The following is an original work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book/story are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.The following is intended for mature audiences only.
Chapter 7
The realm’s twin moons cast their glow brightly over the dense forest. Thick air blanketed my exposed skin.
Comforting.
So much so, I wanted to wrap myself in it.
Weaving through the trees with my hands outstretched, trying to feel the intangible light. Not truly knowing how I arrived amongst these trees or where I was precisely. Neither gave me any immediate concern.
Filling my lungs with the fresh air of the clear, even night. Feeling the lush vegetation that grew around me. Leaves crunching softly underfoot. Patches of wet moss cool against my bare feet. Every sensation amplified but I barely noticed. Felt like I was floating above the earth, apart from the surroundings.
A single focus occupied my mind. Where had I seen this forest before? While nothing appeared particularly familiar about this place, at least visually, it was my body that was saying otherwise. My senses, my skin mostly was what registered familiarity. The feeling of arriving somewhere you longed to be only to find it more enchanting and soothing than you imagined.
Dressed in the white and gold gossamer gown from the ceremony, its fabric train leaving a trail of ethereal glimmer in my wake. Catching the moons’ glow, radiating my presence like a beacon amidst the dark trees. The bottom hem of the dress showing signs of the distance I must have already traveled judging by the collection of forest debris it gathered. But remembering none of the journey.
Just ahead, through the trees, there was something there.
A tree trunk whose immense radius set it apart from its peers. It called to me. To a feeling deep within my chest, pulling me in its direction. Not until I passed all the inferior trees was I able to appreciate the magnitude of this tree. Hollowed out, I would certainly have been able to live comfortably within it like some woodland nymph from the childhood stories Finneck used to tell me.
Stepping gingerly over the pale, raised roots reaching out around its base. The fresh line of tattoos along my left side began to throb dully.
Ignoring the ache, walking around the behemoth, there was a clearing on the other side. A break in the canopy exposed just enough night sky to see the twin orbs hovering, looking down. To the east, Arenti glowed silver with its golden sister, Aurem, to the west. Both illuminating the green groundcover of the clearing giving it a celestial gray glow.
Resting one hand against the cool, smooth bark of the immense trunk, I scanned the clearing. The near perfect circle was enclosed by a wall of trees so dense anything beyond was devoured by shadows upon foreboding shadows. Even the moons’ glow dare not penetrate.
A chill ran up my spine, through my arm and into the tree’s trunk. A warning I barely felt over the pull to step into the clearing as if I was being led by the hand.
Taking one step into the clearing, my foot met soft dew-ridden clover. Once both my feet were firmly planted a gray wolf stepped out of the darkness directly across from me. Hind quarters remaining in the shadows. He watched me with striking green eyes, tilting his head to the side, listening.
There was no fear. No urge to reach for a weapon that I didn’t have or retreat to safety. Curiosity guided my feet as I took a few steps toward the beast. The line of tattoos now doing more than benignly throbbing before a jolt of pain radiated along my entire side. Looking down I half expected to see blood soaking through my dress.
Nothing.
Soft footsteps padding toward me from the wolf’s direction pulled at my attention. The wolf had not moved his feet. His head lowered, ears flattened against his giant head.
Appearing out of the shadows to stand next to the animal, a slight woman swathed in a wispy white gown. Flowers adorned her long platinum plait as the length swept the tops of her ankles. Deep blue eyes large and desperate watched.
“Are you hurt?” I asked automatically using the common tongue in a hushed tone. The woman’s appearance wasn’t as surprising as her eyes. They didn’t match the relaxed demeanor of her body.
When she didn’t immediately respond I tried again in Laicus and Vetex, the old Fae and Eildun languages. Still no response, so I stuck with the common language.
“Can I help you in some way?”
In response to my last question, the woman moved her heart-shaped mouth as if she were talking but produce no sound.
Taking a small step in her direction, I could almost feel the desperation in the woman’s muted words. “I don’t understand,” I said taking another step forward. My feet bouncing as I sank into the lush clover.
Soundless lips continued to move too quickly for me to read. The wolf whined and tried to shrink back into the shadows.
“Please, slow down,” I pleaded.
As if something abruptly caught her attention, the woman stopped trying to communicate and turned to look over her shoulder. Returning her attention to me, desperation turned frantic as she tried to close the distance between us. After a few steps the mysterious woman met a resistance I couldn’t see. An invisible barrier restricting her advancement.
My heart accelerated, thundering behind my ribs. Torn between running far from the clearing or toward the woman to try and pull her to safety. A warning slid up my spine once more. I didn’t know what direction I had intended to go when I lifted my foot to take a step, but I couldn’t. Both feet were rooted to the ground by some unseen force. The same force restricting the woman?
Reaching out to me, the woman’s corporeal presence began to lose opacity. Her attention turned back toward the darkness, her jaw moving as if talking to someone, or something, beyond the light.
Could the wolf hear the woman? Was he just as helpless as I?
The creature lifted his head to the woman and whined loudly. Holding out a delicate hand to the animal as her image flickered a few more times before completely fading from view.
The wolf stared at me as I returned his gaze. Those green eyes were as familiar to me as the forest. Comforting even as they seemed to burrow under my skin.
Lifting his muzzle toward the sky, the wolf brayed, releasing a long, worried sound, voicing what the woman couldn’t. His cry shot straight into me. Doubling over, grabbing at my chest and abdomen as pain radiated through me.
Sitting up quickly, breath ragged, heart racing. One hand finding the soft surroundings of my bed. The soothing sounds and warmth of the fire still burning in the hearth filled my room.
The wolf. The woman. The forest. All may have disappeared when I woke, but the feelings they invoked remained.
Dropping my head, pushing the heels of my palms against my eyes, trying to control my breath. “Too weak,” I declared to the empty room.
