by J. C. Lucas
At that moment, the sneaky little kid showed himself, skipping out from behind the big oak and waving at me before continuing to skip around it again.
“Hey kid, what are you doing out here?” I yelled at him. “Where are your parents? Are they somewhere around here? What’s your name?”
He didn’t answer but stopped his constant skipping, which, let me tell you, was getting on my nerves. Tired of yelling across the clearing at him, I moved closer. His impish smile made dimples in either cheek appear, and he still had something tucked under his arm. After taking a closer look, I realized it was a book bound in leather. Patting it gently, he put his forefinger to his lips.
Was he telling me to be quiet? Forget that! No way would I leave him out here by himself.
“Come on, kid, tell me your name and we’ll go find your parents. Not much longer until it gets dark. You can’t be out here by yourself.”
He jumped away as I again moved even closer, running around the back of the oak where I couldn’t see him. Sighing in frustration, I took off after him again.
“I’ve had my fill of this game now,” I muttered to myself. Rounding the back of the tree, my knee hit something and I went flying forward, hitting the ground hard.
I rolled over, groaning as I stared up at the tree canopy. There were sparkling lights in the thick branches and leaves, blinking in and out, dancing around and through them. I must have hit my head really hard.
Gingerly, I touched my forehead, and my hand came away sticky with blood. Gah! How clumsy! I really hoped the wound wouldn’t need stitches.
I cursed the little kid that seemed to enjoy playing this game. Where did he go anyway? How did he disappear into thin air? Breathing slowly to calm myself, I turned to the oak tree, studying the dark bark looming in front of my face. I studied the thick trunk; rough lines in the bark looked as if something had scored the wood years ago. One of the lines ran up to a knobby looking growth, and above that, I noticed a light. Looking back up at the canopy of branches, no light shined through, and I shivered.
Pain shot through my head as I sat up too fast, and I grabbed ahold of a gigantic root that must have been what I tripped over. Pushing myself to stand, I kept my eyes trained on the strange light in the trunk. It was only about as big around as my fingertip. Bending closer, I placed my hands on the rough bark and saw that the warm light spilled out from a hole in the tree.
What the heck?
Leaning close, I peered through it.
Gasping, I backed away. Okay... I must have hit my head really hard, and right now I’m knocked out, and this is all a dream, I rationalized. There was no way what I saw through that hole could be real! Rubbing my eyes, I held my breath and looked through it again.
Inside, a huge library spanned so many floors high I couldn’t even see them all. Books lined the walls, and a winding staircase twisted and turned up to each story. There were trinkets and artifacts piled on tables and the floor, and all manner of plants and small trees grew willy-nilly throughout the large room. Against the far wall, a fireplace crackled, surrounded by several armchairs and more of those twinkling lights that had been in the branches were scattered throughout the plants. They reminded me of lightning bugs blinking off and on.
It. Was. Magical.
Just then, something streaked through my line of vision, startling me. Was that a dragonfly? Iridescent wings fluttered, and it was about the same size as one.
Determined to figure out what was going on, I ran my hands around the bark where the light came from, trying to find a way in. The knobby growth resembled a doorknob, and the hole sat right above it.
Was it a keyhole?
Then it hit me. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of the small key! I had put it on a ribbon and worn it around my neck with the hope that I could give it back to the boy should I ever see him again. Pulling it out from under my shirt, I lifted it over my head, staring at the small key. It was the perfect size, and something inside of me knew it would fit.
Excited but nervous all at once, I put the key in the opening, turning it gently. A strange clicking noise began, and a tinkling of bells sounded as a door creaked open in the wood. Heat escaped and flowed over me. Overwhelmed, I tried to take in everything as I stood in the doorway looking in.
“Don’t ya stand there with ta door open. Come in, come in!” a rough voice said, and I yelped in surprise.
Putting my hand to my heart in shock, I searched the room, wide-eyed, trying to see who had spoken.
“Shut ta door! You don’t want ta Fomorians to get in. We can’t be having that,” the voice said, louder this time.
Confused about what Fomorians were, and where the voice originated from, I quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind me. The clicking and tinkling sounded again, and I turned to look at the door to see that the inside had gears with bells hanging from them. What an odd locking mechanism.
Beside the door was a rug with shoes laid out on it. Some were sneakers, some old loafers, and a pair of weird-looking boots with pointy toes and cuffs at the ankles.
“Mmhmm...”
The voice cleared its throat behind me as I studied the shoes. Whirling around, a figure as tall as my knees had come out from behind one of the large tropical plants growing from the ground in a corner. As it walked closer, I could see a little man-shaped creature with large pointed ears, a long bulbous nose, and leathery brown skin. He wore an oversized brown shirt belted with leather at the waist. Skinny legs stuck out from underneath with bare feet too large for his body. On top of his head, he wore a little red stocking cap that reminded me of what the kids wore in The Night Before Christmas. As he stood in front of me, my mouth moved, but no words came out. His eyes were big, larger than any human’s, dark, with pupils that took up most of his eyes.
He peered at me in silence for a while, looking me up and down before stating, “You’ll do.”
Turning, he grabbed ahold of my hand, pulling me to where chairs were situated in front of the warm fire. My mouth was dry, still not able to form words. This man... thing looked like what I imagined an elf would look like. He could not be human! I let him lead me to the sitting area where he sat me down in a comfortable chair, the fire warming me as it blazed and crackled.
Once again, he stood in front of me. This time, we were at eye level.
“Name’s Balwyn. We have been waiting for ya to arrive for a long time. Don’t know what took ya so long.” He scowled at me, his hairy eyebrows hanging low over his large eyes.
I was baffled and in shock.
"Um. Balwyn... I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Who’s ‘we?’ And why have you been waiting for a long time for me?”
He scowled again and shook his head as he turned away, muttering to himself before walking toward the large plant he had come from, disappearing from sight. The little lights scattered in his wake.
“He’s right. We have been waiting a long time for you,” an amused voice whispered into my ear. I jumped, frightened to find what creature was behind me this time.
A low buzzing sounded in my ear, and then something zipped right by my face, circling my head so fast I couldn’t keep up.
“Please stop. You’re making me dizzy,” I complained.
At that moment, Balwyn came back out from hiding, carrying a tray that held a steaming mug. It smelled like hot cocoa.
“Eira! Quit yer flyin’ round ta girls head. We have gots to talk to her quick like before we run out of time!” He scowled at the creature buzzing above my head. I watched as it dove onto the chair beside me, doing a somersault only to land back on its tiny toes like a ballet dancer.
My mouth dropped open. By now, after being in this magical tree and meeting Balwyn, you would think nothing could surprise me. Never in my life had I seen or imagined the creatures in front of me existed. Only in the fairy tales I grew up reading, or in Disney movies.
Still striking a pose, the little creature had its arms in the air, one toe
pointed out, posing as if waiting for applause. Not really knowing what to do, I clapped, and the creature jumped and then curtsied. It actually curtsied! While the tiny thing preened for my attention, Balwyn handed me the cup.
“Drink up, girlie. Ya need ta warm up and calm down.”
I blew on the warm drink, and tiny little white things that I hoped were marshmallows floated on the top. It had to be cocoa.
Glancing over at the small creature who waited on my attention, I decided that this had to be an actual fairy. Sitting on the arm of the chair, the tiny creature studied me while resting its chin in its tiny porcelain hands. It wore a little skirt and top made from flower petals, all different hues of pink and purple intertwined with each other. The wings that extended out behind it were iridescent like a dragonfly. Silver hair was arranged in a mass of braids atop its head. It had to be a girl fairy.
She must have been what I saw fly by so fast when I looked through the keyhole! She blinked her green eyes at me, and her mouth formed a tiny, beautiful smile as I studied her. As if she couldn’t hide her excitement for more than a minute, her patience gone, she clapped her hands, and I noticed her skin appeared luminous, almost pearlescent.
“Andie, right?” she asked me in her squeaky little voice. I nodded. “I’m Eira, and I am so excited to meet you. You likely could already tell that I’m Fae. Or you might be more familiar with the term ‘fairy.’ Balwyn is a Brownie, and we are the keepers of this Mighty Oak.” She swung her arms out wide. “We’ve waited many years for you, Andie. You will save our world from the darkness and destruction that is coming.”
Well, that’s ridiculous.
Why in the world would they think I would be able to save anything? I'm just a teenager—I can't even drive! My mind spun, and I wasn’t sure what to say, so I sipped the cocoa, hoping it would take away the chill and give me time to think. It was delicious and creamy, warming my body from my belly to my toes. Relaxing into the chair, I sighed, and Eira and Balwyn watched in silence.
Eira hopped from the chair to perch on my arm, and then placed her tiny hand on top of mine. “Andie, I know this is a lot to take in, but you must listen to me. Your mother, as hard as this may be to believe, was one of us. So was your grandmother. Your mother died trying to find the Keys, hoping to spare you from your fate. But she wasn’t the one meant to find them. She was not who had been foreseen to save us all. There are four Keys you must find. We need each one to keep our worlds from burning, and the evilness that surrounds us from taking over,” she said softly, fear clear in her eyes.
“I can’t explain all the details to you right now, but before long more will be revealed. You must go home now. Your Guardian is waiting for you. Come back tomorrow, and we will discuss this further to prepare you for what is coming.” Done with her ominous speech, she flew off to one of the flowering plants growing over the balcony above us, rich with purple flowers cascading over the rail.
Balwyn took the mug from me in one hand and extended his other to help me up. “Come now, Miss Andie. Time ta go!”
Everything had my head spinning. The questions that I had for them flew around my brain in such a maelstrom that I wasn’t able to form them and get them out.
Balwyn led me over to the door faster than seemed possible, as if he knew I had questions and wanted me out before I could ask them. Grasping my hand in his warm, rough one, he looked up at me pointing to the rug littered with different shoes. “Next time, ya need to take your footwear off when you enter.”
Who really cared about shoes at a time like this? Not knowing him well enough to tempt ticking him off, I kept my mouth shut, tipping my head once at him. He leaned forward, whispering a word I couldn't hear, and the door started the strange clicking and tinkling noise and slung back open again. Balwyn shooed me out the door.
“Out ya go. Can’t let them get in! Remember ta come back tamorrow!” he yelled, shutting the door behind me.
Chapter Five
Nighttime had fallen, and the moon lit the forest floor. I felt absolutely stunned. The air had turned cold and crisp, and I shivered after being in the tree’s warmth. Wrapping my arms around myself, I glanced back to see the light gone from the keyhole. There was absolutely no sign that a door was ever there.
Hurrying through the woods, I thought about everything I’d been told and all that I’d seen. What happened to the kid I had been following? Where did he disappear to? He had to be a part of all of this as well. It was obvious to me now that he had dropped the key to the door, knowing I would find it. He led me to the tree with a purpose.
He must have been what they called “Fae.” Some sort of fairy, but what kind? And my mother, Nan and I all shared their blood? That meant I was Fae too. How was that possible? My head swam with all this new information, and I wasn't sure how to process everything. It was all too overwhelming.
As I hurried out of the woods and onto the back lawn, Celeste relaxed on the patio with a small fire going in the pit, her usual mug of hot tea steaming beside her. I approached at a snail’s pace, my mind racing to figure out what to tell her I had been doing for so long. There was no way she would believe me if I told her the truth.
“Hey, Celeste, I’m sorry I’m so late getting in—and that I didn’t tell you where I was going. When I was in the woods, I tripped over a tree root and hit my head. I must have been knocked out for a while.”
Sort of the truth, except the part about being knocked out. I carefully touched the cut on my forehead and winced a little. It really was sore. Celeste said nothing, but her smug look and her signature eyebrow raise told me she didn’t entirely believe me.
“Child, you need not deceive me. I know every minute detail of your whereabouts this evening.”
I protested, but she held up a finger, closed her eyes, and shook her head, her mouth firm. “No, Andie, I do. I read you the moment you walked out of the woods. I saw your thoughts as your mind raced to figure out what to tell me. I viewed everything as if through your eyes, dear.”
Again, I was at a loss. Every time I turned around, there was something so incredible that my mind could barely keep up. I sat down hard on the stones of the patio, not bothering to sit in a chair. The events of the night wore me out, and I felt the stress building.
The scrape of a chair on the patio sounded behind me, and I took a deep breath of the flower-scented air. Celeste gently placed a blanket around my shoulders. If she could read my mind, then she knew how chilled I felt.
Oh, God! She can read my mind!
Furiously, I tried to think back, wondering if I had thought of anything that would seriously be embarrassing for her to know. She sat crosslegged on the stone in front of me, tucking her long skirt under her knees as I stared hard at the ground. Placing her finger under my chin, she lifted my face.
“Andie, I haven’t been reading your mind all this time. Only when I worry you might be in danger, and just now, to make sure you learned what you were meant to. Don’t be afraid of all this new information. I know it’s a lot to take in. All your understanding will come in time. Now it’s time for me to be honest.”
She stared into my eyes, and I gulped because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know more, or if I could handle more.
“But you must, and you can. I promise you, Andie, you are strong, stronger than you can imagine,” she responded to the question in my mind.
“Your nan and I met in these woods. Things were so different then. They were full of all kinds of Fae. We lived there, you see, enjoying the vast and secluded area where we could be ourselves in plain sight. We ran with the wind in our hair, climbed the tallest trees to look out at the strange world around us in awe.”
Her eyes glittered with unshed tears, brighter than they had been before. Her sadness was overwhelming. Taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes, she continued.
“Then one day, a group entered the woods, hunting us. We had never seen nor heard of these creatures before, but oh, we would never forget them after that day.
They slaughtered many of our friends and family, showing no mercy, not even for the young. They were cruel, vile creatures. I hid from them in the brush when your nan scurried under with me. No one noticed her movements. We both listened as the leader told the rest of their group to look for the ones with gray eyes.”
I looked up at Celeste, and she nodded. She knew exactly what I thought without having to read my mind. Nan’s eyes had been a bright, steely gray, like mine. I always thought my eyes were rather dull, but Nan’s always seemed to be a bright and beautiful silvery gray. I remembered when I was little, telling her they looked like the hematite rocks we found once on a hike. Brighter when she was happy, turning to a darker shade when she was upset.
“I don’t understand what our eye color has to do with anything, Celeste. Does it have something to do with our family in particular?”
“You come from a mighty race of Fae. Your people all have the same gray eyes. We won’t go into all of that right now, though. You will learn about the past and all that it holds soon. And that past is not as important as your future, and the rest of ours. You will do hard things, but they will lead to great things. You are our hope.”
Squeezing my leg, she stood up and stretched. Her arms reached for the sky, her long silver braid hanging behind her, the moon a bright orb above her head. It almost appeared as if she cupped the moon, and it reminded me of a famous painting of the Moon Goddess Diana. Unraveling from her stretch, Celeste tipped her head to me with a Cheshire smile.
Wait. What!?
I started to ask her, but she cut me off, effectively turning the conversation. “Come, dear, you’ve got a long day ahead of you. Say, how is school going? That young man we met the other day seemed nice,” she said as we walked into the house.