Chapter 21

Yoltzin angled his body to lean his shoulder on the door frame. He let one arm hang while placing a hand in his pocket and crossed his legs at the ankles. Both Zalli and Green Tepi took steps away from the man. Side by side, they held each other’s hand to search for support.

Yoltzin tilted his head to Green Tepi and squinted his eyes.

“You were not a factor I considered.”

She raised a hand up and wiggled her fingers at him with a cheeky smile. He twitched one eyebrow up. Then, he pushed himself away from the door frame to comb his hair back. Yoltzin took a step into the room, which caused Zalli to move as well. She placed herself between Green Tepi and Yoltzin, and spoke with a clear voice.

“The ruse is up Dream Weaver. You’re not going to get the answers you want from me. Just give up and leave us alone, or else.”

“Dream Weaver? What the hell is that?”

Zalli brought her head back in confusion before she turned to gape at Green Tepi for guidance. The fairy only brought her hands up and shrugged her shoulders at the young woman. Zalli spoke, returning her gaze back to Yoltzin.

“Well, that’s what you are, right?”

The man turned to the dresser Zalli had been sitting on and grazed his fingertips across the surface of where she had been. He lowered his eyes while he spoke.

“No, I am not a dream—whatever—that is.”

“Then, how do you have dream weaving powers?”

Zalli looked around her space to spot anything she can use as a weapon against her captor. Her eyes bolted from one end of her space to another until she landed on a metal case that contained Tepi’s paints—in an unfortunate spot. They were set on the dresser Yoltzin stood by, only a meter away from his hand. His voice stole her attention back to his person.

“They’re not really my inert powers. I had to study dream manipulation from a book I ... bought from the bookstore.”

She squinted her eyes and turned her head slightly as she judged at what he had just stated.

“What are you then?”

Zalli maneuvered herself to take a step closer to the dresser. She aimed to move herself again when Yoltzin veered his head to stare at the young woman. Her heart plummeted. It remained heavy in her core as his intense stare pinned her in her spot. The blue of his eyes, that typically shone bright with mirth, now appeared like an obscure ocean, murky from the shadows of the room.

“Not human. Your friend over there might figure it out, considering how we are closer in kin.”

He jutted his chin in Green Tepi’s direction. The fairy narrowed her eyes at Yoltzin’s, but said nothing in reply.

She had picked up on Zalli’s plan earlier, but was unsure on how she could assist her friend. It was not like she could grab a weapon of her own; long ago, in her many moments of bored solitude within the room, she had tried to mess around with the items belonging to her doppelgänger, and found it to be futile. Her form was too incorporeal for her to actually grab anything.

Although, when the man spoke of their relation, she came across a revelation which encouraged to take action. She darted to Yoltzin with the discovery and used it as a chance to occlude Zalli’s intended actions from his sight.

“You’re actually a fae, aren’t you? You can’t be a fairy, so you must be from the Fae Folk.”

Green Tepi spoke with her voice raised to a boisterous level and a hand raised to Yoltzin’s eye level. Her hand was curled to point at his face while trying to obscure his vision with zipping movements.

It was a success as the fae masculine became absorbed with the fairy bouncing around. Zalli moved without a second thought and grabbed the metal briefcase.

She brought her hands to the side and aimed to swing at Yoltzin’s head, but he was quick in his reaction with a glint of his focus away from the fairy. The fae dodged the strike and jumped off to the side. It did not help that Zalli tried to maneuver around her friend, worried she would hit her by accident. Even if it was for naught, Green Tepi appreciated the sentiment her friend cared for her. It was only a shame it costed the surprise element to fail.

The fairy hoped to recover the fumble and lunged at Yoltzin. He dodged her attack and pushed her forward, to her great surprise. Green Tepi crashed into the wall behind him and smashed her head, causing her eyesight to lose focus.

With Yoltzin’s back turned, Zalli took advantage of the opportunity her fairy friend gave her. She swung the metal case at Yoltzin again, this time hitting her mark. She was able to strike at his temple since he was turning around to face her at the same time.

The fae masculine stumbled from the attack and brought his hand up to where Zalli could make her blow. When he brought it down, Yoltzin found blood on his fingertips.

He peered at Zalli. The moment their eyes connected, he only smiled at her in jest. In a flash, the blood disappeared. Then, he charged towards her.

Yoltzin grabbed her wrists and squeezed hard enough to force her to let go of the metal container. It fell down to the floor with a loud clunk and a yelp from Zalli. She brought her free hands together and crossed them to make a tight embrace. It took some strain considering how Yoltzin was still holding on to her, but once she could latch on, she pulled back with a step while driving her elbows up to break free.

Now free to move, Zalli darted in to punch him in the face, but he dodged it with ease. He redirected her punch with a block above her elbow. It caused her to turn to the side and lose some of her balance. This gave him a chance to go behind the young woman.

Yoltzin slid his arms between hers to move in front of her shoulders and overlap his hands behind her neck. Yoltzin placed Zalli in a full nelson hold. Her shoulders were trapped and her arms hung high from the restraint.

Green Tepi stood up with a hand to her pounding head and saw Zalli confined by the fae. Now knowing she was tangible enough to attack Yoltzin, she ran forward and used her fists to hit his back.

It wasn’t enough to cause him to flinch.

Yoltzin leaned in to whisper to Zalli as she felt for the position of his hands. He spoke to her in a lowered voice.

“I see you’ve recalled your guarura fighting abilities.”

Zalli paused in her movement as she questioned internally what Yoltzin said she had.

Guarura ... Does he mean I am the official guard of the gemstone he is after?

The fae masculine continued in his dialogue.

“No matter, I can place you under another dream spell for a third time. Something I was trying to avoid since it puts you under strenuous mental conditions—it might break that beautiful and unyielding mind of yours.”

Growing tired of his speech, Zalli jerked her flexed elbows down and threw her head to the side. Her weight dropped with the movement and she could strike Yoltzin with the parietal side of her head. Her hips hit a vulnerable spot in the fae’s gut, as revealed by the sudden gasp he released.

Free from his hold, Zalli turned around to see Yoltzin clutching his temple area. A smile of accomplishment broke on her face.

She turned her head to the side the find Green Tepi had moved back a few paces from the sudden change in positions. The fairy raised an arm to move in for another attack, but Zalli held her hand up to her friend. She shook her head at the fairy and signaled her to step away from the fight with a wave of dismissal from her hand.

Green Tepi held a frown on her face, but nodded her head in acknowledgment. She took some more steps back to provide space for Zalli.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Zalli moved forward with rocket bursting speed and wrapped her hands behind Yoltzin’s neck. She pulled him down to meet her knee with a powerful force. To her misfortune, his body remembered when she had done that similar move only a week ago. Yoltzin brought his arms up in an ‘X’ formation and blocked the kick at the right time.

Both adults took a step away from each other, creating space for both of them to strategize their next move. Yoltzin spoke with a boisterous voice as he brought his hands up under his chin for his fighting stance.

“Give up now, little thorn. I’ve won both rounds previously in putting you to sleep. We both know this will only end similarly.”

Zalli squinted her eyes and felt her chest tighten. His words were almost successful in convincing the young woman she would fail again. Her mind, though, sensed a hole in his logic.

She looked down at her open hands and flipped them into fists. The maiden dropped her weight into a structured squat and she brought her hands up into her own fighting stance; one fist by her chin while the other hung low by her waist. As she spoke, her eyes imprisoned Yoltzin’s gaze. Her voice lilted with an unwavering confidence that reinforced her steeled nerves.

“If you truly won, then we wouldn’t be here, fighting. You would already have the gemstone, Yoltzin. All I see is you have failed twice in acquiring the kyanite. And this will be the third time.”

Yoltzin held a snarl in his face. He burst forward with a punch aimed at Zalli’s head. She had no thought in how to counter his attack—she only moved based on instinct.

She dodged her body to the outside of his arm, then trapped his wrist between her hand and lifted elbow. Circling it down, Zalli held his hand within both of hers, and stepped underneath it with her foot closest to his figure. In quick succession, she prepared herself to place a locking twist on Yoltzin’s shoulder joint.

The last measure she took was pivoting her body to turn herself around. With the momentum, she untwisted her arms to transfer the energy into Yoltzin’s limb.

The forceful armlock brought him down to one knee. Zalli moved in to place pressure above his elbow with her hand. Her intent was to maintain the lock and direct him down to lie flat on his stomach, but the adjustment gave the fae masculine a small window of opportunity.

Yoltzin found he could flex his arm to break free from the lock. Doing so pulled Zalli closer. With his other arm, he wrapped it around her legs and used his shoulders to tackle her figure. The force was significant enough to lock out her knees.

Zalli fell backwards, hard on her ass, and missed hitting her head on the dresser positioned behind her. It was a marginal enough difference that saved her from making an impact with one of the metal knobs that could have left a nasty gash on her scalp.

She did not lose consciousness, as the young maiden kept her chin to her chest. It allowed her to keep her head up, even with the strong tackle. Although, with Yoltzin’s speed, it did not matter if she could stand up just after the fall.

In a blink, he was on top of Zalli, with his knees on either side of her form. His forearm was used to apply pressure across her shoulders, along with his waist sitting on top of her to pin her down.

“Zalli!”

Green Tepi’s ear-piercing voice carried from a distance away, but Zalli did not pay it any mind.

She stared intently into Yoltzin’s eyes. Her brows were furrowed, but his seemed relaxed. In her gaze she felt a fiery heat, but she saw an amused glint within his own. When she brought her forest brown eyes down to his lips, she noticed the corner had quirked up to a negligible degree.

This jerk is having fun.

Her thought ended the 10s standoff between the pair. With an aggravated yell, Zalli used her hand to push Yoltzin’s forearm off of her chest. The force behind his elbow was enough to make it slide off with ease.

His shoulder fell on her in a rough slump, but it wasn’t enough to interrupt Zalli from wrapping her arms around his neck. She grabbed her forearm and squeezed to place him into a choke hold. She hoped she could apply enough pressure to cut his supply of oxygen.

Zalli decided she would need to be over him in order to use gravity as an added force. She dug both heels into the ground. One heel was closer to her body; she placed the other further away to use it as the driving force. Once she solidified her position, she lifted her hip up with a powerful push from the foot that was further away.

The young maiden flipped Yoltzin over with a loud thud. She continued to hold on to him, making sure to not allow any instances of escape.

Yoltzin struggled underneath her. He writhed and jutted about, but within seconds, his movement slowed down. As soon as his body remained still, Zalli released her hold, knowing he would get his air back.

As he gasped for desperate breaths of air, Zalli brought her elbow down, aiming for his temple. After her blow landed, Yoltzin lost consciousness with heavy breaths.

She did not know how much time she had, so she pinned down his shoulders with her hands as a cautionary measure. Then she turned her head to look at Green Tepi behind her and spoke with urgency.

“Can you get me something to tie him up?”

The fairy looked around the room, intending to find an actual rope. Not coming across one, she used her quick thinking and settled on the bed sheet laying on top of her doppelgänger. Green Tepi ripped the covering off and ran to Zalli to hand it to her.

Zalli looked at the linen with doubt, but then figured it was the best thing that could work for now. Before grabbing it, she spoke to her friend.

“Could you hold him down as I tie him?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

Green Tepi spoke with apprehension, but dropped the sheet beside Zalli anyway. She knelt above Yoltzin’s head and replaced Zalli’s hands with her own.

Zalli grabbed the bedsheet and wrapped one end around the fae’s wrist a few times in a tight clench. She allowed some of the end to hang off to use it for the knot. With the other end, she mirrored the same to restrain his other wrist.

The young maiden made sure both of his wrists were next to each other within the entire process. She pulled at the ends to tighten the hold, then looped them around the center from their outer placement.

Once she thought it was secure, Zalli double knotted the restraint with formidable pulls. She looked around to identify if there was something she could tie Yoltzin to.

Green Tepi located the place first and notified Zalli of her discovery.

“Zalli, you could place him over here.”

She pointed to a random metal ring jutting out from the wall behind them.

“Qué demonios. Where did that come from?”

The earth fairy only shrugged her shoulders with her palms facing the ceiling. Zalli pulled her brows down as she tried to figure out where the thing could have appeared from.

She and Green Tepi pulled the fae by his elbows. He was of considerable weight because of his tall form and relaxed muscles, but he was not immovable. As they dragged Yoltzin, Zalli thought with a frown on her face.

In the search for something to secure the fae to, she had imagined a metal ring sticking out of the wall. As soon as she saw it clearly in her mind, that is when her friend could point it out. On top of that, Zalli knew the metal ring had not been there before. She had been within the room enough times to know the item was a recent addition.

There was a possibility that, because Yoltzin lost his consciousness, he probably also lost control of this reality. They were within her mind anyway, she should be able to have all the control of the landscape.

Once she tied the fae masculine to the ring with Green Tepi’s help, Zalli took a step back and observed him. As she pondered on what to do next, she took notice of how the ring was at the perfect height to apply an uncomfortable stretch to his shoulders while he slumped against the wall in a sitting position. His head hung low, but every so often it would move like he was trying to wake up.

Zalli turned to her friend and spoke with urgency. There was not much time left for her to waste.

“Tepi, my shadow self. I think I’ve seen it before in the restroom mirror.”

“What did it look like?”

Green Tepi crossed her arms and shifted her body weight to one side.

“Like me. Sometimes dark—like a shadow. But it had sharp teeth like fangs and red glowing eyes.”

Zalli paced around with a hand rubbing the back of her neck.

“Mirrors are a type of portal. Perhaps within your mind, we can use a mirror at least as a portal to the third level of your subconscious, which is where the shadow self will be, anyway. I think it’s possible you are seeing it. I didn’t know it would look so ominous, though, by the sounds of it.”

“Hmm. Alright, let’s do it.”

Zalli turned to the mirror resting on the dresser by the door. She had not paid it any attention until now.

She walked toward it with trepidation, with Green Tepi trailing behind her. As Zalli stepped in front of it, the fairy turned to look at Yoltzin to make sure he had not regained consciousness yet. When she brought her face back to the mirror, she jumped standing next to Zalli with the startle of what she saw.

In the mirror, Green Tepi saw a reflection of herself in her more accurate fairy form, but she also saw the reflection of Zalli in a shrouded darkness. As described by her friend, there stood a thing looking like Zalli, but with glowing eyes and gleaming teeth.

Green Tepi took hold of Zalli’s arms. She spoke in a soft voice.

“Only you can go in there. To face your shadow self requires no help from anyone. I will stay here to monitor the fae.” Zalli nodded in acknowledgement without looking away. Her friend released her arm and took a step back to give the young maiden space. As Zalli brought one knee up to climb the dresser, Green Tepi said one last thing before Zalli disappeared through the portal. “Make sure to only think about the third level, or you might get lost. And please, be careful.”

With both knees on the dresser, and her fingertips hovering in front of the glass, Zalli turned her head to the earth fairy.

“I will.”

Then she moved her fingers and pushed forward. Zalli felt a coolness, but a minor resistance before her entire hand went through the iciness of the mirror. As the portal swallowed her whole with her crawling in, sharp teeth grew into a wide smile and its owner’s red eyes squinted with glee.