Immortal Souls (The Immortal Souls: Magic & Chaos)

Chapter 42

Jamie stood on the greenest grass he'd ever seen and gazed out at what Sam had referred to as 'Tír na nÓg'. It seemed like a suitable name, considering that it looked like some place out of a children's fairytale.

Green fields that appeared to stretch for miles were filled with a rainbow of plants that Jamie had never seen before. Large, ancient trees stretched out into the forest behind him. The sky was a twilight blue, with streaks of green and pink and even a vanilla colour.

Jamie felt something nudge at the back of his knees, his stomach filled with an overwhelming feeling of apprehension. He turned and looked down . . . behind him there was what looked like a black panther sniffing at his legs. "Sam," he whispered in panic. "What do I do?" he asked, his body rigid, too scared to move in case it lead to the panther trying to maul him or Sam.

She laughed a little. "Relax," she said calmly. "It's just a Cat Sídh. It's making sure you're not human, or a threat."

Jamie looked down at the thing Sam had called a cat in disbelief. That was definitely not a cat. Cats were small, and that . . . thing wasn't. Another one padded through the trees behind Jamie and over to Sam. He let a hiss to try scare it off but all that accomplished was a smile of amusement from Sam. The 'cat' sat down beside her, nudging its head against her hand. Sam scratched its ears, and the cat let out a purr.

The other cat was still sniffing around Jamie's feet. After a few seconds it finally moved away and Jamie heard a deep, melodic voice say, "Vaimpír."

Jamie felt his eyes grow wide and he turned around to stare at the animal. "Did that cat just talk?"

Sam laughed. "Come on." She grabbed Jamie by the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him away from the trees and the talking cats. He looked over his shoulder to see both of the animals retreating back into the woods.

They were talking to each other.

As if that was a regular thing for giant cats to do.

Jamie looked to Sam. "It talked."

She rolled her eyes and let go of his sleeve. "It's a Cat Sídh," she repeated, as if that explained everything.

"Cats don't talk."

Sam shook her head. "No," she said. "It's a Cat Sídh. A Faerie cat. They guard the entrance to Tír na nÓg, they're Faeries."

Jamie checked behind him again. The cats were gone. "They look like panthers," he said. "I thought Faeries had wings, and were three inches tall."

Sam gave him a smirk. "I thought you said Faeries weren't real."

Jamie pretended he didn't hear her.

They walked through an open patch of green field that was growing too many flowers for this time of autumn. Strange looking human shaped creatures and animals wandered around in the distance.

"Maybe I was wrong," he said reluctantly. It was difficult to argue the non-existence of creatures that were walking around right in front of him. "Sam?"

"What?" she asked without looking at him.

"What did that cat say?"

"Vaimpír," she said with a laugh. "It was identifying your species."

"Oh." They walked through the grass, which Jamie thought was slightly longer than it should have been. But who was he to dictate how the Faeries should maintain their fields? They were supposedly nature spirits after all.

"So, why are we in Tír na nÓg?" he asked, as they came near to what he could only describe as an ancient rural village.

Or at least, it looked like what he would imagine an ancient rural village to look like.

"I come here every month to restock my shelves," Sam answered.

"Restock your shelves of what?" Jamie asked.

She gave him a look, suggesting that he should know the answer to that. When Jamie didn't respond she rolled her eyes and said, "Herbs and plants and candles and gems and potions . . . you know, stuff that usually goes on shelves."

Jamie couldn't help laughing at that. "Who's shelves?" he asked, wondering if she actually believed that she had listed the kind of stuff that regular humans kept in their homes.

"Mine," Sam said with a coy smile.

Jamie watched with childlike fascination as what he could only describe as a Tinker Bell type Faerie flew past. It was like a three inch tall strangely shaped firefly. Jamie reached out to touch it, but Sam grabbed his arm before he could.

"Insects," she said. "Their bites are poison."

Jamie let his arm fall back down to his side, and just watched the Faerie insect as it flew by. That was when he noticed they were being followed.