The Illusionist
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Philothea didn’t have much to pack, only the few trinkets she had collected from Pouli’s cave. Raven was kind enough to replace the basket she was using to carry them with an actual satchel.
At first, Raven worked at a casual pace, gathering supplies, cleaning up, and asking the girls questions about their life at the temple and what happened the day Zeno arrived.
“I thought maybe he was Philothea’s secret dad,” Zoe was saying, as she watched Philothea and Raven wrapping up smoked fish and cheese.
“Not likely,” Raven answered. “Because Thea is definitely half-fae, and if Zeno was her dad, she’d only be a quarter fae.”
“Unless her mom was also half-fae,” Zoe interjected.
“Half-fae are very rare,” Raven explained. “Fae don’t like hum–” she paused suddenly, standing stiff and straight, listening.
At the very same moment, Philothea felt the familiar prickling of icy needles.
Raven went to the window and looked out.
“What is it?” Philothea whispered.
“What’s what?” Zoe asked.
“I don’t know,” Raven answered. She held up her arm for Fae. The great black bird came to her from her perch on one of the chair backs. “Fae, fly west and tell me if you see anyone coming this way. We will be headed east toward the falls at the head of Bilberry River. You’ll find us there.”
“I will go! I will go!” Pouli cried, fluttering down from the rafters and landing on Fae’s head. “I will get the news first, because I am a good boy.” He puffed his head up and sang,
“Pouli is the swiftest bird, the fastest ever seen.
Pouli will find the threat! His eyes are very keen.”
While he was still singing, Raven opened the door, and Fae took off with Pouli still clinging to her head feathers. He gave an irritated screech as she ascended and tumbled off, catching himself in midair before shooting after her.
“I’m glad he has some competition,” Zoe stated. “It will do his ego good.”
“Unfortunately,” Raven replied. “Nothing does a bird’s ego any good. They are born narcissists.”
She grabbed her pack and walked out, motioning for Philothea and Zoe to follow. As Raven passed the lake, the ripples of the blue water began to give way to the ripples of tall grass bending in the wind. In a moment, the lake was gone, completely replaced by the sprawling green field that tricked Philothea the day before.
“I doubt that will fool Zeno,” Raven shrugged.
Philothea looked over her shoulder toward the house and then jumped in alarm when she couldn’t see it.
“I’m taking some extra precautions today,” Raven explained. “Now come on.”
She sprinted away into the woods with Philothea on her heels.
“Stay close,” she called. “I don’t want you to get lost in my illusions.”
Lost in her illusions? What was she talking about? Curiously, Philothea glanced over her shoulder. It was only a quick glance since she didn’t want to lose sight of Raven, but she could have sworn she saw a river behind her that wasn’t there before.
She glanced again. Yes, there definitely was a wide river splitting the wood she had just passed through. Not daring to look away while the landscape was changing, Philothea fixed her eyes on her mentor. As they ran, Raven enacted more subtle changes, trees and boulders moved position slightly in her wake.
They continued for what seemed like forever, until they came to a real river. Raven turned and ran along the bank for a while until she came to a pool at the base of a roaring waterfall. She flopped down next to a fallen log and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Well, that should make it difficult for anyone to follow us,” she explained as Philothea collapsed into a heap. Zoe fell out of the air like a tiny meteor landing hard on Philothea’s chest. Both girls lay for a moment where they’d fallen catching their breath.
Raven looked up at the blue sky above. “We’ll wait here for Fae. In the meantime…” She jumped to her feet. “Let’s see if you can restore that friend of yours.”
“Yes please!” Zoe begged.
“No!” Philothea panted, sitting up.
“Why not?” Zoe asked.
Philothea’s cheeks flushed. She knew if she gave her real reason, it would upset Zoe.
“Now is… not a good time…” Philothea answered.
Raven regarded her keenly. “We have as much time now as we’ll ever have. If it was Zeno I sensed, then he’s going to be close on our tails for a while.”
Philothea wrung her hands. “I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can!” Zoe shouted, puffing up.
Raven held up a hand to silence the bird, but her eyes were fixed on Philothea.
“I know why you haven’t been able to turn her back,” Raven stated.
Philothea bit her lip.
“It’s because you haven’t really tried.”
“I have!” Philothea objected.
“Oh I’m sure you pointed at her and said something like, ‘be human’, or some other nonsense like that. But I mean, you didn’t will it.”
“I didn’t…” Philothea started. She looked at Zoe. If Zoe had been human, she would have been watching Philothea with her usual blank expression. As a bird, her anger was written plainly in her spiked head feathers. Philothea let her gaze drop.
“No, I didn’t want to turn her back,” Philothea answered. She glanced up at Zoe who was apparently too angry or too flustered to say anything. “As long as she’s a bird, Zeno won’t notice her. Even if he finds me, she’ll just blend right into the woods.”
Zoe deflated. “He will notice me because I’ll be flying in his face trying to peck his eyes out,” she stated. “Do you really think that’d I’d just fly off and leave you alone? I’m supposed to be looking after you. You think I won’t at least try to do my job!”
Raven grinned and was about to add something when Pouli shot through the tree line and landed on her head.
“They took Fae!” he exclaimed.
“What?” Raven demanded, snatching Pouli off her hair. “Who took Fae?”
“Fae took Fae!” Pouli exclaimed. “The tricky fae are coming! Got to hide the baby!”
Raven swore. “This isn’t good. We’ve got to…”
She stopped short. Dark figures were emerging from the trees all around them.
One of the newcomers stepped forward in front of the others and stood looking at Raven. He threw his hood back to reveal a thin, deep brown face with vibrant blue eyes.
“Why are you messing with the wood, Raven?” the fae said. “I collided with a tree a moment ago.”
“Maybe you should watch where you’re going,” Raven offered.
“Maybe you should stop putting illusions in the middle of the forest,” the fae man answered.
“I’d love to ask how you found me, Finch, but I really don’t have time.”
“Is that…” Finch was suddenly looking at Philothea. “No, it can’t be.”
“I’m taking care of it,” Raven said, stepping in front of Philothea. “She won’t do us any harm.”
Another of the figures was regarding Philothea, a woman like Raven but with a rounder face. “It is, Finch!” she exclaimed. “It’s a half-blood.”
“We have to take her to King Avis,” Finch explained.
“I was just doing that,” Raven lied smoothly. “And I don’t need your help–”
“You can’t do this on your own, Raven,” the woman answered. “Who knows what she’s capable of.”
“I can handle myself,” Raven answered.
“That’s just it, you can’t!” the woman interrupted. “Why do you always insist on doing everything alone?”
They were closing in now, surrounding Philothea.
“She looks so innocent,” one of the strangers said.
“But you can feel it, can’t you?” another added. “That power is like nothing I’ve ever felt.”
“She’s just a little girl,” Raven answered. “Maybe someday she’ll have unlimited power or whatever, but right now, I can handle her just fine. Please go away.”
An invisible force cast Raven aside. She swore as she landed in a crumpled heap.
“That was uncalled for!” she exclaimed.
Finch was stepping up to Philothea.
“You had better come with us,” he ordered.
The Fables of Para Sympan 