Photo by Christoph Malin

The Wishing Map is a full-length fantasy that is being posted episodically at this site. To read the previous episode click here. To read it from the start, click here.

With the help of her brother Zack and her friend B’frona, Gina had vanquished her monstrous nemesis.

She was in a lovely semi-coma when a voice called:

“Gina.”

It filled the space around her and within her, just as it had the first time she’d heard it. “Now isn’t a good time,” she muttered.

“Now is always the best time.”

She wasn’t going to win this one. “OK.”

“You showed great courage tonight.” There was tenderness in Rhema’s voice.

“Yeah, well…”

“A courage you did not know you had, did not, in fact, have before tonight. And one you will need in the future.”

Gina half-smiled.

“Your desires, on the other hand, nearly destroyed you. It is from these that the Beast took its greatest power.”

“My desires? But how—”

“I told you that the sword would show you your true enemy—”

“Well, yeah, it showed me the Questing Beast, but then the Questing Beast turned into Puff.”

“It showed you the things you desire.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I mean, OK, it showed me Puff, but then it showed me—”

“Yourself.”

“Oh, so now I’m my ‘true enemy?’ And anyway, whatever it was, I killed it!”

“No.”

“What? Yes, I did!”

“The things you desire have far more power over you than the things you fear. They are the hardest to kill. It was your brother’s love and your love for him that saved you. For now. But that which threatens to destroy you is far from dead.”

“Holy…when does it end?”

“Not in this life.”

“Look, I’m just a kid. Do you get that? If Momandad knew what I’d been through they’d go ballistic! I mean, they’re always going on about how it’s their job to keep me and Zack safe, and—”

“They love you as much as any human can. But Uol loves you more, too much to allow you to be merely safe.”

“What? I wasn’t talking about Uol.”

“I am.”

“Well, I’m just saying.“

“You ‘just say’ a lot of things. Only occasionally do you actually mean something.”

Gina was offended. It suddenly struck her that she cared deeply what the Queen of the Fae thought, though she didn’t know why. “So how come Zack and B’frona were able to help me? You said no one could help me.”

“No. I said only you could smite the Beast. It is always best to face monsters in the company of friends. And you didn’t kill it, you smote it.”

“Same diff.”

“No. The Beast is not dead.”

“You are seriously cryptic, you know that?”

“I do not speak cryptically. You hear cryptically.”

“So you’re saying I’m stupid?”

“No, merely human, and a particularly bright one at that.”

Gina smiled.

“And, yes, your life has a purpose.”

“What?”

“It’s what you wanted to know. But you must understand, and you must promise to tell your brother, that the purpose of your life did not begin with you, and it will not end with you.”

For the first time, Gina almost believed Rhema loved her. But then her mouth twisted. “So, why didn’t you give me the same tea you gave Zack?”

“I did.”

“But I tasted it, and—”

“No. You never tasted it.”

“Yes, I did!” Gina thought back on that moment in the strange little house.

“You’re right, I didn’t.”

φ

To read the next episode, click here.