by Sky Winters
A loud crunch sounded behind her and she suddenly found herself flat on the ground, her body covered by that of a Highlander in some sort of antiquated hunting attire. She started to scream, but his hand quickly shot up, covering her mouth with his large, powerful hand. Her fear of what he intended to do to her grew, despite his handsome face and lustrous dark hair. The horses thundered by not far beyond where they lay, galloping past and off into the distance. It was hard to distinguish the sound of their hooves from the heavy thumping of her own heart against her chest.
“He can’t be much further,” one of the men yelled, and Alice realized that they must be looking for the man who still lay atop her.
“Split up. We’ll each circle round and meet back at the old Holstead cottage. We can’t go back without him or the Queen will have all our heads,” shouted another before racing on past where the two of them lay hidden behind the trees.
Once they were past, he took his hand off her mouth and looked down at her, a large smile on his face. She tried to push him off, to free herself and alert them to his presence before he could harm her, but he held her down and gave her a warning look, putting his hand back over her mouth. Her heart raced as she stopped struggling and waited, the horse hooves fading into the distance beyond.
“I love a feisty woman,” he said at last with a huge grin, finally removing his hand from her mouth.
“Get off me!” she hissed, shoving him away again.
“Oh, my apologies. Most women enjoy how I feel pressed against them.”
“I’m not most women. Get off!”
Still smiling, he rolled off of her and stood, offering her a hand to her feet. She ignored him and got up on her own, scowling at him in the darkened forest. Her heart still felt as if it might tear her chest open from the way it thudded heavily against her chest wall. This had to be a dream. Perhaps she had passed out in the garden and hit her head.
“Really, I’m sorry for that, but I couldn’t afford for you to make a noise or scream. What are you doing out here alone in the forest anyway?”
“I fell down a hole,” she responded, though she couldn’t really say if that was accurate at this point.
“A hole?” he said, looking around them with a puzzled look. “Where?”
“I don’t know. I just fell in it and landed here.”
“Did you perhaps hit your head a bit hard when you fell?”
“I’m not delirious. I fell in a hole and now I’m here, wherever here is.”
“You’ll have to pardon me if I’m skeptical, but I hardly see how you could have fallen in a hole and landed on a flat forest floor.”
“I don’t really care what you think. I didn’t really ask your opinion on the matter.”
“Right. Well, I am going to have to get going. I suggest that you do, as well.”
“I don’t know how to get home.”
“I can try to help you, but we need to go now. The Evil Bear Shifter Queen is after me. She is pure evil and is trying to completely eradicate my clan. If her men catch up with me, I’m in a bit of a sticky pickle.”
“Bear Shifter Queen? Are you mad?”
“Mad? No, I’m not angry at all, dear lady.”
“I meant insane, but I suspect you knew that.”
“Perhaps. Come, let’s go.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you! You’re a loon!”
“Suit yourself, but you aren’t going to like what happens in these woods in the dark.”
Alice looked around at the odd vines that grew everywhere. Even in the dim light of the forest, she could see that they were an unnatural shade of green, almost neon, glowing in the darkness around them. She could hear sounds, not like normal animals, coming from all around. Something scurried across her foot and made an angry squeaking noise at her. She definitely wasn’t staying here alone and the man was already walking away.
“Wait! I’ll go with you, but just until we can get to civilization so that I can find some assistance.”
“Civilization? In this place? I fear that it is you, my lady, who is quite mad. Nonetheless, come along. I must be going.”
Stepping out of the wooded area, Alice followed the man to a small stream, oblivious to their surroundings as she tried to make sense of what was happening. As they arrived at the edge of the water, she caught her reflection in it and gasped. Her usually straight, cropped hair was long and flowing across her shoulders in spectacular blonde curls. Her blue eyes were somehow bigger and bluer. She wore a brightly colored dress that seemed to be embellished with small stones that caught the sunlight as it shined heavily down. She suddenly realized that her shoes were gone.
“Where are my shoes?” she muttered aloud.
“How would I know? You’re the one who has wandered into the forest with no shoes and insists she fell down a hole. Once again, I’m hesitant to point out that it seems I’m not the one who has gone quite mad.”
Alice glared at him, looking around her for the first time since stepping from the grove of trees. The forest was impossibly green, the water a beautiful aqua hue like she had never seen, even on the coast of Scotland. Even more puzzling were the large spotted mushrooms, some as large as herself and the odd little birds that flitted about. One was approaching now and as it drew nearer, she realized with a sudden horror that it wasn’t a bird at all, nor was it small. It was a mosquito as big as her head. It was almost upon her when The Huntsman pushed her to the ground, lying on top of her for the second time since she’d met him.
“Get off me!” she hissed.
“I just saved your life! A bit of gratitude might be in order!” he replied, rising and pulling her to her feet despite her protests that she didn’t need his help.
“It was just a mosquito, a very large one, but a mosquito.”
“It was bioengineered by the Queen’s team of mad scientists. It would have drained you of all your blood and left your carcass for the scavengers.”
“Seriously? You expect me to believe that? You truly are a mad man. I have to get out of here.”
“And just where is it that you intend to go?”
“It doesn’t matter. I will wake up soon. I’m obviously dreaming.”
“Well, quite a few of the ladies do dream about me, but I’m happy to say that you are in the presence of the real deal. You should feel flattered.”
“Flattered? By a man who keeps jumping on top of me and pinning me to the ground, even holding his hand over my mouth?”
“Well, now, I do see how you might view that as a bit uncouth, but it was for your own protection on both occasions. I’m strictly a gentleman in most instances. That is, unless you’d like for me not to be,” he added suggestively.
“Cad!” she said, rolling her eyes and turning away for a moment. Despite his boastful ways, he actually was damned attractive, but this was no time for flirtations. She had to figure out what was happening here and get back home. Then it hit her and she calmed a bit.
Alice’s fear of this strange place had been momentarily put to rest at the realization that she was only dreaming, probably in a state of unconsciousness due to her recent fall. No sooner had that thought occurred to her then she instantly became unsure and her fear mounted again, but she refused to let him see it. Scowling at him for a moment, she decided the only way was the necklace.
Alice pulled the compass out from the neckline of her dress, where it had become hidden behind the material. She looked at it to see if it might direct her out of here, since it had brought her here to this odd land in the first place. Looking up, she saw a look on the hunter’s face that appeared strangely like recognition. He was looking at the compass with wide eyes and obvious interest. Quickly, she tucked it back into her dress. There was always a chance that he was a thief.
“Well, I have to get going,” she told him, heading off in the direction in which the compass had pointed her. If it brought her here, then she would have to trust it to take her back home.
“I wouldn’t
go that way,” he called out to her.
“I don’t require your permission or advice.”
“Perhaps not, but you should go another way.”
“You worry about yourself. I’ll be fine.”
“Suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Ignoring him, Alice continued walking along the stream, cognizant of the bizarre creatures that seemed to follow along with her, but at a distance. She was wary of any more ridiculously large mosquitoes that might want to reduce her to a cadaver. She laughed aloud nervously at the thought. He was just messing with her. He had to be. Periodically glancing at the compass to be sure she was headed still in the right direction, Alice made her way toward wherever it was taking her.
Chapter Three
Much to Alice’s surprise, the sun rose less than an hour later. It had been evening when she had fallen down the hole, which had seemed like not long ago at all now. How long had she been out before waking up in the forest? Now that the sun was out, she marveled at the landscape around her. Everything was exaggerated with odd angles and weirdly sized. The flowers were huge, like trees. She watched as an oversized bee buzzed just above a bank of dandelions and smiled.
Then, the bee suddenly screamed. No, was that right? Bees don’t scream! No, no, the bee did and with good reason. Just as it was almost over the flowers, one of them shot out what looked like some sort of long appendage and sucked it into its petals. She watched, horrified, as the flower seemed to vibrate with the bee fighting and screaming inside and then there was silence.
“You must stay clear of the flowers. They will do the same to you.”
Alice jumped, completely unaware that someone had approached until he had spoken. Now, she stood looking at him. Unlike the very handsome huntsman, this man was quite rotund with tufts of thick, black hair protruding from his ears and curling over the edge of his shirt. His nose was a very odd shape, round and bulbous like some sort of snout and his teeth were large and jagged. Alice was instantly frightened of him.
“Thank you for the warning. I will be sure to stay clear of them,” she replied, turning to walk away.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice taking on a new tone. Whereas it had originally seemed pleasant, it now sounded a bit menacing.
“I am on my way back home. I don’t belong here.”
“Oh, I would say you are exactly where you belong,” he replied.
Alice noticed that he was staring at her chest and gave him a dirty look as she reached to pull the top of her dress upward, covering the top of her breasts and tucking the locket that had slipped free back inside of it.
“I’ll be going now,” she said curtly.
“I don’t think so, Mother Shifter.”
“What? What did you call me?”
Rather than answering, he merely leered at her, looking her up and down. Then, before she could react, he was on her, pawing at her like some sort of wild animal in heat. His ridiculously long, jagged nails tore at her dress as he knocked her to the ground and climbed on top of her. Alice panicked, realizing she was in real trouble here. Her slight frame was no match for his much heavier, more powerful physique.
“Mother is going to be so proud of me,” he exclaimed, cupping one of her breasts in his hand and fondling it as he attempted to push up her dress beneath him. A hand found its way to one of her bare thighs, only increasing her panic at what he intended to do with her.
Alice began to scream and fight like she’d never fought in her life. She was in such a state of fright that she was barely aware of his body being lifted from atop hers and yanked backward by some incredible force. She was astounded to find him in the clutches of a large white wolf, which tore ferociously at his flesh. Scurrying away, she took refuge behind the stem of a flower.
“Hello, pretty girl,” the flower said as it bent down to get a better look at her, sending Alice shrieking away to hide behind a tree that was half the daisy’s size.
Turning back to the fight, she saw that the wolf was now in a fight with a bear. At first, she thought the man had escaped, but then she noticed tatters of his shredded clothes clinging to the bear. Had the bear eaten him and was now going after the wolf? What sort of bizarre place was this?
The wolf’s powerful teeth sank into the bear’s neck, thrashing him around as if he were nothing. Though the bear was sizeable, the wolf was almost as big and seemed much more ferocious. She watched with wide eyes as other creatures began to surround her. Though they all kept their distance from her, she could hear them whispering to one another in lowered voices and glancing back and forth between the fight and her. This was it. She was certainly having a nervous breakdown.
“Who do you think will win?”
Alice turned her head very slowly toward the tiny voice that seemed to be coming from right beside her ear and saw nothing but a lady bug on the side of the tree. She shook her head and turned back to the fight.
“Well, aren’t you rude? Are you too good to associate with us little people?” the voice said.
Alice turned back, once again only seeing the ladybug, but this time, she took a closer look and saw that it had a tiny little face and that its face was scowling at her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you that was speaking to me.”
“Fair enough. Now, who do you think will win?”
“Oh, I’m not sure. The wolf seems to have the upper hand.”
“Yes, yes. I think you are right. I hope so, anyway. No one here likes the Prince or his horrid mother.”
“Prince?”
“Yes. The Evil Queen’s son. Everyone hates them. They are horrible people. He deliberately stepped on my entire book club last week while we were minding our own business. We were enjoying one of the dung beetles reading to us from Leaves of Grass and only those of us who could fly managed to escape. A mass murderer should pay the price for his crimes I think, even if he is royalty.”
Alice could detect a bit of a sniffle in the ladybug’s speech as she bemoaned the loss of her friends. She felt sorry for her. Mentally, she considered how many insects she might have killed in her lifetime. Surely, such a creature must view her kind as rampant serial killers if she were to see what went on routinely back in her world.
“I’m deeply sorry for your loss,” Alice replied, just as a loud roar of pain filled the air around them. She turned back to see the bear struggling to get away from the wolf’s powerful jaws and bellowing in pain. A loud cheer arose from all of the creatures watching as the bear turned and ran away into the woods.
Alice’s eyes grew wide as the white wolf turned and began walking toward her, his shape shifting as he approached. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The wolf had somehow become The Huntsman from her earlier encounter. He bowed toward the onlookers and grinned broadly.
“Ah, thank you. Thank you. I am always pleased to garner the appreciation of the masses,” he told them.
“You turned into a wolf and now, back into a man,” Alice said uncertainly.
“Very astute of you. I am surprised to see you here, my lady. I was certain you’d have been reduced to a pile of flesh and bones by a mosquito long before you got this far. Instead, you found your way to the Evil Queen’s son, Prince Oswald.”
“So it would seem. You might have warned me about him.”
“I do believe that I did suggest you didn’t want to come this way.”
“Perhaps you could have told me why.”
“I have a feeling that you’d have not believed me if I had told you there was an Evil Prince Bear Shifter. You scoffed at the mosquitoes, if I recall.”
“It’s possible. I followed my compass. It told me to go this way.”
“Yes, there is that. I’m sure it had its reasons.”
“Honestly, I don’t know which way to go now.”
“Why don’t you come with me? I can take you back to my clan. You’ll be safe there with us until you can figure things out. It will be getting dark soon,
and you won’t want to be here if the Prince comes back with reinforcements.”
“Dark? It only recently became light!”
“Not unusual. Sometimes the daylight lasts for months, as can the night. Other times, the change in dark and light is very brief. Today is one of those days.”
“How do you know?”
“Wolves always are in sync with the moon and the moon directs the night’s passage into the day.”
“I see. I don’t know if I am safe with a wolf in man’s clothing, so I’m afraid I can’t go with you.”
“Yes, you can,” the ladybug whispered from nearby. Alice turned toward her and raised an eyebrow. The small creature smiled broadly, her smile covering more of her tiny face than should be natural.
“I don’t know him,” Alice whispered back.
“You don’t know any of us. You are a stranger in a strange land. Nonetheless, you can trust him.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t,” said the ladybug before flying away.
Alice turned back to The Huntsman and looked at him with great concern. How did she know he would not try to force himself upon her as the vile Prince had tried to do? Then again, he’d had his chance to do so well before now if that was something he’d chosen to do. After a moment, she decided she was safer taking a chance with him than she was alone in the dark woods with the likes of a bear prince.
“Okay. I will go with you.”
“Wise decision,” he replied.
Alice began quietly following him back into the woods in the opposite direction. As an afterthought, she reached for the compass she had tucked safely into the top of her dress and glanced at it. The needle now pointed in another direction, toward the west. She had to wonder if she was making a mistake and should part ways and go that way instead, but the compass had previously led her in the wrong direction. Best not to risk it for now.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
Alice looked up to see that he was looking intently at the compass in her hand and quickly tucked it away again. “It was left to me by my grandmother. It’s very old, but not worth much I’m afraid,” she quickly added.