**** Chapter Thirty: FLY AWAY LILY

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Chapter Thirty: FLY AWAY LILY

I was still wondering what to do when a soft rustling sound caught my attention. Demon? I didn’t want to see Demon again. Not ever! And so I ran again, not caring where to for as long as it was away from him.

I found myself at the stables and whistled for my horse, Lily. She obediently neighed and trotted out into the night breeze. I mounted her and burying my face in her soft mane, I whispered, “Fly away Lily! Take me away from here!”

But Lily didn’t move. She just looked at me, a little bored. I remembered Azure had given the horses a command before we set out for this trip. What had he said?

"Ashes – fly?" I said to Lily.

Nothing happened. She didn’t even budge.

"Let's go Lily,” I said, agitated. “I need to get away from here. Ashes Von – Vonz? Ashé Vonz? Ardh Vahn!"

Lily twitched a little and started walking.

"No!” I said, “fly – no walk!"

But she didn’t stop and walked right back to the woods. Damn these creatures!

They just couldn’t forget their Demon for one second!

“Stop, Lily! Stop! We don't want to go to Demon right now!” I tugged on her mane.

Thankfully she heeded but not in time. Demon wasn’t in the woods anymore; he was now standing out on its edge – looking at me!

Damn it! This was exactly what I didn't want to happen! Damn that stupid mare.

Demon hadn’t moved or said anything yet. I closed my eyes and tried with all my might to remember the one foreign phrase that would save me the humiliation this single moment was causing.

“And what exactly do you think you’re doing?” His stern voice made me pop my eyes open. And just then as I looked at him, the right words came to me. “Aoife!” He took a step forward and almost hissed. “Get off the horse!” “You don't own me,” I said.

“Aoife, don't be a child! Get off that horse!”

"Arsh Vahn!" I shouted and had barely finished giving the command when Lily leapt into the air.

“Aoife!” I saw Demon race after us, then stop, swearing. “You officious, stubborn, bloody brat! Aoife! Fen!”

His outburst made me laugh in spite of everything. I liked thinking that I had that kind of power over him. Sadly the euphoria didn't last very long. The end notes of that same thought brought tears. I could make him angry. And it was all that I could ever do.

There was no happily-ever-after here.

A whore! How dare he use that term for me? A brat! A pain in the ass is all I am to him! That’s all I’ll ever be!

Burning thoughts melted my insides. I wished I could summon some fury too, so I could use it to fight back my tears, but I found none.

Love sucked!

And it was my fault! He had never given me a reason to fall for him and all the reasons not to. And this wasn’t even the worst thing! The worst thing was that I hadn’t even realized I was in love with him till it was too late to stop.

I sucked!

We must’ve been flying very high since all I saw around me was cool floating white clouds. But where was I going? I couldn't see Ogaz's magical flower fields anymore. There was just the night sky above, a huge blanket of star-spangled blackness that engulfed everything above me. Who could tell where I was or where to go?

And suddenly I remembered. The pearl! I was still wearing it. I had worn it every second of the day and night since Ogaz had tied it around my neck. I touched it and said, "Scarlet, I need help."

“My regards to the Princess of Enth.” The red smoky spirit appeared. “Why have you sent for me?”

"I – uhm – the princess wishes to go –" I stopped. Where did I want to go? On impulse I added, "To where the Ducimus army is."

“I shall lead the way.” It melted into a red speck that flew out in front of Lily. The flying mare immediately changed directions and started veering to the left.

And to this plain query I had no answer. The head had won over heart yet again. Or perhaps it was more the passage of time and the cool night air that had soothed my ruffled nerves. I was about to ask Lily to turn back when I saw a lump of thick white cloud bubbling beneath us like smoke. Curious, I leaned down a little further to see more clearly and – I slipped.

Damn this bareback stuff!

I was falling through rushing wind to hit the ground and turn into pulp. I opened my mouth to scream, but something broke my fall and I grabbed it. I was hanging onto a very pliable branch of a very thick tall tree. It bowed with my weight and then threw me back up in the air. As I went up, I noticed another branch just within my reach. It seemed thick enough to hold my weight. I grabbed it on the way down, and swung my legs up so that I was now straddling it.

I should've been scared; my heart should have been racing. Instead, I was calm. My Syhlain instincts had fully kicked in. In a smooth move, I squeezed my legs together and started crawling towards the tree trunk.

I could see a village just below. The smoke I had seen earlier was rising from a few chimneys. There were no big houses, just mud huts with thatched roofs. Tracks of hardened mud and sand passed for roads. I even saw a chicken running loose. Thick black lanterns on posts gave off an eerie yellow light that accentuated the ugliness of the huts rather than softening it.

Strange, I thought. It seemed like a normal village except for a peculiar hostile smell in the air. And of course the houses weren’t anything to brag about either. Could I be in Ducimus already?

A woman came out of a particularly small hut with a smoking chimney. She wasn't wearing an apron like a homely village mother busy cooking for her kids. She was dressed in full leather gear and had – uhm – horns on her head. Yes, the kind a bull has or a bison if you will. Maybe even like a ram’s horns – perhaps a mix of all three -- but the woman had goddamn horns on her head!

She was a large woman; tall, muscular, very mannish and threatening with deep kohl eyes and rough hair loosely tied in an unkempt braid, and a stern angular, angry face. As if she alone wasn’t weird enough, another woman followed her out, with thin snakes instead of hair.

My, oh my! Never thought I’d be seeing Medusa in my lifetime! Wonder why it hadn’t occurred to any of the boys to ever mention exactly what the enemy looked like. Especially Demon! All His Royal Highness had to say was hey Aoife, by the way – the

Ducimus ain’t human! And oh wait – hadn’t Aoibheann been one of them? Is this what Demon had fallen in love with? No wonder he found me totally unattractive and thank all things pure, pretty and holy for that!

I was a little freaked out. I had landed on a tree directly overlooking the village inhabited by the Ducimus Army.

If they were to look my way, and if they had half my vision, they would see me for sure.

I looked around for Lily but I couldn't see her anywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had gone back to report to Demon that she’d lost me. Honestly, I hoped she would do just that. I could use back up here if they took me hostage or whatever.

I decided to climb back up into the thicker foliage of the tree to find an escape in the other direction – the one leading away from the Ducimus village. I grabbed a sickly twig hanging above my head with one hand and a strong vine that hung down around my shoulders with the other and got to my feet. The icy wind seemed to be freezing my flesh and bones under my black shorts and tee. Shivering, I caught hold of a higher branch and tried to lift myself up. The quiet leaves rustled, sending alarms through my body.

“Ssh!” I whispered to the tree and, to my amazement, it reacted.

The branch I was on began to move. It gained speed before I could slip off it. The tree swung me around so quickly that I couldn’t stop an escaping shriek just before I landed hard on the ground near the roots. The loud thud drew the attention of the few women out in the village streets. They stared at me with unblinking attention for a handful of seconds before somebody realized that I was – uhm – not quite one of them.

Two amazons jumped at me together but I escaped the attack by quickly rolling off to the side. I got to my feet and tried to run but the ground was slippery. I splashed into what felt like gooey tree sap except it was thinner.

I tried to get up again but somebody grabbed my leg and dragged me away from the tree. I grabbed a protruding root and, rolling off of my stomach, kicked the horned Ducima who was tugging at my feet in the head. She squealed loudly and let go. I finally jumped to my feet, punched another approaching Ducima in the face and just was about to run when a chunky branch lifted me up and threw me down hard into the glop again.

“Yuck!” I wiped the sap off my eyes and nose. It tasted like bitter tobacco and I felt my head whirl. A snake haired Ducima seized the opportunity and jumped at me, and pinned my arms behind my back in a firm grip so that I couldn’t move.

“Get off me!” I tried to toss her heavy weight off my back, I should have been able to, but my senses were gradually numbing. I could feel my head floating away somewhere in the sky without taking me along with it. The surrounding sounds began to fade away until I could no longer keep the heavy lids of my drowsy eyes open.