Wings (21 page)

Jak jumped out of his cousin’s reach and tightened his
grip on his knife. He’d known for a long while that he was going to have to face Nihlo again, only this time he didn’t intend to run.

Tamisin was afraid to run into the tallest grass until she heard one of the goblins shout, “I think I see her!” Glancing back, she saw the boar goblin enter the sea, so she turned and ran into the taller, more concealing growth, parting the blades with her outstretched arms. Her heart thudding in her chest, she kept expecting the goblin to grab her from behind. The grass flew by in a blur, then suddenly she was stumbling over an enormous bronze– and copper-colored tube that twitched beneath her feet.

A woman’s head rose above the grass so that Tamisin had to look up to see her. She was beautiful, with flowing dark hair that gleamed blue-black in the sunlight. Her neck was long and slender; her skin was pale with just a hint of pink on her cheeks. The grass that brushed her bare shoulders hid her from the collarbone down.

The woman looked startled, as if Tamisin was the apparition. “What are you doing here?” she said in a whispery kind of voice.

“Running from goblins. I was told that no one comes into the sea, but at least one of them is following me. Why are you here? Are you running from something, too?”

“I wath taking a nap,” said the woman, patting her mouth delicately with well-manicured fingertips. “And
jutht what do you mean, nobody cometh into the thea? Who told you that? Hath thomeone been thpreading rumorth about me again?” A soft shushing sound came from the depths of the grass.

“I’m sorry I woke you. It’s just, well, do you have somewhere I can hide?”

“You want me to hide you? That’th very funny. Nobody exthept my relativeth ever athked for my help before. Let me thee if anyone ith thtill chathing you. No, no one ith there. But if thomeone chathed you here on purpothe to dithturb my nap, I’ll thee that that foul …” The woman rose up until her head towered over Tamisin’s. Her upper body was wrapped in a silky fabric that didn’t cover much. She didn’t need clothes below her waist, because the rest of her body thickened into that of a snake.

Tamisin gasped and started to back away, but the woman was too busy working herself into a rage to notice. “Jutht wait until I get my fangth in …”

Tamisin might have escaped if she hadn’t tripped and landed on something cushiony. Putting her hands on the ground, she tried to push herself up, then snatched them back when she felt smooth, dry scales. She was sitting on the snake woman’s enormous bronze and copper coils with her legs draped over their sides. The end of the woman’s tail vibrated above Tamisin’s head, shaking a cluster of bead-shaped rattles that made the shushing sound she’d heard.

The woman swung her head around and glanced down at Tamisin. “What
are
you doing?” she asked.

“I’m sorry! I …”

Three bright lights no bigger than Tamisin’s little finger darted past. She cringed when the snake woman opened her mouth and hissed. Long white fangs curved from her upper jaw, and Tamisin could have sworn she saw drops of venom on their tips. In a flash, the snake woman lunged at the lights, dumping Tamisin out of her coils onto the ground. The little lights bumped into one another, then fled over the undulating grass.

“Thtupid fairieth,” said the woman, turning back to Tamisin. “They’re thuch a nuithance. They probably think I’m going to eat you.”

“You wouldn’t, would you?” Tamisin said with a mouth so dry that the words came out in a whisper.

“Of courthe not!” said the snake woman, her eyes flaring with indignation. “I don’t do that kind of thing anymore. I admit that I uthed to enjoy frightening people and I relithed the occathional thpirited thnack, but a girl geth lonely after a couple of centurieth. Now I jutht want to have thomeone to talk to, thomeone who won’t run off when he theeth me. I’ve been lonely for motht of my life and I’m tired of it.” The snake woman glided toward Tamisin, lowering her head until they were the same height. “You aren’t afraid of me, are you?”

“You are a little scary,” Tamisin admitted as she struggled to her feet.

The woman’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t mean to be,” she said. “I can’t help being different. I wath born thith way.”

Tamisin couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. While
tears trickled down the snake woman’s cheeks, Tamisin reached into her purse for a tissue, but all she could find was a pink bandanna. “Here,” she said, offering it to the woman. “You can dry your eyes with this.”

“You’re giving thith to me?” she asked, appearing incredulous.

Tamisin nodded since she didn’t really want it back.

The woman sniffed and patted her eyes. “No one’th ever given me a gift of her own free will before! Thank you.”

Tamisin stepped back when the woman looked as if she wanted to give her a hug. “You know, you wouldn’t be so scary if you didn’t hiss at people or show your fangs.”

“Oh,” the woman said, looking surprised. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Pulling her lips over her teeth, she leaned toward Tamisin and said, “Ith thith better?”

The tips of her fangs still showed. Tamisin shook her head. “Not really,” she said, and she began to back away.

The woman followed, her head only a few feet above Tamisin’s. “Pleathe help me,” she said as a big tear trickled down the side of her nose. “I really want to know what to do.”

“You’re still hissing,” Tamisin replied. “Maybe a good speech therapist could help.” The rattle vibrated again, making her jump. “And don’t shake your rattle. That’s really scary.”

“Oh, right,” said the woman, but her rattle continued to shake. Muttering to herself, she grabbed the end of her tail with both hands. “It’th a nervouth habit.”

“Habits are made to be broken,” said Tamisin. “I’m sure you can if you try.”

Peering into the grass around her, Tamisin tried to decide what to do. In a world where everything was strange and often threatening, she was beginning to think that Jak wasn’t so bad. He was familiar and had never hurt her, even if he had been sent to kidnap her. She knew that she didn’t want to go anywhere with the goblin that Tobi had called Nihlo, nor could she stay in the sea with the snake woman. And Jak had promised to take Tamisin to the fairy queen, even though it meant going against his uncle’s wishes.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go now,” she told the snake woman. “I need to find my friend.”

“I can go with you, if you’d like.” The snake woman sounded as eager as a small child who’s offered a special treat. “No goblinth will bother you if I’m around.”

“I’m not sure which way to go from here,” Tamisin said.

“No problem,” said the woman, rising up on her tail. “I can thee your trail. And look, that mutht be your friend at the edge of the grath. He’th lying down. Maybe he’th taking a nap.”

The woman slithered beside Tamisin as they forced their way through the grass. Butterflies fluttered past and a swallow skimmed the rustling sea, but suddenly Tamisin was too worried about Jak to notice them. Jak wouldn’t be taking a nap; if he was lying down, something must be terribly wrong.

Jak lay with his feet in the grass, his head pillowed on the root of an old maple. The fight had been brief. He and Nihlo had been parrying with their knives, and his cousin had nicked Jak’s arm just above the elbow. A moment later, Jak was sprawled on the ground, as weak as a newborn kitten. The fast-acting poison on Nihlo’s blade had left Jak fully conscious, yet feeling as detached as if his emotions belonged to someone else. It also left him unable to do more than blink while Nihlo wondered aloud how long he’d have to wait for the boar goblin to bring Tamisin back. And then the goblin was back, tearing through the grass, whimpering that he’d seen a lamia. A moment later they had fled into the forest, leaving Jak to the mercy of the denizens of the sea.

Then the cats returned, licking his face and brushing against him. He couldn’t move when one rubbed his mouth, leaving him with loose fur on his lips and in his nose. And then the cats ran off, too.

The grass swooshed in the sea just past his feet. Someone
was coming. Jak immediately recognized the sound for what it was, having spent many sleepless nights as a child imagining what the lamia’s approach would be like. When he heard Tamisin talking as well, he decided that the poison was making him hallucinate. He was sure that if his mind had been clearer, he would have felt guilty for not having told Tamisin about any number of things—the lamias, his mission to get her, and how he had never meant her any harm. He would have felt sad, too, for she was most likely dead by now.

“Jak!” cried his hallucination, sounding exactly like Tamisin.

A few seconds passed while he went cross-eyed, staring at the praying mantis that had come to investigate his nose. Then a strong hand gripped his shoulder and flipped him onto his back. “He’th thtill alive,” said a beautiful woman with long dark hair, who, strangely enough, had her lips pulled over her teeth so at first he thought she didn’t have any.

“Oh, Jak, I was so frightened. I thought you were dead!” exclaimed Tamisin’s voice, and he felt two warm hands cradle his cheeks and turn his head to the side, where, to Jak’s great joy, he could actually see her face. He thought she was the loveliest sight he had ever seen, and he would have told her so if only he could get his mouth to work. Somehow, even blinking was getting difficult. In a halfhearted way, Jak wondered how long it would take his eyeballs to dry out if he could no longer blink.

Some not-too-gentle fingers poked Jak’s arm. “He’th
been poithoned,” said the dark- haired woman. “Thee that blue thtuff? He’ll be dead in a few minuteth if we don’t do thomething.”

Jak watched as Tamisin turned to look at the woman.
She is so beautiful
, he thought and wondered why she was starting to cry.

“Do you have any ideas?” Tamisin asked the woman.

“Don’t look at me,” the woman replied. “I know how to put poithon in, not take it out.”

“You’re being so brave, Jak,” Tamisin said, turning back to gaze into his eyes and brush the ants from his face. “I was furious when I thought you’d tricked me, but I see now that you would give your life for me. You never meant to hurt me, I’m sure of it. I have to do something to help you. Maybe I can draw the poison out with my lips.”

“That’th a terrible idea!” said the woman. “Then you’ll both be dead and I won’t have any new friendth.”

Tamisin’s face lit up as she looked at the woman, making Jak happy in a distant sort of way that she no longer looked so sad. “New friends? That’s it! I know what we should do! I don’t mean to be rude, but would you mind waiting in the sea? I’m going to call someone and I don’t want to scare him off.”

“Thure,” said the woman. “But I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Tamisin frowned as she waited for the woman to leave. “What was his name?” she murmured. “Oh, yes.” Raising her head, she turned to face the forest and called out in a loud, clear voice, “Herbert! I need you!”

“It’s about time,” said a voice from somewhere behind Jak.

A twig snapped in the forest and Jak thought that Tamisin looked surprised. “You’re already here?” she said. “How did you know that I needed you?”

Jak couldn’t see the newcomer, but he heard him snort and say, “I’ve been waiting here for you ever since you left the forest. I knew you’d come back sooner or later. The attraction between us is too strong for you to stay away.”

It occurred to Jak that he knew who it was; only a unicorn would talk like that, and they had met one that very day. If he could have moved, Jak would have stood up and put the overdressed horse in its place.

“There’s no attraction,” Tamisin said. “I need you to—”

“You couldn’t get along without me, could you? I must admit, I am a fine specimen of unicorn flesh. My mother always told me, ‘Lester’—that’s my brother’s name, but she never could tell us apart—‘Lester,’ she’d say, ‘you’re a fine—’ “

“Would you please just listen to me?” said Tamisin. “I need you to help my friend, please. He has poison in him and we have to get it out.”

Jak could hear the unicorn coming toward him and suddenly he was there, breathing into his face. “Say, isn’t this the goblin boy who was so rude to me?” said Herbert. “I don’t want to touch him. Look at his eyes. I think he wants to hurt me.”

Tamisin frowned at the unicorn. “Don’t be ridiculous.
He can’t even move. He’s not going to do anything to you. Please, just bend down and touch him with your horn or whatever it is you do. And hurry. He doesn’t have much time.”

There was a swooshing sound in the sea. “Ith he better yet?” called the woman.

The unicorn gasped and his eyes seemed to glaze over. “Who is that enchanting creature?” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Is she a friend of yours?”

“I guess you could say that,” Tamisin said. “I’ll introduce you if you’ll tap Jak with your horn.”

“Yeah, yeah, a light tap,” said the unicorn. Sparing Jak only the briefest of glances, he bopped him on the head with his horn before turning back to the woman.

There was a tingling sensation in Jak’s arms and legs. His hands and feet felt as if they were on fire. He wondered if this was another part of the hallucination or if he was about to die.