Suddenly, the wind stopped. The change in the air felt even denser than it had before. Everyone looked up and gazed upon the Queen of the Dryads, she was perched on a large branch just above them. Her skin pale and glassy white, like she was made of porcelain. Her dark green eyes were large, so large in fact, the whites of eyes could not be seen, and yet somehow they had slit-like appearance. Her long dark blond hair draped around her carelessly in soft wisps down to her legs and was like a cape, flying in some self-contained breeze. A crown of twisted twigs and angel’s breath lay on her head, spilling down, like entrails in her hair. The sheer dress she wore was more like torn worn silk, swaying around her in the breeze and held together by a belt of roped vines. She looked just like a faery would look, ethereal and almost unreal. Her skin glowed like moonlight reflecting on the surface of a pool of water. Shade gasped with amazement. She thought, at first, it was glamour but she felt no such magic floating around Lady Blythe. Her magic was the woods, the trees, earth, plants and creatures. All were flowing with energy that was tumbling towards her.
The faery snickered. She tilted her head, studying the group and narrowing her large eyes, almost insect-like, but much prettier. They filled Shade with dread. Her face morphed into malice. “You are pathetic. Forget me not; I won't soon forget you either. Give me the halfling girl and you can go.”
Shade’s eyes widened as she stood up and stepped back. She froze mid-step and couldn’t move, barely breathed. A sticky, thick magic clung to her again now, paralyzing her in place. Lady Blythe was smiling wickedly above her and shook her head. “Yes, Shade, that means you. Either you stay or they die.”
“But, why? What did I do? I don’t even know you. Why do you want me? I have no magic.” Shade felt frozen. Her legs did not work, nothing worked. She felt as if she were suspended animation, trapped in the stillness, as one would be in ice.
“Your majesty, Shade cannot stay here; she is sent by Queen Zinara herself on a quest to help free us of the Lonare’s treacheries.” Ewan spoke, not raising his head to the fairy queen. As though doing so might offend her.
“Silence, giant. I do not need your blubbering statements. I know full well what Queen Zinara means to do. I don’t frankly agree with her strange decisions but I know this halfling serves more than just one purpose.” She gazed at Shade, her lips thin and tense. Shade felt light headed.
Trick her, trick her into thinking you are only a mortal, no powers. Trick her at her own game Shade, quickly!
An inner voice yelled with urgency
.
Shade came back to herself, still frozen but more clear-headed. Her guides warmth and voices swam in her head, helping her breath in her frozen body.
How do I trick her? She would know if I’m lying, don’t they all? How?
Offer her yourself fully. But trick her into giving you a riddle, we can answer any question. If you answer right, she must let you go.
Shade swallowed hard and peered up at the Dryad Queen. She felt her evil swirling around in the air.
“Lady Blythe, your majesty. Please, I will come to you freely. But tell me, don’t you like riddles? Anything I might not be able to answer? How about a deal? If I answer it right, we
all
go free, with safe passage through your land. If not, I am yours, with no quarrels, at least we can make it fun, you know?” Shade gasped as the air felt tight and she felt like she was drowning.
Lady Blythe stared at the girl, contemplating her words. She studied with her sharp eyes drilling into Shade. A moment later, a creepy growing smile spread across her face.
“Why how quaint, how did you know my love of riddles? How delightful! Very well, then.” She paused for a moment, looking pensive and scratching her chin. Her eyes excited as she cleared her throat. “I got one for you. What can walk the earth at dawn, dances in the noon sun and then never again at dusk.” Her wicked smile snarled at Shade. What sort of riddle was that?
A vampire.
What? A vampire? Really? This is ridiculous I...
Trust us, Shade, please.
“Okay, I know that, a vampire. The answer is a vampire.” Shade’s breath whispered from her lips as the thick magic surrounding her squeezed the last bit out. The queen would have to let up on the air prison if she was to inhale once more. Nothing but silence came from the Dryad Queen. Her face fell into anger and her eyes flashed like luminous green fire. She was furious.
“How dare you trick me? You defiant fool. I have to let you pass now, but make sure you stay out of my way again, I cannot be tricked twice. We shall meet again, I promise that!” Shade was hurled to the ground, coughing and gulping down air. Lady Blythe was gone as quickly as she had appeared. Nothing else was around, nothing but the dark woods.
“Is she gone?” Shade whispered. Her breath had still not caught up. “What did she want with me? And what, the hell, is she?” She brought her knees to her chest and sat rocking back and forth, willing her heart to stop racing and slowing her breath. Jack knelt down, is hand on her shoulder. He gave it a firm squeeze.
“Lady Blythe is like she said, Queen of the Dryads of the haunted forest. I really don’t know what she wants from you. Quite strange, she disappeared decades ago and has not been seen until now. Queen Zinara, of course, assumed she was dead.” He looked up at the surrounding warriors. No one seemed to have a clue what was going on.
“Unless the Lonares have been working overtime and attempting to sabotage or stop us in our tracks. This feels like Lonares treachery all over it. How did you know, Shade?” He stood up offering Shade his hand. She looked up at the handsome Teleen warrior, taking his hand as she pulled herself to her shaky legs. Tears streaked down her face. The Dryad queen was scary as hell.
“Know what?”
Jack looked at her intently; searching her face for something that Shade knew nothing of.
“That she liked riddles; you saved yourself and us with such a quick wit. Amazing!”
“It wasn’t me,” She shook her head. “My spirit guides are speaking to me, helping me. They gave me the idea and then told me the answer.” She coughed again and breathed in deeply.
“Well, quite a handy trick there. I hope they come in handy more often than not.” He nodded at her. “Shall we continue? Everyone, make sure shields are up; we will not be caught so unaware again. Count us lucky she didn’t have an appetite for meat today.”
Shade’s mouth dropped open at Jack. He glanced at her and smiled. “Just kidding, she’s vegan.”
She groaned and straightened up. Shade shook her head and fell in line with the warriors, eager to leave these woods behind.
Shade felt a twinge of jealousy. Nothing but human light brown hair danced on her head, nothing fey-like about it. It made her wonder what she had that resembled the fey at all. Maybe she had turned out to be fully human. Maybe they had the wrong girl after all. Could be she had no magic besides her spirit guides. She couldn’t perform glamour or heal anything, let alone fight or enchant like the Dryad queen. Shade shivered, recalling the queen’s cold stare and the ice-cold air prison that kept her tight within her grasp. The air had tightened to the point that it made her want to faint. It was not something she cared to remember.
Her legs burned with the constant strain of hiking up and down the hills. They appeared smooth with grass but were rocky and uneven on the ground. Her tennis shoes were not meant to go through such rigorous hikes. She paused, leaning over, placing her hands on her knees. Her lungs ached with effort, breathing felt like a burning torture. A faint metallic taste clung to her mouth and she coughed up spit. She was not a fan of the physically gifted. Her idea of a good time was curling up on her bed with a thick book. No way would she have voluntarily done anything that resembled hiking before this. Short of camping at campsites where you could walk to your car and a public restroom, that was as close as she got to being outdoorsy.
This sucks.
“You alright?” Soap paused just ahead of her and leaned down to see her face.
Shade’s cheeks were pink with heat from the strain. She swallowed her strange tasting saliva and nodded. She then turned to Braelynn, who had also come to a stop by her, and put a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle pat.
“The trail will be hard, not just for you but all of us. You will get used to the rigorous terrain as time goes by with the more you do. Are you having trouble catching your breath? I have a potion you can take for that. It’s kind of like asthma medicine. Most fey don’t have that kind of trouble but I treat all kinds of people. I knew it was a possibility with a human coming along. Let me know if you need it.” Braelynn offered. She smiled and nodded, patting Shade on the back and turned to continue on. Shade sighed and closed her eyes. She knew Braelynn was being kind but her words had made her feel somewhat inferior, being human and all. She wondered how all of the fey felt about humans in general. Stereotyping was probably not just a human trait and she wondered if the group thought she was weak.
She straightened up, nodded to Soap as she breathed in and resumed up the hill again. The afternoon sun burned down on her, her hair feeling afire. She swung her backpack around and opened it, thinking about her baseball cap she had stuffed into it earlier. It appeared to her fingers as fast as she had thought it. She was never going to get used to how cool that was. She closed her bag and pulled the cap over the wavy strands that now fell away from her ponytail. She was glad she remembered to bring it; her head was thanking her for it.
Shade was about to ask someone if they were getting any closer to the mountain caves of the Teleen when she heard Ewan’s booming voice echoing back at her.
“Land ho! The mountains are but about a mile away, not too far. We’ll be eating dinner in no time.” He chuckled back towards the group and patted his belly.
Ewan wasn’t the only one thinking about food. Her stomach had been protesting for the last hour. She had had snacked on a granola bar but it had gone straight through her. She’d worked up an appetite for something a bit more substantial. The last mile seemed to drag on more than the last five. Shade’s back and shoulders ached from carrying the backpack, though it wasn’t too heavy, just any kind of weight gets old after carrying it for awhile. She was not cut out for this hiking crap. She was sweaty, thirsty and worst of all; a thin layer of dirt seemed to cling to her skin. She had streaks across her face from the mix of sweat and dirt. Her hair frizzed out under the cap and some of it was stuck to her moist neck and was itching up a storm. She swore she must have a blister or two forming on her feet and her knees felt like they were going to fall apart.
She rounded one of the last hills and gasped. The mouth of a cave roared above them, it was pitch black and very wide. The dirt and grass continued into the cave until the blackness swallowed them up. The wind howled over the hole, wailing eerily. To Shade, it did not seem like anyone lived here.
This can’t be it
.
The rest of the gang gathered around the entrance as Ewan held up his hands to the air and mumbled some words. Shade looked around, not seeing anyone else around them. She did get a feeling of being watched though. She looked up the cliffs that gave way into a jagged overhang; the rock formation was shaped like a half moon, and it wasn’t just a simple hole in the wall or opening. The rocks were expansive and they looked as if they may crumble onto anyone who dared to walk into the cave.
She suddenly felt the shiver of glamour, like ripples in a pool of water, all around the cave.
Of course!
It was a deterrent, like a spell of reluctance to whoever passed by, to make them fear the large hanging rocks and avoid it like the plague. As Ewan spoke softly, the glamour melted away, revealing an enormous double door. The door had intricate carvings and was made of heavy wood that appeared old and weathered. Shade drew in her breath, amazed by how beautiful it was. The wood blended into the shades of rock around it and seemed to fade into the background if you did not stare right at it.
Wow, what kind of people live here to make such a fascinating entrance?
She watched as the group gathered around the great doorway while Ewan gave a good shove on the enormous doors. They creaked loudly as they opened and from the moaning sound it was clear they were not opened too often. He motioned the group to follow him.
As they entered the archway they all were swallowed by the dark but soon there was a flickering light from the torches that lined the walls. The doors swung and loudly closed behind them with a thunderous clap. Everyone jumped and some had even drawn their weapons while staring at the large doors. It seemed they had closed themselves because no in the group had done so and there was no else in the room.
This is unsettling
, Shade turned back towards the cave.
Where is everyone?
She thought as she followed her group and wondered when the people who lived here would greet them.
They walked the cave and soon they were lead into a massive room. There were tall columns that reached high above them; they were made of the same grey-streaked white stone as the rest of cave. There appeared to be no one there but to Shade’s surprise, the torches around the room began to brighten. She noticed figures appearing out of the shadows and they were also holding torches. They had materialized from the darkness as suddenly as in a blink of an eye. Each one of them was dressed in guard’s uniforms. They were engulfed in white and blue flames; the hot fire crackled along their skin. Shade was reminded of Jack and his powers. Surely, they must be Teleen.