Chasing Aurora
Chapter 18

When I woke up, I still had that fire burning inside me. I swung out of bed and woke up Robby. He opened his eyes with a groan. “Why are we waking up so early?” He groaned.

“It’s eight jackass. Now get out of bed, we have work to do.” I slipped into the washroom and quickly got dressed and ready. When I came out I found Robby sitting up in bed rubbing his face, “What room are the fae in?”

“They’re right there.” He said pointing to the right, “So I take it you’ve got an idea of our next move?”

“I have several. We’re not putting all our eggs in one basket this time. Now get ready, I want to be on the road in under an hour.” I grabbed one of the room keys and went over to the fae’s room. I knocked on the door and Flora answered it right away.

“Oh hello dear. You look like you’re doing better.” She said.

“I am. Aurora and I talked and we have some ideas. Pack up your things and meet in our room. I’m going to grab us some breakfast for while we talk.”

“I’ll come help you. That’s a lot of food for one person to carry” Flora went back in the room to talk with her sisters before coming back out. The two of us walked in silence before stepping into the elevator to go down to the lobby. We picked up some breakfast before heading back up to the room. Everyone was already in there waiting for us. Once breakfast was served, they turned to me.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Merriweather asked.

“First, do you have any fae connections that would be willing to keep an eye out or even help us look for Maleficent?” I asked.

The three fae looked at each other before Flora answered, “We can try and see but with Maleficent’s reputation, not a lot of fae would go against her. Plus, most fae do not like helping humans.”

“Well, it can’t hurt to ask. If we can get as many people looking out for her as possible that is what we need. I’m going to contact Ella and see if she knows any witches in Europe who can keep an eye out too. We must do this without magic of any kind. Maleficent must have some way of knowing when magic is being used to look for Aurora.”

“Sounds like a plan boss,” Robby said through a huge bite of a croissant.

“Close your mouth when you’re chewing idiot.” I sighed before continuing, “Now, while we have these people looking out, we are going to visit all of Maleficent’s known haunts. I’m talking her birthplace, where her son was born, where her son died, fuck if she broke a nail we are going. We are going to do whatever we can.”

Merriweather pulled out a map, “The closest would be where her son was born. It’s just over an hour away.”

“Let’s go. You drive.” I pushed myself to my feet. We all filed downstairs and filed into the van. Once in the car Flora started making phone calls while Fauna began marking locations on the map. I pulled out my phone quickly texting Ella to call me when she wakes up. I did the math, and it would be around two in the morning. I had to be reasonable. Also, it would probably help not to piss off a powerful witch by waking her up.

“So, hanging out with Aurora helped huh,” Robby asked. I looked out of the corner of my eye at his smug face. I rolled my eyes as I leaned back in my seat.

“She was very helpful.”

“Good. I hated seeing you like that yesterday.”

“Thanks for being there Robby. I’m really glad you came along.”

“Come on, who wouldn’t want to spend hours in a van with three fairies?”

“We’re fae!” The three women corrected us. Robby and I shared a look before we both started laughing. We had realized that if we ever wanted to liven the mood, just ‘accidentally’ call the aunts fairies. It was important to replace the little joys in life.

We got to the location where Maleficent’s son was born and quickly realized Maleficent wouldn’t be there. Mostly because it had now become a bustling resort town full of tourists. There were also no houses around that would provide her with the security and isolation she appeared to enjoy. We went over the map and decided that our best bet was the place it all started.

It was going to take most of the day to get there but Robby was already working on getting us some hotel rooms for the night. I was trying to polish out a spot on my sword when I started hearing a buzzing in my ear. I looked up to see if anyone else heard it but no one was reacting. I tried going back to my polishing, but the sound just kept getting louder. “Hey Robby, do you hear that?”

“Um, no. Why? What do you hear?” He asked but it was getting hard to hear him.

“Buzzing. It’s getting so loud.” I’m sure I was yelling but I could barely hear anything. I put my hands on my ears to try and dampen the noise. I felt Robby’s hand on my back. I looked over to see him yelling at the aunts. The car pulled over on the side of the road. Immediately I got out of the car and for some reason, I grabbed my sword. I stood on the side of the road and stared at the woods in front of me. The buzzing was going down but I was focused on a weird light off in between the trees.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Robby asked, getting out of the car.

“I have no idea. Any chance you see the weird light in the trees?” I asked.

“I don’t see anything. Dude, what’s happening?”

“No fucking clue but I’m going to walk closer light.” I started off into the woods in probably one of the worst ideas I’ve ever had in my life. Nothing good comes from wandering off towards a weird light in the forest. I heard everyone following me. I sent up a silent prayer that I wasn’t leading them towards a trap and our demise.

Holding my sword up high and ready, I stepped into a grassy clearing. My eyes were trained on the ball of pure white that was hovering at eye level in the center. I was completely transfixed as I walked towards it. My sword dropped to my side as my hand reached out. I was millimeters away from it when I heard someone yell behind me. I turned back to see Flora and Fauna holding Robby back at the tree line with looks of fear on their faces.

The realization that I’d done something completely idiotic rushed over me and I began running to the trees when this wave of energy hit me. I went flying. I tried to land as gently as possible, rolling to a crouched position, but my sword went flying. I started making my way towards it as I looked around me. I was trapped in a dome of pure white energy. I was at least alone... for now.

I dashed for my sword. My hand wrapped around the hilt as I stood in a fighting stance. My heart was pounding in my chest as I inched backwards. I needed to limit the ways someone could attack me. Putting a wall at my back was my best bet to not getting surrounded. My heart was pounding in my chest by the time my back foot came into contact with the dome.

I stood there, ready, for what felt like forever but was probably only seconds when a man appeared. His eyes met mine and I felt my breath catch. His face, it was almost identical to mine. We could have been twins. The same brown eyes, the same nose, his face was slightly more angular, his jaw stronger and his hair much longer than mine, reaching down past his shoulders. He was dressed in a red cape over a white tunic and brown pants with a sword hanging from his belt. Most impressive of all was the gold crown that rested on his brow.

“Piper Raleigh Jennings.” He said in a low smooth baritone. His voice was so damn melodic, I could feel my body wanting to relax. Lulling me into a false sense of security.

I fought the urge to relax and raised my sword, ready to attack. I was a dangerous caged dog to have. He messed with the wrong woman. “Who the fuck are you?”

He chuckled shaking his head slightly. “I am Prince Phillip of the Fae.” His eyes met mine and I could see a power in them that rivalled Maleficent. I focused my eyes slightly off his shoulder to see if I could see his aura and suddenly saw gold waves coming off him. My eyes flicked back to his and I could see him smiling at me.

“Why did you trap me here?” I asked.

“It’s only temporary. I’m afraid I can’t be in the mortal world for long. I wanted to help in your fight against Maleficent.”

I stood a little straighter. Fauna did say that gold auras meant someone was powerful and fundamentally good. Maybe I could trust him. “Why would you want to do that?”

“I want Maleficent dead, and I believe you can do it, with my help.”