Fairy Thief by Johanna Frappier

peer over Tai’s shoulder, as he stood right in front of the map, hogging everyone’s view. Li took him by the shoulders and pressed him aside.
    Saffron moved closer, stared at the map, and sucked her breath. “Oh,” she mumbled, “ that’s why you can’t take it to Kinko’s.”
    The picture on the map — the map itself — wouldn’t stay still. The crude, wavy lines that indicated ocean or water, rolled gently. One-dimensional clouds moved across the top.
    “ Watch,” Li breathed, and called out, “The Opleenrealm!”
    Every line on the map shifted all at once, except for the clouds (which momentarily remained still). Then suddenly, there on the map, lay a land full of very few roads and very many ponds.
    “ That, Saffron is how you summon a realm on a fairy map.” Li smiled down at her serenely, with a little bit of haughty thrown in for good measure.
    “ Li…I don’t know how to call out for a realm on a fairy map…because I don’t know the names of any realms.” Saffron sniped.
    Li reached out to rub Saffron’s back, and smooth her hair. “The twins, Saffron, they will summon the known realms for you.”
    For the next hour, Li pointed to certain realms where she felt Ny might have taken Markis. She also pointed out realms that the three should avoid, or at least, save as the last possible option. She warned them that although the fairies knew of these outer realms, no one fairy knew much about any of them.
    Saffron huffed. “Well, what if we search one realm, and Ny is, like, always one realm ahead of us? What if he’s always one realm behind us? I mean, it’s not likely he’s just sitting somewhere, right? If he’s always on the move, how the hell are we supposed to find him?”
    Tai snorted. “Yeah, right. He’s in one spot. Lazy ass.”
    Li looked deep into Saffron’s eyes for a very long time before she answered; her large black pupils held Saffron frozen in time and space. The fairies that were around them stilled, as silent as a ladybug slumbering on a leaf. “Saffron, it is easier to try, than to prove it cannot be done.” When she blinked, a low buzz of animation came back to the glade. “Now, Saffron, even though you do not have your human body in tow, it does not mean you are invincible. There are ways to destroy a soul — two that I know of…. There may be more ways in these different worlds. You must stand guard for yourself; always be ready so as not to be taken, destroyed, or misdirected.” Her eyes shifted over to stare at the twins who, after the map reading had stopped and Li’s words of wisdom began, had splashed off in a sudden fit of boredom and were now tossing a bleating wood elf back and forth like a flailing-limbed football. Wo dropped the elf on the last pass, and before Tai could grab him beneath the muck, the elf jumped to his feet and shook his fist as Tai descended upon him, made a grasp for him, and narrowly missed. Then, before Saffron could blink, the elf disappeared into the murky water and was gone. Li sighed, “Take care of my mischievous little friends.”
    Saffron frowned, this better not turn into a big ol’ babysitting expedition; I have enough to worry about. If they can’t take care of themselves, what good are they? She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the two who were now, side by side, swinging from a tree limb by their knees and crossing their eyes at her. “Yeah, well, I’d love to stay and chit chat, but I have a friend I have to go look for.”
    “ A moment, Saffron, a last word, if you please.…” Li beckoned Saffron to her side as she drew an object from her gossamer robes, which fluttered in the restless wind that stirred the entire forest. “This is a timepiece.” It was a metal ball engraved with odd symbols. Li popped open the small globe and held the palm-sized clock before Saffron.
    Quite near, lightning touched down and momentarily bleached the woods. Only seconds later, an ear-splitting crack of thunder