Friday, March 16, 2007

The Fairy (Part 4)

First off, I want to humbly thank everyone for reading what I write. It means so much to me to see that I have such good people willing to look at my work, and give feedback! Without you, dear devoted readers, I wouldn't even be here. Thank you, with all my heart. Here's Part 4..enjoy.


Quiet. All fell to silence. Nini slept blissfully, snuggled down deep in Zim's large breast pocket. Her weary body and tired mind drifted into a dark nothingness. A nothingness of peace, timeless...

...Or perhaps not...

"Time to wake, dear Nini. Zim's voice boomed.

Nini snapped awake. She lay on a tiny thatch of cloth that stunk of something foul. She didn't know what. So they had landed. But where? Nini sat up, groggy and bewildered. She soon took in that it was night.

Zim sat before a small crackling fire, leaned casually up against the thick trunk of an old oak. Nini ignored its pleas to get the wizard away from it. Sometimes trees could be so damn whiny.

"Where are we?" She asked, and got to her feet.

Zim smiled, his eyes drifted to her. She gasped. For just a second she thought Zim's face had shifted, become some other face entirely.

"Boarders." Zim said after a moment. "They will be here soon. This will be the battle to end all battles, my dear. They come for you, though. They love you people's blood."

"Life liquid." Nini corrected absently.

"Whatever you like." Zim said.

"Boarders? Of what?" She asked.

"The Northern Wrights." Nini had never heard of such a place.

His eyes moved back to the fire. They glowed a deep purple, flecked with dancing red flames.

Zim seemed different now, not so kind, not so gentle.

He jumped to his feet.

"They approach." He whispered.

Kicking dirt over the fire to, yes, extinguish it, Zim also motioned for her to return to his pocket. This time she shook her head. His eyes suddenly flared rage.

"NOW!" Roared his voice in her mind.

She could help but scream and gasp her ears with shaking hands.

But before she could fly away, Zim took hold of her and jammed her in his pocket.

"Stay out of sight." His voice whispered in her mind.

Nini slipped deeper into the large pocket, just enough to look over its frayed edge. Was it frayed before? She couldn't remember. Only the top of her head and eyes were revealed. Moving with a speed she could not comprehend, Zim sprinted to another tree, this one an elderly fir. He climbed to the very center of it as agile as a squirrel.

He parted a couple boughs, and they gazed down upon a small village. A ghost village, by what Nini saw. Her heart quickened. She detested ghosts, the vile beings. Even now she spotted one gliding across the badly wheel rutted main road that separated the villae into two halves. She shuddered.

Then she saw them. Hunched, long arms swaying at their sides, open claws swiping the air, palesfaces bobbing up and downm what Zim called vampyers, trotted into the village directly in front of the large fir where Zima dn Nini hid. Terror leaped up inside Nini and dug its claws own claws in. Oh, they were such ugly monsters!

Eyes like yellow fire-orbs flashed every which way. Even from here she could spot their elongated mouths and jaws snapping at the dense air about the ghost village. Their long fangs gleamed silver in the moonlight.

The ravenous creatures that eliminated her entire species stopped at the centre of the main village road. Sorrow panged Nini's heart. Images of these horrible things massacring everyone she held dear in her life, wafted by in seconds.

"Be still. Be silent. They know something other than the ghosts are here. They just don't know where." Zim spoke in her mind.

So little Nini held still, and tried to clear her mind. No such luck, however. Sorrow soon blossomed into white hot rage. She wanted vengeance now more than ever. She rose part way out of the pocket. He immediately push her back down with one calloused finger. She was tempted to bite him. Zim lightly patted his pocket, shushing her thought at once. The vampyres were heading int he direction of the fir searching, pugged noses sniffing. Even now she could smell their acrid stench.

They moved through the village, hunched low, narrow heads jittering and jerking in all directions, their large pointed ears tilted, moving to catch the slightest of sounds.

Zim remained motionless. A slight breeze wafted through the tree,and the tree moaned. Its boughs creaked with age. Worry slipped into the fairy like a sliver of steel. She gasped, unable to help herself as sheer fright cut her deep and quick.

The monsters stopped,and in unison, they tilted their ugly head up to look at the fir tree before them. Nini froze. One of them stepped forward, head tilted, listening. The others crowded in close to it.

Nini felt the flump-bump of Zim's steady heart beat. He did not move.

Then the vampyers started to scream.

In no more than a blink, Zim leaped from th fir tree to the ground in front of the creatures, Nini still hugged inside his breast pocket. She peered over the frayed edge,and shuddered again. She didn't know if they saw her or not, but she saw them. Oh yes. Sh saw them and bared her teeth at them. She even let go an unlikely hiss of rage. Niether Zim nor the creatures seemed to notice.

Zim drew a sword the likes she has never seen from the air before him. The sword wasn't long, and unlike the heavy swords of this world, it was thin, ever so slightly curved. In a way, it was beautiful.

"You all know who I am, thus you know why I am here." Zim shouted.

Ghosted of all shapes and sizes hurried off into their dark homes.

The vampyers growled. One of them stepped forward.

"Zim. You really are a wonder! I never thought you'd follow us here. Where's the fairy?" It spoke as if it had a mouth full of tree bark, but Nini understood it perfectly.

"I know of no fairy, monster. I've come for you and your fellowship."

The vampyer barked laughter. When it was finished it said.

"Fellowship? Is that what you think my companions are? A fellowship? No Zim. We are a legion, a will of our own. We are the hurricanes of the human world...and now this one." It shrugged, sighed.

"No where's the fairy? We know you got her, so where did you put her?"

"I know of no fairy demon! I know of no fairy!" Zim screamed...and then Nini was holding on for her life.

Silver flashed through the air.

Part 5 will be done either Sunday or Monday. Sorry it takes so long between posts but my work schedule has doubled on me. So please forgive me if a post goes up a little late. Thanks to all. Later.

8 comments:

Drizel said...

Lucas, you got us all hanging on to your words, and it is a pleasure to read it:)
Sjoe its getting nail bitingly gripping now:)

Charles Gramlich said...

confrontation is good! Yes.

LoveRundle said...

I'm starting to worry. I actually felt happy she found Zim and the opening line where she's sleeping in his pocket was really cute. The small hints you give that he's not who she or we as readers think he is, has me nervous. I was really rooting for him to be her protector and friend. I was thinking at first that maybe he got bit and he was changing into a zombie, but now I'm not so sure what's going on any more with him. I just hope she's okay.

Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles) said...

I like this. You know, i am currently outlining my own faerie novel, something based on a short story I wrote.

Travis Cody said...

I get the feeling that Zim has his own reasons for protecting Nini, and that they are not wholesome reasons.

She should listen to the trees, I'm thinking.

Lucas Pederson said...

Etain, new ideas on how to move this story forward toward its cunclusion keep chimming in my head, so for part 4 I interwoves a couple things that popped into my head during writing. Thanks for the good words!
Charles, yes, confrontaion is alway good! Heats things up a bit. Thanks.
Christina,never know. A zombie? Hmmmm...
Stewart, really? I think fairy, faerie, stories are wonderful! It brings out the child in me every time! The more this continues on the more I'd like to rewrite it as either a novella or perhaps even a novel, really go indepth. We'll have to see. Thanks.
Travis, Zim is one of those dark, mysterious types. He may have a plan for Nini, but what it is, I don't even know yet. We'll see once it's one the screen. The tree may play an importnant role later. Again, we'll see. Thanks for stopping by!

Part 5 is coming together. Monday is my goal for posting, although Tuesday might be more ideal. Keep an eye out if you are one of those interested in knowing what will befall our little hero.
Also, I apologize if I haven't been visiting your own blogs more frequently. With all my writing projects right now and my day job, I'm strapped for time. So please excuse my tardiness. Once this Fairy tale is finished I promise I'll be visiting more often. Thanks again to all!

Susan Miller said...

"Silver flashed through the air."

I am so grateful that you are posting this here. Slater loves it so we are both enjoying the process of reading it as you post. Now you have us hanging. And, of course, like Christina I am getting worried...

Great work, Lucas.

Lucas Pederson said...

Susan, I'm glad both you and Slater like this little story. It's just flowing out of me and I'm letting it lead me. I've got no plan for what will happen or how it will end, I'm just letting the story unfold by itself.
Thanks.