71 - Portal

71 - Portal
Escort us? Clare thought in confusion. Why would the Pixie King get involved in escorting another court’s princess? I thought the courts didn’t get involved in others’ affairs unless it affected all the courts.
“The Fae Queen called upon a favor I owe her.” The Pixie King explained, breaking the questioning silence among the group. “It seems she wants you to do something in the human realm and asked me to help you get there.”
As he said those words, he pulled out a small box from his coat pocket and handed it to Clare. She stared at it for a moment, realizing it was a message box.
She learnt about them, but never had the chance to use one before. It made Clare worry that she wouldn’t be able to use it, but the second her fingers touched the box, her magic seeped into the box.
It took a few minutes for the box to snap open and Clare found herself staring at a mini hologram of the Fae Queen.
The Fae Queen hologram began speaking, “Seeing as you’ve gotten this message, war has broken out within the Fae Court. Trust the Pixie King to escort you to the human realm, but don’t answer any of his questions. He is only returning a favor he owes me.
I cannot say much through this message nor explain the whole situation, but I want you to return to the human realm. You know it better than any other Fae and I’ll need that knowledge because you need to make alliances. I need you to counter the Unseelie King’s influence while I destroy his influence in the Fae Court.
One of my swords’ familiars will accompany you, along with mine. I’ll use them to get messages between us and if the worst comes to be, you’ll have a guide to being the next queen. Keep Lav by your side at all times and learn everything you can from her.”
As the hologram spoke the last words, the message box lit up in flames. It quickly turned to ash, faster than Clare could process the queen’s words.
War had broken out. How did it happen so quickly? She had only been sleeping for a few hours surely. It couldn’t have been that long…
She glanced over at Xavier who raised a brow and mind linked her. Everything okay?
Not really. War broke out in the Fae Court and the Queen wants us to go to the human realm to destroy the Unseelie King’s influence there by growing ours. Clare quickly explained.
What?! Xavier gazed at her with shock in his eyes. How did she even-
Before Xavier could finish, the Pixie King coughed, “If you’ve confirmed the Fae Queen’s message, let’s get going. I don’t want to be here longer than necessary.“
“Ah.. yes of course.” Clare turned to the Pixie King. “Please do lead the way… and um thank you for the help.”
“No need to thank me, I’m just returning a favor I owe to the queen.” The Pixie King said before turning around to join his swords.
“Right… So how did you come to owe the Fae Queen a favor?” Clare asked as she followed the Pixie King, squeezing Xavier’s hand and mind-linking him, Once we’re in the human realm, we’ll need to discuss things with Bia. The Fae Queen will apparently communicate through her.
Guess the queen wasn’t leaving us much room to argue, but it’ll be nice to see everyone again. Xavier mind-linked back.
Clare silently nodded her head, turning her attention back to the Pixie King. She was really curious about how the Fae Queen got him to owe her a favor.
It was widely known that making a deal with the Fae was like making a deal with the devil. You weren’t sure when it would come back to bite you.
Of course, the Pixie Kig was pretty lucky he only had to escort them to the human realm. It could’ve been much worse for him and Clare was sure he knew about the consequences.
“Let’s just say I was young and dumb, not thinking about the consequences.” The Pixie King answered as they walked through the forest. “I believed making a deal with the Fae Queen wouldn’t be so bad as a prince of the Pixie Court and thankfully she never used the favor against me as she could have.”
“I see…” Clare murmured, her energy beginning to replenish as they walked through the forest.
Silence fell among the group after that and Clare enjoyed it, snuggling closer to Xavier. If not for the reason behind them being here, Clare would have taken this as a romantic stroll through the woods.
Eventually, a small willow tree surrounded by fireflies came to sight. It was the first normal size tree Clare had seen since coming to the Courts.
“I’ll make a portal for you here to leave for the human realm.” The Pixie King explained as he came to a stop in front of the willow tree. “You’ll need to make sure you have a place in mind when you step through the portal. Otherwise, you’ll be lost in its realm.”
Clare grimaced at his words. While the idea of teleporting back to the city seemed great, the price of failure was also high. There was also the fact that two of them hadn’t been to the city before.
“What about Lav and Bia?” Clare asked as Bia settled on her shoulder in her bird form.
“They’ll be fine if they stay connected to you.” The Pixie King responded nonchalantly. “Only one of you has to think about the place in mind if you hold onto each other.”
You think your parents will be mad if we suddenly appear in your pack house’s backyard? Clare mind-linked Xavier.
Probably not as mad as they would be for me disappearing suddenly. Xavier answered. But it’ll probably be best if we go there and skip the whole road trip back. Save some time and figure out what the hell’s going on.
Alright then. You’ll think of the place then?
Sure.
With the plan confirmed between the two, Clare turned her attention back to the Pixie King. “Okay… we’re ready then.”
“Finally…” The Pixie King muttered under his breath, before turning to his swords.
The two swords pulled out a cane each from who knows where, one flying to the top of the tree while the other flew to the tree’s roots.
As they did so, the fireflies around the tree began flying to the swords, creating a whirling circle between the canes head out. The Pixie King muttered something that Clare didn’t understand.
As he spoke, the fireflies’ circle grew, creating a golden portal. The swords edged closer to the portal, bending their canes until the canes snapped together, making a full circle around the fireflies.
Once they were done, they flew away from the portal while the Pixie King gestured for them to come closer. The four did so and the Pixie King continued muttering things.
“Pixie chants.” Lav suddenly murmured in her ear as she grabbed Clare’s arm. “Thought their portals were a rumor…”
Clare didn’t have time to ask what she meant by that because the Pixie King called out to them, “You can enter the portal. Make sure to keep a clear picture of the place you want to go in mind and ignore any voices calling to you.”
Before she had a chance to ask him about the last bit, the Pixie King’s swords shoved them into the portal.