by Toni Cox
“Your time is coming, Princess.”
I stared at him. How did he know? The whole time I had thought that he was only after us because he was a bounty hunter and was after the trophies: shifter fur and red hair.
I looked at Thomas, and his horrified look did nothing to ease my panic.
We rode again. Endless, uneventful hours passed with nothing to look at but the dreary forest around us. Dark, bleak, impenetrable. I’d never seen such an ugly forest.
Eventually, I drifted off into sleep. The steady motion of the horse, my hunger and thirst, and my pain finally got to me.
It was only when the horse stopped moving that I woke up again. The light had faded, so I guessed the sun to be setting soon, but up ahead, I could see a break in the trees ~ the end of the forest.
Then, why did we stop?
The goblins all crowded around us. The wagon pulled up next to us. Goblins touched my legs to my left and my right. The mare shifted restlessly. The elf turned and brought his horse in close, too.
What was happening?
Goosebumps travelled along my body as the elf began to intone an incantation. Strange words fell from his lips in a hoarse whisper, setting my nerves on edge.
All around us, the fabric between worlds tore, allowing us glimpses of the world beyond this forest. My heart sank. He was taking us out of Wiltera.
Raven Hall retreated around us, dissolving to reveal a forest that could not have been any more different.
Stately trees surrounded us; their high canopy brilliantly green, allowing the last of the dappled sunlight to shine onto the forest floor.
The forest lacked the brambles and thick undergrowth, and instead sprouted majestic ferns that spread and curled in elegant displays.
Creeping vines spanned the trees, each one blooming with flowers of pink and yellow. Birds sat along the vines, watching our progress as we rode along the path.
No matter how distracting the beauty of this forest was, it could not fool me into thinking the forest was benign. I had never felt so unwelcome in a place before, and I struggled to control the shivers that passed over me.
We could do little more than to give each other reassuring looks, but Thomas looked as frightened as I felt.
The elf led us down a side path, veering off the main road. The forest crowded in on us on either side, leaving barely enough space for the wagon to pass.
I coughed. Or, I made a sound that sounded like I coughed to get Thomas’ attention. He looked at me questioningly.
With my chin I pointed at the nearest fern we rode past. He failed to see what I wanted to show him, and I waited for the next opportunity. When it came, he nodded to let me know he’d seen it.
Something had befallen this forest. For all its beauty, this forest was sick. Black mould ate away at some of the plants, and those that were affected called out to me for help.
I was so deep in thought about the plants, I only noticed we’d arrived somewhere when the goblins forcefully took me off my horse.
A dwelling, built into a waterfall, with arches and open verandas, stood before us. Draped in vines and flowers, it was one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen.
The elf disappeared through a door on the ground floor, and two goblins dragged us after him. Without any ceremony, they dumped us in an empty room and tied us to a ring in the wall.
I leaned my head on Thomas’ shoulder and closed my eyes. The backpacks still strapped to us made it uncomfortable, but I didn’t care. I’d lost feeling in my arms long ago.
My eyes flew open as the dark elf burst through the door. His black grin spread across his face as he stepped aside for his female partner to see. Her black hair tied in a ponytail at the back, highlighting the elegant features of her face.
“You have done well, Darven,” she told him. “The king will be pleased.”
The female elf stepped forward. I cringed backwards as she leaned towards me, but she tutted and then removed my gag.
“Now, Princess, why don’t you tell us where your king keeps the moonstones?”
I stared at her. Moonstones? They were fae magic. What use would the dark elves have for them? I would tell them nothing.
“You know, Princess,” her voice dripped with honey, “it would be so much easier for all of us if you just complied.”
“I don’t know where they are.”
“Oh, sure you do, little one. The miller said he heard you talking about them in the barn. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
The miller. The flickering candle, the noises we heard. It made sense now. I wonder how long the goblins held his wife for the miller to comply with their demands.
“I will tell you nothing.”
“Very well.” The sweet smile on her lips unsettled me.
Darven stepped forward and unclipped Thomas from the ring in the wall, and then he heaved him to his feet.
“Let’s see how long your friend here lasts under torture before we get the answers we want.”
“What? No!”
Thomas struggled in the elf’s grip. He turned his shoulder down to loosen the elf’s grasp, and then he shot his head forward to head-butt him hard. The elf, bleeding from his forehead, hissed at him.
With a wave of her hand, the elf woman uttered a few strange words, and Thomas suddenly hung limply in Darven’s grip.
“Too late, Princess. You had your chance,” the she-elf drawled, winking at me as she turned to leave.
“Stop, don’t take him,” I yelled after them as they dragged Thomas out of the room. The door slammed shut with a bang.
I struggled against my bonds, but the ropes only cut deeper into the soft skin of my wrists. The iron ring in the wall did not yield. The blue magic flared up, but not enough.
“Come back. Please, come back.”
A scream split the silence of my room. It shot through me like an arrow, and I hung my head in shame. This was all my fault.
Again, Thomas screamed. I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back the tears.
“Stop. Come back. Talk to me,” I yelled, hoping they could hear me.
A moment of silence. Did the elves hear me? Thomas screamed again; a different pitch this time. A different torture?
I struggled against my bonds, yelling and shouting. Tears now ran freely down my face, my heart broken.
His screams came more often now. They took on a hoarse quality, strained. Slowly, my despair was replaced by anger.
If I were to save him, I’d have to think rationally. Yelling and shouting was not getting me anywhere. I really needed the magic to work now.
My hands fumbled with the bonds behind my back. There was no way I could untie them, but I had gotten myself out of bounds before ~ down by the river when the elf captured me the first time.
The magic simmered beneath my skin. It had been gently pulsing there ever since our capture but had not grown strong enough to be of help. I concentrated.
Thomas screamed again, and I used his sound as the catalyst to my anger. I focused on his pain. Imagined what they were doing to him. Tears shot into my eyes.
Channelling all my thought to my hands, I sent a blast of blue energy straight to my wrists.
Pain erupted in my hands as the rope snapped and blood rushed into my fingers. I muffled a scream of my own as I brought my arms forward, nearly fainting from the pain in my shoulders.
I sat for a moment, recovering, before staggering to my feet. Another scream pierced the thin layer of my control. I cursed the locked door, then sent a well-aimed blast at the lock.
Nothing would stop me now.
A deserted corridor greeted me with several closed doors along its lengths to my left. To my right, an open door led to where our horses were tied to a post.
Frowning, I stepped out into the barren hallway. The screams sounded closer from here. I tried the first door.
It was unlocked and seemed to be a bedroom, although none I would have slept in. I gues
sed it to be accommodation for the goblins.
Voices in the hall had me hiding behind the door. I waited for them to abate before peeking around the door. Two elves in uniform had come in through the entrance and stood at the end of the corridor, talking quietly.
I cursed my luck. Stepping back into the room, I leaned my head against the wall. Thomas screamed again. I heard the elves laugh.
For all the plants that graced the house from the outside, there were none in this basement accommodation I could use to my advantage. I thought of blasting them with my hands but didn’t know how many other guards that would attract.
The silence that followed another scream made me take note. I pushed away from the wall and peered around the door once more. The guards had gone.
My heart pounded like a runaway horse as I stepped back into the corridor. The silence that now pervaded sent tingles along my spine. Had they killed Thomas?
With my back pressed to the wall, I crept along the hall. The next door was only a few feet away. This one was on the right side of the corridor. Quickly, I crossed over.
I pressed my ear against the door and listened. Not a sound from the other side. When I tried the handle, I found it to be locked. I hesitated. A blast could alert the elves if this were the wrong room.
Muffled sounds drifted to me then, and I turned towards them. Footsteps rang at the top of the stairs at the end of the corridor, but they ceased and didn’t proceed downstairs.
If I wanted to save Thomas, I had to hurry. I rushed to the next door and pressed my ear to it. This one also greeted me with silence.
Crossing the hallway again, I went to the next door. Behind this one, I could hear muffled voices. A male and a female. This had to be it.
I didn’t care anymore what this blue magic was or why I was given it. It was powerful, and I was going to use it. Standing back from the door, I shot a blast at its lock.
The door sprang open with a jolt and revealed Thomas trussed up spread-eagle on some wooden contraption. Blood seeped from his bare torso. The shocked elves stared at me, baring their black teeth in a grotesque grimace.
“Let him go.” I pointed my palms at them.
The female elf recovered her composure first and stepped between her male companion and me.
She then waved her hand in a half-moon motion in front of her. “Your magic doesn’t work here.”
My blue glow extinguished. I gasped.
“Are you ready to talk to us about the moonstones?” she asked.
Thomas shook his head in the background. Darven came towards me. Thomas mouthed ‘go’ in my direction. The female elf grinned.
“No,” I sobbed, “I will not tell you anything.”
With my heart racing, I grabbed things off the shelf to my left; books, cups, strange hooks. I just threw it all at the elves as I backed away towards the door.
I tried to bring forth the blue glow as I went, but it failed. I couldn’t even feel it. Darven kept coming, brandishing a knife. He ducked when I threw a small chest at him, and then launched forward to stab at me, barely missing my arm with his blade.
Thomas’ form swam through the film of angry tears over my eyes, but I thought I saw him nod. I’d have come back for him.
Turning on my heels, I slammed the door on my way out. It didn’t delay the elves for long, and they were after me in a moment.
The two guards I had seen earlier had just come down the stairs, and it didn’t take them long to figure out what was happening. They chased me down the corridor towards the open door.
The green forest on the end beckoned me. I could see the horses. The footsteps behind me sounded loud in my ears. I sprinted.
Out the door into the open. No goblins. The empty wagon. No saddles on the horses. I didn’t care.
I grabbed the mare’s lead rope and swung myself on her back just as the elves came dashing out of the door.
Turning the mare’s head towards the forest, I put my heels to her.
The dark elf called “Lorelei.”
The mare stopped.
Chapter 15
Lorelei? Of course, she was the elf’s horse. Well, not anymore. I put my hand on her neck and begged her, now. Who did she like better?
The mare snorted and pranced on the spot. The two guards circled me. Darven laughed.
I felt a shift beneath my hand, and my heart jumped in delight. I clenched my knees shut just in time before the mare leapt away in a great bound.
The forest rushed past me in a blur as the mare shot forward. I didn’t dare look back, but clung to the horse’s neck, encouraging her to greater speed.
Around us, the tall trees loomed ominously, watching our progress. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the forest meant me harm.
Soon, I heard hoofbeats and shouts in the distance. I had to assume the elves’ horses to be as fleet as my mare, and I asked her to go even faster. She gave it her all.
When the forest flung vines at me to delay us, I had to resort to a different tactic. These plants did not respond to me the way other plants did, and no matter how I pleaded with them, they did not stop.
Then, I remembered the plight of the ones that were befallen by the black mould, and I called to them for help in my desperation. Flinging healing magic in their direction, they returned the favour by lashing out with their roots to waylay the other riders.
After several miles, the mare tired. Drenched in sweat and breathing hard, she could not maintain the speed any longer.
I steered her off the path and guided her into the trees. Running would save us no longer; now we had to hide.
The plants I passed warred amongst themselves ~ some happy to let me pass, others not. I healed as many as I could, just to keep the forest happy and on my side. It took a lot of my energy letting the silvery magic slide from my fingers to wash over the plants.
For a long time, I could hear voices and horses. The elves did not cease their search for me until nightfall; then the sounds fell silent.
The forest grew dark and quiet, and the mare shifted restlessly next to me. I hugged her around the neck ~ part to calm her, and part to ease my own fear.
I squealed when tendrils coiled around my legs, pulling, trying to yank me off my feet. The mare snorted, stomping her own feet.
With the same suddenness that the tendrils had come, they retreated. I stood staring into the blackness around me when I saw flickers of light everywhere.
I squinted into the dark, thinking the specks to be fireflies at first, but as the lights grew bigger and multiplied, I saw it was night-blooming flowers, shining in blues and whites.
It took me a moment to take it all in and to sense the mood of the forest around me. This night-time display of beauty held no malicious intent, and the mare and I relaxed.
Exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, I sat down on a stone. Here was as good a place as any to spend the night. I’d have to find a way home in the morning.
The mare nudged me. I looked up into her brown face. Her eyes sparkled with the reflection of the flowers around us. Lorelei pulled on the reins, turning her head the other way.
“What is it, girl?” I rose from the stone.
The mare took it as a signal and immediately walked away from me. I pulled on the reins, trying to stop her, but she looked at me again and then pulled on the reins again, dragging me behind.
She didn’t walk in the direction of the elves, so I let her lead me. We didn’t have to go far before we reached a little stream, and Lorelei dropped her head and sunk her mouth into the water to drink.
I didn’t hesitate. I dropped to my knees, cupped my hands, and slaked my thirst. The cool water rolled down my parched throat and dropped into my empty belly.
The water sloshed around my stomach, gurgling, but I felt refreshed and revitalised. Now that I had a clear head again, I thought about Thomas.
I had just left him there. Guilt gnawed at me. The vision of his naked torso drenched in blood swam before my eyes.
&nb
sp; Thomas had told me to go. Every expression he had made behind the elves’ backs had told me to save myself and to complete my mission. He had wanted me to leave him there. He had sacrificed himself for me.
I wiped my nose on my sleeve. Had I misread Thomas’ cues? Had he actually been asking for help? I couldn’t let my doubts eat away at me. As a royal, I had a duty to the sixty-thousand citizens of Draeguard. I needed to get home.
By morning, my decision was made. I didn’t know what the she-elf had done to make the blue magic not work anymore, but I could not go back there without it. I wouldn’t stand a chance.
We stayed off the road now for in case the elves still looked for us. It was slow going with the forest trying to waylay us, but I healed the mouldy plants as best I could, and they did their part in letting us pass.
It was frustrating battling the forest like this, but I had resigned myself to this chore when I noticed a change. The trees stopped fighting me. Instead, they opened a path for me to follow, lined with sick plants for me to heal along the way.
I didn’t question it but played my part for as long as my energy held up. The path ended in a circle of trees big enough that I could see the sky above.
“What’s this?” I whispered, hoping, somehow, the forest would tell me.
As I looked around, I thought I saw a strange shimmer close to where the trees touched the sky. It was so brief, I wasn’t sure if I imagined it, but it gave me an idea.
Raising my hands, I slowly spoke the fae incantation that opened the fabric between worlds. The portal through which we travelled.
The forest around me shimmered and shifted, and my heart leapt in elation. We’d get home, after all.
Then, the shimmering stopped, and the forest went back to how it was before.
“No,” I cried. “What happened?”
I tried again, making sure to intone the incantation properly. It had the same effect. Pacing up and down in front of the mare, who stood patiently, watching me, I tried again and again.
At first, I thought it was because I only knew the fae chant, and the magic had been cast by elven incantation, but that didn’t make sense. Every race of legendaries could access the fabric, no matter the language they used.