tessa is dead!
* * *
Colors, a vortex of colors swirling around in my mind. Pale lilacs and pinks,
bands of white and sapphire blue, granite gray and dull brown. A deep voice,
like booming brass bells ringing in my ear. Slowly, gradually, the colors sorted
themselves out. The brown became the brown of a table near my bed. My bed sheets
were striped with white and blue. The lilac and pink was the striped Eyrie Beneterr
hovering above me, speaking in a voice like brass bells. "Tessa is not
dead. Tessa is not dead. Tessa is not dead."
Groggily, I opened my eyes. "What… what
happened? Oh!" Suddenly, I remembered. Treali. Maloporg. The conversation I
had overheard. Panic welled in my chest, causing me to bolt upright. "Beneterr!
Treali's in danger! We've got to--" My frantic words were cut off as Beneterr
firmly pushed me back into my bed.
"It's a bit late, Tessa. Maloporg's gone
and he took Treali with him. And you, my Lupess, still need to recover. Maloporg
gave you one heck of a beating."
Only then did I realize my soreness and
pain. A few flesh wounds and a headache like no one's business. Slowly, the
panic receded, but still quivered within me causing me to tremble in my bed.
In its place rose determination, fierce and fiery. Pushing Beneterr's paw to
the side, I sat upright, and then stood. My paws wobbled like jelly beneath
me. Fearful of falling, I leaned against the bed. Then slowly, I transferred
my weight onto my own paws. "Tessa!" For a moment, the room seemed to wobble
from the shock of hearing Beneterr's voice. My head throbbed and I leaned against
the bed again. "Tessa, what in the name of flippin' Flotsams are you doing?"
"I'm going to find Treali!" I replied,
the sound of my own voice making my head spin even further. "There's not much
time left! He's going to take her to the Guardian of the Star! And then what
will happen?"
"Think about your health!" Beneterr pleaded
as I began to walk towards the door. "You'll never make it in your present state!"
"I can and I will," I replied stubbornly.
"Treali needs me. I couldn't live with myself if I let her down. If I let her
be imprisoned… or worse, killed by the Guardian. She's my responsibility. Beneterr,"
I sighed, "she's so helpless. Like a child… and I promise that if I get her
out of this fix, I'll protect her with my life. Because I never knew how precious
she is to me…" I stumbled a bit, then stood again.
Despairingly, the striped Eyrie sat on
the bed and put his head in his paws. "You're a fool, Tessalea Bordorian."
I paused, turned around, looked him in
the eye and nodded. "That may be so. But I'm a brave fool."
"At least don't go without a companion."
Rising from his seat, the Eyrie grabbed a fur coat off of a nearby hook and
a silver-colored cup off of the dresser. "And drink some of this. It'll help
with the headache and dizziness."
I peered into the cup. The liquid inside
was as thick as molasses and the color of rust on an old sword. But it smelled
like a mixture of rotten eggs and old tomato soup! "A potion passed down in
my family through generations. Made of dried Red Mountain berries and certain
secret herbs, crushed and blended together. Doesn't taste too wonderful, but
it'll get rid of your headache."
But it seemed as through my headache were
gone already. "Did you say… Red Mountain berries? But those are among the rarest
berries in Neopia! They only grow in one place!"
Beneterr nodded. "Bordor Mount."
Before I could ask any more questions,
Beneterr donned his jacket and headed out of the room. "Come on, Lupess. We've
got a Faerie to save!"
The Truth about Bordor Mount
"You know Tessa, if you want me to slow
down the pace, I can," Beneterr called over his shoulder.
"Slow down? We ought to be speeding up,"
I replied, kicking a pebble out of my way. The sun had reached its zenith in
the sky, blazing and promising warmer temperatures this afternoon. I scooped
up a pawful of snow and pressed it against my aching head, speeding up so that
my pace matched Beneterr's. "We've got a lot of ground to cover if we're going
to make it to Craggy Peak before Maloporg meets up with the Guardian of the
Star."
Beneterr groaned, slackening his pace
in a vain attempt to make Tessa slow down. No such luck. She kept racing. "I
just don't get it. Why does the Guardian want Treali? And what does my wretched
brother have to do with this?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," I said
grimly. "From what I heard, the Guardian offered your brother Maloporg some
sort of reward." I paused, sniffing the air. The vaguest scent of smoke lingered
in my nostrils. Beneterr and I were standing on a granite ledge, where we could
see for miles around. From here, the path abruptly plummeted into a steep, icy
downward slope. From here, I could see other mountains, stretched around us
in all directions. "I'm not familiar with this area. Where are we, anyway?"
"Craggy Peak is there," Beneterr said,
pointing to a mountain straight ahead of us, more of a misshapen pile of rocks
than an actual peak. Although it was smaller than the mountains surrounding
it, it was still of a decent size. Climbing it would prove difficult, thanks
to the fact that the ground was almost entirely made of loose boulders. There
was no path, only rough climbing. Slightly to the Northeast of Craggy Peak was
a mysterious area veiled by a hundred thousand fibers of light, shining so brightly
the made my head roar with pain. That area was the origin of the smoky odor.
"That's Mist Mountain," my striped Eyrie companion explained. "Your destination,
is it not?"
I nodded. "Mine and Treali's. Now let's
get going. In fact, let's pick up the pace a bit." Without further ado, I jumped
onto the steep path and rolled down like a pup on a hill. "WHEEEEE!!!" I whooped
for joy, listening to the air rush past my ears and whip my fur in all directions.
There was nothing more exhilarating than sliding down a nice, frozen ice-slide.
Apparently, Beneterr disagreed. He chose to fly down, rather than risk breaking
his neck. I met him at the bottom, still grinning like a half-witted Warf with
a chewtoy. "Tessa, you really are a fool." She scolded. "Have some more of this."
He handed me the cup of Red Mountain berry medicine. I drank obligingly.
"So how did you find these berries anyway?"
I asked curiously. "I don't remember ever seeing an Eyrie on my family's mountain."
The striped Eyrie scoffed in a strange
mixture of amusement and contempt. "Your family's mountain? You mean
my family's mountain!"
I nearly choked on the medicine in my
mouth.
"That's right, Lupess. My family resided
on that mountain for three and a half centuries. At that time, it was called
Eyrie Peak, hence my surname, Eyrpeak. It was the most magical peak in the Terror
Mountain range. My ancestors experimented with spells, incantations, conjuring…
They were famed for their wisdom and powers in healing. There was no broken
bone, gash, sprain, or malady that they could not cure! Another one of their
loves was gardening. Legend says that at one time, greenhouses covered a third
of the land on the mountain. It was they who created the first Red Mountain
berry! They were a peace-loving people. Until that Lupe pack came along…"
Just regaining my breath, I tried to sputter
out an objection before another coughing fit seized me. Beneterr gave me a wallop
to the back, dislodging the sticky medicine from my throat. "It's all true,
Tessalea. The warrior Lupes drove them out of their home. And forced them into
exile on the Peak of a Thousand Snowstorms. Before they left, they managed to
get a few sacks of berries to take with them. Your ancestors then settled on
the mountain, naming it for their pack. Bordor Mount."
"Thanks," I said softly, gesturing to
my throat to indicate that I was thanking him for saving me, not for telling
this story. This was a story I probably didn't want to hear. But I had to listen
to it. What if Beneterr was right? "So what happened next?"
"For a century, my kind struggled to survive
in the harsh climate of the Peak of a Thousand Snowstorms. Maloporg and I were
born. One night, when we were teenagers, our aunts and uncles left the mountain
to hunt for food. Our parents were left in charge of the chicks," Beneterr chuckled
mirthlessly, struggling to fight back tears. "What a day for dark faeries to
be out!"
I made a small noise of sympathy in my
throat. My companion pretended not to hear it. "Maloporg and I were the only
ones that escaped. Our aunts and uncles never came back. We assume they froze
on some other Faerie-forsaken peak. We started planning out underground home
the next day. Eventually, we built it. We had a good life, but that wasn't enough
for my brother. According to him, if the Bordorians hadn't taken Eyrie Peak
from us, our kin would still be alive."
"That explains the steely reception I
got from him," I joked. Beneterr didn't laugh.
"Yes Lupess, that would explain it."
I groaned, my mind reeling from all of
this newfound information. My parents had told me that the Bordorians had lived
on Bordor Mount since the beginning of time! Not a mere hundred years! I continued
walking, muttering, "If only your ancestors could see the state of the mountain
now."
"What does that mean?" Beneterr asked,
following me closely as we reached a short wall of boulders blocking our path.
He flew over them and helped me move them so that my path would be clear.
"The mountain hasn't been… quite right
lately. It seems almost… sad. In a magical type of way…"
Beneterr thought for a moment, nearly
stumbling over a boulder as he thought. "Perhaps a bit of enchantment from the
glory days of my family still exists on our peak. I wouldn't be surprised."
"Then why would the landscape be sad?"
I wondered aloud, still trekking onward over an icy path. The memories swept
over me like a bitter wind. The rocks, the trees, the streams all crying. That
bush in my backyard, wilting and grey. Grey as the clouds of a blizzard. Grey
as despair, hanging heavy in its core. Grey as…
I gave a small gasp. "Suppose… suppose
a Faerie… or any creature of great power, walked onto Bordor Mount."
"Well then Eyrie Peak," Beneterr corrected
me, "would reflect that Faerie's magic. If it were a Fire Faerie, flames on
the peak would burn brighter. An Earth Faerie, plants would grow healthier.
An Air Faerie, sudden gusts of wind might pick up without warning."
"A Grey Faerie…"
A small glimmer of recognition darted
over Beneterr's face, but was quickly extinguished by his doubt. "Theoretically,
that isn't possible. Grey faeries don't have magic."
"Then why was my home in desolate ruins?"
I asked passionately. My attention focused on the conversation and not on the
path. As a result, I didn't notice the ice puddle ahead of me. I went down like
a brick.
Chuckling, Beneterr helped me to my paws
again. "I'd love to think that Treali might have, by some miracle, retained
some of her magic. But I'm afraid it's impossible."
"Nothing's impossible," I objected. Dusting
off my tail and walking again. "That's what I keep telling Treali, and that's
what I'll tell you."
Beneterr threw his paws up in surrender.
A sudden feeling of discomfort made the fur on the back on my neck prickle.
"Why do I even bother reasoning with a hot-headed warrior Lupe? Why? Wh-mmf!"
Before he could continue ranting, I covered
his beak with my paw. "Shh. Don't say a word, don't look around, but I think
we're being watched."
The Eyrie tore himself away from my paw
and shouted to the skies. "Paranoid, just like all your species!"
A dark, cackling voice sounded behind
us. "Paranoid, is she?"
I didn't need to turn around to know who
it was.
To be continued...
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