10. Mini in Size Only
10. MINI IN SIZE ONLY
ELOWYN
With Saffron bouncing against my back, I ran around yet another of the queen’s dilapidated cabins and slid to a stop, gaping at the felled tree. It was as tall as two or maybe even three Einars.
Ryder skidded to a halt beside me and breathed, “By the Ethers.”
More footfalls and shocked gasps told me others had joined us. But for several seconds I couldn’t look away from the caved roof, broken walls, and busted windows, which had been shuttered. The shutters were now cracked and splintered, the shattered pieces beneath the tree trunk that had clipped an entire corner of the building.
“If the queen’s got more fae in those rooms…” Reed said grimly, trailing off.
I didn’t need him to complete his thought. If the queen housed more fae like Ramana inside the unexplored rooms, we were unlikely to find survivors beneath that level of wreckage.
“Ye, dwarf!” Edsel’s gruff voice called at my back, reminding me that we needed to find time for introductions.
“Aye, goblin ?” replied Roan in a deep rumble.
“I seen ye hovering the possessed fae,” Edsel continued. “Can ye lift the tree off the roof?”
Right. Problem solving. That’s what I should be doing instead of gawping at the damage like a dumbass.
Roan didn’t answer for so long that I turned to face him. He was vigorously rubbing his bushy beard, his frown disappearing into the bristly hair while he contemplated the tree. Eventually, he exhaled with a sputter. “Nah, I cannot. ‘Tis too heavy for me to handle alone. The four fae were already taxing. At most, I could lift it just enough n’ just long enough for ya to drag anyone out from under it.”
Apology tugging down his brows, Roan gazed at me, his eyes shining a green as bright as newly unfurled leaves. “‘Tis the best I can do, lass.”
Why was he looking at me? It wasn’t as if I were in charge. But he stared on, as if waiting for … something.
When I finally offered, “Your best is good enough,” his shoulders relaxed, his hand dropping from his beard to the handle of his ax. “More than good enough.”
Indeed, Pru, Reed, Hiroshi, Ryder, Edsel, Roan, Larissa, and Zafi were all regarding me. West and Bertram must have remained with Ramana and the other sleepers. And Azariah might be too defeated to move. I needed to check on him soon—along with everyone else, probably.
“What? Why’s everyone looking at me?”
No one had a chance to explain before the acute crack of dense wood split the tension, and as one we all spun toward the forest, where I could now make out Einar’s head peeking between trees. It was moving toward us.
I shot my hands into the air and shouted, “Einar, stop! Wait!”
“If he pulls down another tree…” Ryder was saying.
I didn’t give him the opportunity to elaborate on how screwed we’d be or whom else might get hurt. “Wait for me, Einar,” I yelled at the dragon, who hadn’t stopped advancing. Please, I projected through my thoughts to him.
He halted.
Without removing my eyes from the beast who was too large for these woods, I barked at the others, “Help Roan and Edsel save anyone who can be saved. Get them all outside. I’ll deal with the dragon.”
Saffron snuffled against my shoulder. By sunshine, my little dragonling would need a long period of recovery to overcome all the strain he’d endured. “The dragon s ,” I amended, guiding Saffron around my waist to prop him upon my hip.
I might not have asked for a leadership role, but at my request everyone moved into position. Roan stayed by the toppled tree with Reed to assist. The others circled the house, presumably to drag out survivors. And Zafi shadowed me.
As I tromped toward Einar, trudging over fallen limbs, I eyed her. “Watcha doin’?”
“Coming with you.”
“I got that part. But why?” I asked with genuine curiosity.
Her little wings blurred as they beat so fast they hummed. “That dragon’s the biggest of all of us. Only makes sense that you’d need the tiniest of us too.”
I had no idea how that made any kind of sense, but far stranger things had proven true since Dougal first showed up to steal me from Nightguard.
“I’m mini,” Zafi added, quite unnecessarily, as we began weaving through dense woods. There was no path of any sort here.
Please wait for me, I asked of Einar, who only seemed to harrumph down our connection, before I told Zafi, “I might not know you super well yet, but from what I’ve already seen, you’re mini in size only. You have as much grit and fortitude as someone a hundred times your size.”
I pushed aside a branch only for it to come swinging back at me. I yanked my face out of the way just in time, catching a mere brush of leaves to my cheek. Even that light touch aggravated the cuts on my face, thanks to that carnivorous asshole of a flower.
“You know,” I continued, “your kind should be called MISOs instead of parvnits. Or maybe not. Far be it from me to tell your kind what to do about anything … but it sounds good, doesn’t it?”
“MISO?” came her voice, smaller than usual.
“Mini in size only,” I clarified. “Like I was saying.”
Einar’s massive legs, sheathed in shiny black scales that glimmered in the afternoon sunlight, rose up perhaps fifty feet ahead of us. They were as thick as some of the trees surrounding him.
A tiny sniffle sounded over my shoulder. I peered back at Zafi. Her little eyes were shining, her cheeks pink as her lower lip trembled.
My step hitched. I slowed. “Zafi?” I asked gently. “What’s wrong?”
The little fairy shook her head so violently that her acorn hat wobbled. She shot a hand out to steady it. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”
I had a gigantic and highly impatient dragon a few steps from demolishing an entire cabin, anyone inside it be damned; my mate and my best friend chasing after a crazed zealot who thought the queen shat sparkly fucking diamonds; a map I was obligated to follow to reveal fae the queen had overpowered and abused; trapped and possibly dead or dying fae; a traumatized unisus and dragonling; and a bitch of a horrid queen to murder; among a constantly expanding list of burdens that seemed to somehow be falling squarely on my shoulders.
But…
I reached out a hand to comfort the MISO before quickly drawing it back. She was so much smaller than I was. I hesitated, then inched a finger forward and ran it gingerly along her arm.
She began sobbing.
Oh, shit .
Einar, please continue waiting for me. I’ve run into a bit of a complication.
What complication? His voice was deep, slow, and immediate as it filled my mind.
So he really could hear me even when we weren’t touching foreheads—amazing!
Yes, I am. I am a fuerin, Einar commented, misconstruing my thought.
I wasn’t about to correct him—I mean, he was amazing—and hurried along in case he might realize that wasn’t what I’d meant on his own. He grunted aloud, setting tree canopies loudly rustling, and I wondered if I was too late.
It’s Zafi, I told him. She’s a parvnit, a very little fairy.
I know what a parvnit is. Such an unremarkable name for them.
Hmmm. Yes. Will you give me a minute?
Why? I have stopped moving.
And I thank you for that. But the parvnit needs me at the moment.
How?
I rolled my eyes and hoped he couldn’t sense my reaction. She just does. Give me a minute .
He grumbled but I turned to Zafi anyway. I brushed her arm again with my finger. “Are you alright? Are you ill from the travel? It can be extremely uncomfortable.”
She sniffled, ran a hand beneath her nose, then wiped it along her flower-petal skirt. “It’s not that.”
“Then, what?” I asked as delicately as I could considering how many situations required my urgent attention.
She shook her head some more. Again, her acorn hat threatened to topple before she shot out a hand to steady it. “It’s nothing. Really.” A sob burbled out of her before she clamped her lips shut.
Sighing quietly, I clasped her little hand between my forefinger and thumb, and smiled at her. “It’s obviously not nothing.”
“It is?—”
“Zafi, it’s not. So tell me what’s going on. You’re just as important as any of the rest of us. Your needs matter too.”
That only made her cry harder. Her shoulders shook. She untangled her hand from mine to bring both to her face.
I gave her time we didn’t have, and waited. When her crying finally began to lighten, I prompted, “Zafi? What is it, little one?”
Little one , it was what Einar had called me.
When she began shaking her head yet another time, I adjusted my approach. “Look, Zaf, we’ve got some majorly dire shit to handle. ”
Her head jerked up, her eyes welling with more tears. “I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be?—”
“That’s not what I’m getting at. What I’m trying to say is, the sooner you tell me what’s going on and how I can fix it, the sooner we can get back to helping others who also need us. And I’m not going to let this go, so you may as well share now instead of later.”
She snuffled. Wiped her nose again. Then asked, “They need me too?”
“Of course they do. We’re a team, aren’t we?”
“I-I didn’t know we were a team.”
That was probably because I’d only just thought of us that way. “We’re more than a team. We’re an army . And we are going to take down the queen.”
Her eyes widened until they were full-on grapeseed size. “We’re going to take down the queen…” she repeated with a tinge of awe. It wasn’t a question.
“Damn right we are. So what do you need, little warrior, who is mini in size only and has the courage of a dragon?”
Einar grumbled loudly enough for the ground to shake. I rolled my eyes at his theatrics, and Zafi giggled, then hiccupped.
I’m trying to make her feel better, okay? I told Einar. So give me a break .
You told her she is as courageous as a fuerin. That is not true.
Why can’t it be? She’s so small you could inhale her and not even notice. How much courage must it take to want to defeat the queen— the shadow —when she could so easily crush her?
Huuuuh , was all Einar offered.
Courage comes in all shapes and sizes. Some have little, some have lots. If someone gives all they’ve got, that makes them a badass.
It still does not make them like a fuerin.
No, of course not. Now, will you please give me a minute ?
Time. So concerned about time.
It was my turn to harrumph. When I returned my focus to Zafi, she was staring at me with eyes that were now clear.
“What … was happening?” she asked, sounding uncertain.
“I was talking with him.” I jabbed my thumb in the grumpy dragon’s general vicinity. When she only blinked at me, I added, “With the dragon.”
Her mouth dropped open to form a perfect oval.
I didn’t mean to, but I laughed.
She pulled her mouth closed and scowled. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, it’s something.”
“Exactly,” I confirmed, triumphant. “So what’s going on with you?”
When she hesitated, I gave her an I will wait you out look, kissed the top of Saffron’s head, and cocked a hip.
“Fine,” she relented with a frown. “It’s just that…” Sh e looked away, pretended to be fascinated by a tree that was much like all the others, and spoke in that direction. “It’s just that no one’s said anything nice to me, or about me, in a very long time.”
My impatience evaporated. Roan and the others had the cabin handled. I certainly couldn’t shift a tree. And Rush and Xeno were more than capable of overpowering Ivar—I hoped.
And Einar could wait.
Huuuuh , he said, and had I been able to make out his face above the tree canopies, I guessed he would be scowling at me.
One problem at a time… I sidled closer to Zafi. Saffron roused and snapped his teeth at her. She shrieked and zoomed away, stopping to hover out of reach and glare at the dragonling. I tsked at Saffron and shifted him to the opposite hip, away from her.
“Don’t mind him,” I told a now startled Zafi. “He just wants to play.” Maybe. He was a dragon after all, just a very small and docile one. I could only hope his sense of mischief was returning.
Zafi narrowed her eyes at him. “Those teeth don’t look like he just wants to play.”
Saffron’s teeth were spindly and sharp enough to slice through raw meat like it was butter.
I shrugged and began as gently as I could: “Back to you … you’ve mentioned a mother who passed. Surely she said nice things about you.”
She hiccupped. “She did.”
I smiled. “See? And I just said you’re brave. ”
She sniffed. “Yeah, but…”
“But?”
“But the parvnits kicked me out of the Nerotti Forest ‘cause I wasn’t special enough.”
My spine stiffened. “What?”
She was nodding fervently, the tears brimming again. “Yeah. See, parvnits are blessed by the Ethers with color. We’re supposed to come in all colors of the rainbow, like gemstones. Our color’s part of what makes us who we are. And look at me.”
I did as she asked, studying her intently as she tipped her chin up and waited, a mixture of defeat and defiance clear across her features.
“Yeah, so?” I asked.
She flapped her arms. “I’m plain . That’s, like, a mortal sin for parvnits!” After more of that defiance, she added, “MISOs.”
“You don’t look plain to me.”
She whipped her acorn hat off and pointed at her head.
I arched my brows at her. So what? they asked.
She pointed more fervently before tucking her hair under the acorn and pulling it snugly back in place. “My hair’s brown. My eyes are brown. My eyelashes are brown. Brown, brown, brown. No color. None. No color anywhere. It’s all brown , even my skin.”
“Um, brown’s a color, last I checked.”
“Not a gemstone color. Not a rainbow color. Not a flower color.”
“There are brown gemstones.” None I could think of at that precise moment, but I was certain there had to be some.
She crossed her arms in front of her diminutive chest, rumpling her flower-petal top. “None of the really desired ones.”
“Brown’s the color of nature.” I gestured around us. “Look at the trees and the dirt.”
“Yeah, dirt. Tree stumps. That’s me. Plain as dirt. That’s why I had to leave.”
“They really made you leave for that?”
Her eyes glistened as they blazed. “I haven’t been home in almost three years.”
“How’d you end up where my mother was?”
She shrugged, a sharp jerk of her shoulders while her translucent wings continued to buzz. “It was a good place to hide for a few days. The forest can be exhausting. Something always wants to eat you.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered, glancing at the black dragon legs that required my attention before they brought down more trees. “Well,” I told Zafi, “you aren’t plain to me. You’re actually quite spectacular.”
Her eyes widened. She swallowed. “I … am?”
“Of course you are. Look at you, being a warrior about to take down the most fearsome ruler the Mirror World has ever seen.”
I frowned. What was I doing? She was still only a child of fourteen. But it was too late.
She beamed. “Yeah.” She threw a few punches into the air, followed by a kick with each leg that messed up the rhythm of her beating wings. But that didn’t stop her from grinning. “We’re gonna kick some queen ass.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering about her language, her involvement, her safety, whether I should try to convince her to stay away from danger, when I heard Rush’s voice.
“El! We got ‘im,” he shouted.
“I’m coming,” I yelled loudly enough that my message would reach him.
“Go make sure everything’s okay,” I told Zafi, who straightened her back, bowed her head at me sharply in something akin to a salute, and zoomed off.
Since Einar could hear me just fine from where I stood, there was no point in trouncing farther into the woods. There’s a clearing in front of the cabin. Any chance you can fly over there and land without taking out any trees or hurting anyone?
Huuuuh . Of course I can. I am a fuerin.
Good, then…
Einar was already crouching into his mighty haunches. He launched into the sky. A pair of smaller trees, one to each side of him, cracked like a pair of whips.
“Oh no,” I gasped as I bolted back toward the cabin.
The trees crashed to the ground so hard it rippled under my feet. But as the thunder of their fall echoed, I was unhurt. The trees had fallen wide, far from where I stood.
Screams erupted from the area of the cabin as Einar blotted out the sun .
“Fuck,” I grunted and ran as fast as I could toward the mighty dragon who, at the very least, posed a risk of making Azariah shit himself and then faint.
“Hold on, buddy,” I told Saffron. “Things will calm down soon.”
Even as the assurance slipped past my lips, I knew I should take it back. It was surely a lie. But Saff was nervous enough as it was. I allowed the lie to stand.