In the hollow woods, they crept. Every villager had an inkling of what they were and the surrounding villages had their own folk stories to tell, but only Karissa had seen one. It’s true that she would laugh at the stories, and dance at the festivals in honor of them called The Shadows. That was until she turned seventeen and the foxgloves sprouted happily in spring. That spring changed her life forever, and the shadows would not be a secret at least not to her anymore.
Karissa began her day as she would every spring day by going out into the woods to collect berries. With a large oval wicker basket, and her most faded dress she journeyed into the woods alone. Unfortunately, her dearest friend Arc would not be able to join her like he normally did. Arc was at home ill with a fever, and Karissa had promised him that she would bring him some berries when she returned. I’m sad to say that her promise would be broken that day.
The scents of fresh flowers overwhelmed the entire forest, but Karissa was not bothered by the large array of floral scents. She lived for the smells for they enchanted her body all the way down to her soul in every way possible. On this walk alone, she thought back to Arc walking alongside her while picking flowers to braid into her long red hair. Karissa couldn’t help but smile at the sweet gestures that he had done since they were young children.
Just a few feet away from her was a dark green bush that had the plumpest pink berries perfect for baking warm berry pie. Quickly, Karissa walked over and began picking all the berries on the bush. Happily, she hummed a song while she picked them. The tune was an old one that her mother would sing to her at night since she was a baby. As she heard a rustling in the bushes nearby, a chill went down her spine causing her humming to subside. When the noise grew louder she ceased humming altogether. Her topaz eyes gazed up at the leaves, hoping that the noise was only the wind. After seeing the leaves still as a statue, Karissa stood up without a thought. The wind was not the culprit of the disturbance, and Karissa knew these woods could be very dangerous.
Bears, wolves, and even vicious insects called the forest their home. Arc had taught her how to use a bow and arrow, and a rugged knife in case they were in danger despite her father’s disapproval of her learning to protect herself. Luckily, for her, she had brought both weapons and with soft feet, she crept towards the noise. Karissa brushed her ruby bangs to the side and took a deep breath before pushing the branches away from her body to find what was lurking. Allowing her courage to come full force, she pushed the branches to the side, held her knife out ready for attack, and gave her fiercest growl!
As she looked around, Laughter shot out of Karissa’s mouth. Nothing stood in front of her except more plants and a scared chipmunk that scurried up a tree as fast as its little legs could go. She smiled like the moon and let her body go back to normal functioning. Just as she was about to turn back, her attention went to a very strange tree stump. It was filled to the brim with moss, and mushrooms that cast a glow even in the sunshine. Karissa wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but after several blinks the mushrooms still illuminated. Her body felt drawn to the stump, and she didn’t try to stop it from pushing her towards it.
With her jaw-dropping at the utter idiosyncrasy of the stump, she let her fingers caress the top. Wet moss stuck to her palm and when she pulled her hand away moss came with it. What the patches of bare stump revealed made it even more obscure. A hole was underneath where her hand touched. Curiosity took over her actions, and her hand was fiercely dusting away all the moss on top of the stump to reveal a massive hole. As though for the first time, caterpillars, snails, and long-legged spiders crawled up out of the stump eager to see the sunlight. Karissa moved her hand swiftly away from the stump to let the insects escape.
Once they had all fled, she filled the hole with her head. Peering down inside it was clear that the hole went further down than the ground that she stood on. Without having a light she wouldn’t know how deep the hole went, but part of her didn’t care. Her mind was thirsty, a thirst that could only be cured by throwing out all her rationales and following her curiosity down the stump. An idea popped into her head that would be just what she needed, light. Karissa pulled off the mushrooms and made a bouquet in her hand. To her amazement, her plan would work. The mushrooms still glowed, and that is what she would use to journey down the stump.
Before she made her unpredictable journey she devoured several berries and placed a couple of handfuls of them into her apron pockets. Grabbing the mushrooms again, she placed her legs in and held on with her hands to the top of the stump. Her feet didn’t reach the earth, and they dangled as bats do with their feet. Except she was far from being a bat, so she let her shoes dig into the guts of the trunk to find if it was possible to climb down. As though she was trying to run up an icy hill, her foot slipped every time. Her palms were starting to sweat and her arms were going numb. Panic was setting in and the deep need for exploration was now the furthest thing from her mind, but she had no grip to pull herself out of the stump.
Her feet started moving frantically to pull herself out, but no traction was given. Instead of wearing herself out, she let the darkness take her. Karissa released her hands from the stump and held on tightly to the glow mushrooms as she barreled down the stump. Screaming was just the beginning of a long fall that would surely be for nothing since the forest was empty of anyone who could have helped her. Karissa felt like her body was still left at the top of the stump while her soul came crashing down to the earth, and then in a mere second, her body smacked back over her soul in an excruciating collision.
Before she could make out her surroundings, her eyes fluttered to sleep. The fall was far, but not enough to kill her. It helped that she happened to land on a pillow of freshly cut flowers that at least gave her some cushion to save her against the cold hard ground. Lucky for Karissa someone from the shadows would take her broken body shortly.
Although the creatures in Howling Meadows called him the Collector, it was far from his real name. His amazing gift had given him the gift of future, past, and present sight that helped him, but mostly caused anguish. His own people used him, tortured him, and hoped to use him as their pet. While many also had a very opposite want for him, and only hoped to protect him it was becoming increasingly more difficult to sort out friends from foes. The collector always knew when someone had fallen into Howling Meadows. It wasn’t a frequent occurrence, and the number of humans to enter was becoming less and less frequent. So when Karissa fell, the collector already knew when and what time she would do so. He hoped to save her from any dark creatures that would use her for wickedness.
Karissa woke about halfway to the destination that the collector had decided to take her. With her laying over his arms, her eyes grew large when she saw that she was not on the ground staring at her own dead body as only a soul. Instead, she was alive, and not alone, which made her uncertain if she should have wished for death when she fell. For all, she knew this stranger was there to eat her or keep her as a prisoner. Karissa decided to play dead like she would have done if a bear was close by, so she stared up at the man one time before closing her eyes. Wavy black locks came down to his jaw and his face looked kind, but his amber eyes spoke of torment.
Time passed and the road started to get bumpy, but her eyes remained shut out of fear. A gust of wind smacked her in the face, and it didn’t feel like he was walking anymore. She couldn’t keep her eyes closed any longer, but when she opened them the ground was far below her feet, and exquisite wings flapped from the strangers back. From her shock, she almost fell when her body jolted but the man saved her from falling and held her firmly in his grasp. Karissa allowed the man to hold her tightly and she almost thanked him, but with them flying high above the clouds she thought it best to just close her eyes, and hope that they would land in one piece.
Luckily, for her, the collector saw his wings like the one piece of his body that made him whole. Like most fairies that have wings, they all felt completeness that only their wings could grant them. With her mouth open wide, and her mind full of curse words, they continued to fly, but she remained silent on the outside. Slowly they drifted down as a leaf falls off a tree. Finally, they reached the ground, but Karissa was unsure if she should run or try to kill the man that took her. A warm burning liquid bubbled in her throat before she had a chance to decide. Before she could try to hold the liquid in her body betrayed her and repelled all the food she had eaten earlier that day. Specks of pink berries mixed with stomach acid lay in a puddle at her feet. To her surprise, the stranger rubbed her back gently as a friend would.
Karissa rubbed the vomit off her lips and wiped her hand on her apron. She looked up at the man, and asked, “Who are you?”
He smirked because that question arose like clockwork every time he saved another human. “I go by many names, but you can just call me Silas,” he said while holding his hand out to shake hers, “And your name is?”
It was true that Karissa was taught good manners, but this whole situation was not sitting well with her, and for all, she knew Silas would eat her up any minute, so she refused to shake his hand. As though she was being a defiant child, she crossed her arms and pointed her nose up to the sky. Silas chuckled a bit and took no offense to her behavior. When Karissa heard his laughter, she threw her arms down and looked at him with anger in her heart. She was used to not being taken seriously due to her age but more so because she is a woman.
“I meant no offense. It’s just that I am probably the only one who wouldn’t harm you here. I know it may seem scary that you woke up to a stranger carrying you, but if I had left you I assure you that you would not have woken with anything other than screams,” Silas quietly spoke to her.
Without looking directly at Silas, Karissa looked to the side where she could see him faintly in her peripheral vision. He was beautiful and looked strong, but she still did not trust him. “Where are you taking me then?”
While raising his eyebrow he asked, “Where would you like to go? I’m assuming you want to be returned to the human world?”
“Yes, I want to go home,” Karissa spat.
“Alright, then that is where you will be returned. May I ask why I found you in this world?”
The question left her with unease. She felt foolish to say that it was pure curiosity that had drove her to climb inside of a hollowed-out stump, but it was more or less the truth. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one to let curiosity consume her every action, and she would not be the first to have fallen down the stump. It wouldn’t have made her feel any better knowing that others had also allowed curiosity to lead them down the same path as her. Lying about why she had come seemed out of the question. It would do nothing except he might take pity on her and do no harm as he had said.
“If you want my honesty, I can tell you that while I was picking berries for the village, I heard a rustling near me, and it turned out to be nothing, but I found this tree stump that I couldn’t bear to not examine. My curiosity took hold of me with more force than I had ever felt, and before I could try to escape I had put myself in a hopeless position. I had no other option but to let myself fall.”
“You aren’t the first human to fall down the stump, but it is very rare. I hate to break it to you, but if you found the stump and felt a pull towards it chances are you aren’t fully human.”
Karissa stepped up to Silas and brushed her hair away before beginning to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. Her mind was once again consumed by curiosity. Thinking to herself she wondered if he could be right that she wasn’t fully human, but that would be absurd. Silas realized her contemplation and held his hand out for her to grab. She was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t notice his hand awaiting hers. When she noticed she hesitated at first, but then let her hand fall into his.
“This way my lady, if you don’t mind,” he said with more chivalry than needed.
“Home?” Karissa cautiously asked.
“Yes, I can take you there, but it will be a bit of a journey. Unless you would like to find it on your own?”
Karissa thought back to Arc and the love that she had hidden from everyone that she had felt towards him. She wanted nothing more than to get back to him, but she also knew in her heart that she wanted to know this world more too. Although she could take care of herself she worried that navigating a land unlike hers would be nearly impossible to do alone. Once again she looked up at Silas and felt that he was telling the truth. If he wanted to hurt me he would have already done so she thought.
“Please take me, and if you could explain to me what it would mean if I wasn’t fully human.”
“Well, follow me this way,” he said while dropping her hand and pointing towards mountains, “And I can tell you all about the stories that I have heard.”
She nodded and stared at the towering mountains that were off in the distance hoping that they wouldn’t be climbing up them. Their footsteps crunched against the leaf ridden earth, but Karissa didn’t focus on the noise as much as she focused on Sila’s wings. It was hard to look away from something that people believed to be only stories when it stood directly in front of you. Karissa thought back to all the stories of the shadows, and one particular story lingered in her mind. For as long as she could remember she had heard the story about one such shadow. The best storytellers in the village would sing songs and make up poetry about him.
They would sing, “From the start of the night, he would come, come to bring back the wandering one, though he would only show a shadow, that shadow was a crow, leaving no trace. Curious we were to see his face, and knowledge of all his secrets when he took leave of this place, but the wanderer kept silent, and we all wondered if it was to keep from being defiant, in case the shadow would know that his secrets were no longer only his to hold.” Karissa looked at Silas and wondered if he were the crow. The shadow that brought the wanderer back? The song didn’t seem so far fetched anymore, and would she be the next wanderer to make it back to her village on the wings of a crow? Now Karissa knew that he was not a crow, but a shadow of a man with wings could make people think about a blackbird such as a crow. No, Karissa knew deep down that what Silas was, was something less dark, and more like how she thought of fairies. Except Silas was much taller than the fairies that she had heard about. In fact, he was taller than most of the villagers in her town.
“Have you brought many people back who have fallen?” Karissa asked while twidling her fingers nervously.
“Not many, but if I am near I will help,” Silas said casually.
Karissa tripped over a rock, but before falling flat on her face Silas placed his hand swiftly in front of her. She balanced back to her normal upright position before saying, “Thanks, I guess I didn’t see that there.”
Silas smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “You mentioned earlier that I am more than likely not fully human?” Karissa asked while walking faster to keep up with Silas.
“Sometimes a fae will leave the land and journey to the human world. It’s not common, but when that happens they usually will find a mate. Whether they have that mate for a short time or long really depends on the fae. Sometimes the fairy will bring their mate back here, but that is not easily done, and fairies have an easier time impregnating humans than their own kind…” Before Silas could finish Karissa placed her hand in front of his face, and stopped him from walking and speaking.
“My mother would never be unfaithful to my father. If you are suggesting that she went off with some fairy and got pregnant you are very wrong,” she said with anger and confusion bubbling inside her.
Silas wore a mask of irritation as he listened to Karissa, and replied, “You wanted to know what happens, and that’s exactly what I am doing. If you didn’t want to hear the truth I would suggest not asking any questions.”
His hand moved hers down away from his face, and without waiting for her to reply he continued to walk towards the mountains. Karissa being the strong-willed woman she was stood back in front of him, and stopped him once more.
“I want to know, but you should have cautioned me that your kind enjoys mates that are already taken,” she spat.
Silas was not bothered by her insult and felt that her ignorance was really what was making her angry. He knew that this wasn’t the case with all fae and that he was one of them that wouldn’t allow that type of hurt even if it was amongst the humans. He had always had kindness towards them, and that is what was more depressing to him that a human he had saved would use such a sharp tongue.
Silas said bluntly, “Insult my kind all you want, but remember I am the one bringing you back home.”
Her anger subsided and she knew that if she wanted to have a safe journey back she might want to not let her emotions take over the situation. She hoped that her mother had stayed faithful to her father, but there was a chance that her mother might not have been. Parents fight, but sometimes when her parents would it would feel like something deeper was really the issue that they never resolved. That they had hoped would have been buried deep underground and away from both their hearts and memories, but that’s not usually how it goes. Humans have an innate ability to hold on and struggle to forget and move forward. Karissa’s parents were no different, but she hoped that Silas was still wrong.
Karissa’s heart softened before she replied, “I’m sorry, I allowed my emotions to take it out on you. I might never know what really happened or if I am part fae, but thank you for telling me the truth nonetheless.”
Silas appreciated her apology but said nothing to her. He just wanted to get her back, and then return to his wife Calla. They had been apart for far too long, and he was hoping that he would surprise her with an early return. While he was thinking of Calla’s beautiful heart-shaped face, Karissa interrupted his thoughts.
“Karissa,” she said quietly.
“What?” Silas replied back.
“Karissa, that’s my name.”
He nodded his head and playfully bowed. “Lady Karissa, so nice to meet you,” he held out his hand again to have her shake it. Part of him thought that she would refuse again, but to his amazement, she hesitated once more before reaching her hand out to his. “Now shall we continue on without anymore bickering?”
“Yes, I would like that,” and that was the last thing they said to one another until they got to the bottom of the mountain.
Daffodils, long sharp grass, rocks consumed by moss, and a winding creek surrounded the mountain. Tall trees blanketed the mountain lovingly. Other fae were at the creek splashing about in the water completely naked. Karissa couldn’t take her eyes off of the fairies that splashed about with no cares in the world. Male and female fairies enjoyed the water, and when they saw them they stopped playing and smiled at Silas.
A dark-skinned female with the most stunning eyes that were the color of bark called out to us, “Silas! What are you doing over here?”
She waved at him and grinned. When the other fae saw who she was talking to they too, waved towards us. Karissa hoped that just as Silas was kind to humans all the fae in the water would be the same, but it seemed that it might be too much good luck if they were. Therefore, Karissa decided that she would be quiet and mirror Silas. Raising his hand up high, Silas waved at the fae and shortly we were just a few feet away from them.
“Hello, Eden! How are you doing today?” He said loud enough for her to hear.
Eden ran up to him and gave him a cold, wet hug. Silas wasn’t fully prepared for Eden to hug him with such force, but he chuckled and hugged her naked body back. Staring with wide eyes at them both, Karissa was struggling to act as she belonged here. Where she was it was a sin to be naked around others unless it was your spouse. She had never shown her naked body to anyone, and she appreciated Eden’s adventurous spirit. Although, she assumed that all fairies were not so shy about their own flesh. All of them had stunning features and acted as though being naked was just a normal habit. Karissa wanted to swim naked amongst them, but she feared they would know right away that she wasn’t a fairy. Then she would be shamed for sure unless Silas would save her from the mocking.
“And who is this, Silas? Is she related to Calla or something?” Eden asked while twirling Karissa’s hair in her fingers.
Karissa almost blurted out, “Who is Calla,” but she kept her lips sealed. Eden let go of her hair and looked at Silas for an answer since Karissa had more or less stood frozen. Silas grabbed Karissa to his side and smiled at her. Of course, she knew that whatever he would say next she would have to agree.
“Yes, she is one of Calla’s cousins. I am just bringing her back for a little family reunion,” he said convincingly.
“Well she sure looks like she is on Calla’s side,” Eden grinned. “What’s your name?”
Eagerly looking up to Silas for guidance, Karissa began to speak, but Silas spoke instead. “Her name is Karissa.”
“Karissa, huh?” Eden said while eyeing only her. Awkwardly, Karissa smiled at her. Eden crinkled her nose and turned her attention away from her. “Well, Silas would you two like to join us for a bit? Torian will be joining us shortly. I know you two haven’t seen each other in a while.”
For the first time, Karissa saw Silas’s eyes light up with joy, but she knew that the light would go out soon because she had ruined what could have been an enjoyable occasion. Quickly, he looked down at Karissa, and then back at Eden with a frown.
“Unfortunately, we won’t be able to stay. Hopefully, another time soon. I’ll talk to Calla about having a dinner date with you two.”
Eden rubbed his shoulder and sighed. “Alright, then. Calla and I definitely need to catch up! Just send word when you want us over.”
Eden smiled again and gave Silas a hug before turning on her heel and jumping back into the water without saying goodbye to Karissa. However, Karissa didn’t mind one bit because she wanted to be invisible here. Silas let his shoulders fall, and let out a relieved breath. Karissa knew that the plan had worked, and they could be back on track to getting her home. They continued on their hike following in the opposite direction that Eden and her friends played. Their voices grew quieter as they walked away from them, and once they couldn’t hear any more splashing or laughter Silas stopped.
“Good job back there. Now, I know you didn’t enjoy flying, but we have to get over the mountain so let me carry you again. You can close your eyes the whole time if that would make you feel better,” Silas said with not a breath to spare.
“Okay,” she said with uncertain bravery.
Holding his arms out low enough for her to jump into, Karissa’s legs wobbled, but she still walked over and jumped. Seamlessly Silas caught her and held her firmly before letting his wings breathe. With a dramatic opening, his wings parted and were ready to fly. Moments later they burst into the sky. The surge of adrenaline made Karissa laugh. A loud uncontrollable laugh leaped out between her lips. Obviously, Silas was shocked by her reaction but became intoxicated by her laughter and joined in.
While Karissa was trying to hold back her laughter, she asked, “Why did Eden think I looked like your wife?”
Abruptly Silas stopped laughing, and said, “Your hair. It’s almost the same color as hers.”
“Well she must be beautiful then,” Karissa said with playful confidence.
Karissa stared up at Silas, and he grinned as though he was thinking of his sweet wife at that very moment. “Yes, very,” he responded.
The mountain loomed below them with an abundance of greenery. There were so many different hues of green that it was overwhelming to look at. Little specks of other colors fought their way through the patches of green. Houses and small buildings stood in between all the green. They were mostly rounded with moss on their shingles and had crooked chimneys. Despite Karissa’s urge to shout at him to stop flying, so she could explore the little town, she withheld from doing so. Silas turned and followed down the mountain causing the wind to rise up. Her apron and dress flapped wildly in the wind, and her eyes closed from the pressure.
Without much time, they were over the mountain and landing on solid ground. Karissa brushed her hair back into place and patted her clothing back down straightening it back into place. A field of wildflowers happily grew in the meadow. They stood proudly, and with more height than most children. Karissa would have gotten lost in the field if she traveled alone. Her neck barely reached the top of them. The tips of her fingers gently touched the silky flowers, while breathing in each scent. With a mind full of wonderful memories, Karissa thought about Arc. She knew that he would have picked the best ones to make her a flower crown fit for a queen.
Since her mind was on the subject of Arc, she thought about how long she had been gone, and if she would tell him the truth once she returned. Reaching into her pocket, she only found squished berries that had turned the insides of her pockets the color of petunias. She carefully picked out the few berries that had survived the entire journey, and threw one up in the air and caught it in her mouth. A curious Silas watched as she repeatedly threw the berries up, and caught them one by one in her mouth effortlessly.
Right before Silas raised his hands to clap for her, Calla and Finn landed in front of them. Instinctively, Karissa and Silas threw themselves back. As soon as Silas saw who stood in front of them, he ran over and smiled at Finn while grabbing Calla by her waist and kissing her passionately. Calla reciprocated the kiss, but Karissa thought it was strange that Calla moved her hand down into her pocket. Calla pulled out something shiny, but neither Karissa nor Silas who still had his mouth still preoccupied with Calla’s lips saw. A single tear dripped down Calla’s cheek, and Karissa was feeling more and more uncomfortable about the situation.
Something felt very off, and her hunch was entirely correct. A very sad Calla touched Silas’s arm with the shiny object, and Karissa couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the small object wrap around Silas’s arm like a snake. As though Silas was jolted back to reality, he tore his mouth away from Calla’s and looked down at his arm. A silver cuff with intricate engravings hugged his wrist.
Silas pulled at the cuff, but it only became tighter on him. “Don’t forget what this will do if you continue to pull at it brother,” Finn said cautiously.
Lunging forward Silas reached for Finn’s neck, but he missed when Calla grabbed him by his collar. “Don’t blame Finn. This was my idea and the last resort.”
“Last resort? Last resort for what? What am I being charged with to deserve this type of imprisonment?” Silas screamed at them.
At this point, Karissa had made herself small literally by ducking beneath the wildflowers. Although she loved her red hair she was wishing it was a more mundane color that wouldn’t stick out like a rabbit in a carrot patch. Throwing flowers over her head, she hoped that it would be enough to hide her or at least for no one to remember that she was even there in the first place. She knew that Silas wouldn’t betray her because after all, he was the one saving her, to begin with, and she was just a helpless human maybe half fairy.
Calla grabbed her dear husband’s hands, and let her tears drip down his knuckles before speaking gently to him. Brushing his hair behind his ear, she said, “We…,” pointing to Finn with her eyes, “We knew that you wouldn’t agree to the only plan that would save your life. Please look at me, and know that we do this out of love.”
Gently Calla caressed Sila’s jaw, but he turned away and rejected her hand. “I would imagine that both of you would know that attacking me and chaining me makes you no better than the ones who have tortured me,” he cautioned.
Finn looked like he was going to be sick with his brow sweating, and his face turning flush. Several times Finn opened his mouth to speak to his brother, but he couldn’t get the words out. He hoped that Calla would handle the situation like she normally would. However, in other situations, she was imprisoning those who harmed her husband. This was a first and she hoped the last time that she would have to make this decision. Silas started to walk away from them both knowing full well that he still could go where he desired even with the cuff at least until Calla placed a very rare gem on top of it. She had yet to do so, and Silas was hoping that neither of them would go through with their treacherous plan.
“Stop Silas,” Calla called after him, “I don’t want to do this. Please just follow us back to Howling Meadows.”
Despite Calla’s pleas, Silas walked away from her with an anger that he had yet to know. Silas for the moment had done exactly as Karissa had wanted, he had forgotten that she was with him. Her breathing stayed relatively quiet despite the distress signal her head and heart were shouting at her. While Silas was walking away he came dangerously close to Karissa, but before the sound of his crunching shoes got to her, Calla tackled him to the ground. Her fingers held a small gem that was the size of a pea with not one color but two split down the middle equally. Yellow and purple sparkled brightly on the tiny stone, and just as Calla was about to place it on the cuff, Silas saw Karissa laying on the ground in front of him.
Sadly, he reached out towards her, the only person that could help him, but he knew that it would be hopeless to ask someone who barely knew him to help. Especially, when he knew exactly what his wife and brother were capable of. Calla dropped the stone onto the cuff locking his fate into place while the little stone became one with it. Amber eyes stared back at Karissa that were filled with pain. Not the eyes that she remembered from earlier at the creek that was strong and confident. Silas was anything but confident at this moment, in fact, he was feeling only betrayal. Despite the helpless situation, Karissa wanted to help Silas, but when she went to stand up Silas shook his head at her. No longer did he feel safe, and he wasn’t going to allow for her to have the same fate.
Unfortunately, for Karissa, Calla had also spotted her as she sat on top of Silas’s back. “Who is your friend Silas?” Calla whispered to him.
“This is Karissa, she fell through from the stump. I was returning her back to her home.”
“One of the reasons why I love you. You have such a kind heart,” she said as she stepped off of Silas, and grabbed Karissa’s hand to help her up.
Even though Karissa was weary to take someone’s hand who had just imprisoned her own husband she did so regardless. She imagined that she would be let go since she had no place in this world anyway. At least that’s what she was hoping to happen.
“Follow us, and we will take you home dear,” Calla said to Karissa.
“Your tongue will get you into trouble that even you won’t be able to talk your way out of,” Karissa’s father used to say to her, and she would remember it well while she was still in this place all alone. Instead, Karissa nodded as a soldier would obeying orders. Silas rose to his feet and couldn’t bear to look at anyone. He never wanted to think of them again and that included Karissa. Not because she had wronged him, but because he couldn’t help her as he had promised.
The rest of the trip back to Howling Meadows was like most of the journey had been quite silent besides the heavy sounds of their shoes connecting with the earth. Howling Meadows was a short trip from where they were, and Karissa felt that it was not how she would imagine a place in fairyland. It was screaming for more greenery, but all it had was miles of rocks and dead flowers that had clawed their way in between the rocks to feel the sun one more time. A wooden carved throne stood in the center of this nowhere town, and Calla placed Silas on it. He sat and obeyed even if he wanted to object. A silhouette came walking towards them. Karissa strained her eyes to see what it was. The closer he got the more her heart beat at an accelerated rate.
He was short, with warts that covered his hands and around his nose, and while his ears were pointed like the others his stood out more against his chunky face. Karissa looked down to make sure her feet were still their so that she could run at a moment’s notice from the new creature. Finn walked over to him and whispered to him while they walked towards Silas’s throne.
“Oh good, you made it Grinden,” Calla said sarcastically.
“Yes, Mrs. Evans. I was running a bit behind because…,” he tried to finish but Calla raised her hand to stop.
Grinden cowered behind Finn. “Remember Calla that he has the curse.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I was only playing, and we have no time to discuss much else.”
Finn moved Grinden forward. Holding only a small vial in his hand that pulsed with a fiery flame, Grinden held it firmly despite his obvious anxiousness. He stood in front of Silas with his whole body starting to sweat and his heart beating so loudly that even Karissa could hear it from several feet away. Karissa felt that if he was nervous then she should be in sheer panic mode.
“I see they got you in on this as well?” Silas said while glaring at Grinden.
Grinden swallowed, and said, “It was not my say sir. You know I would never betray you.”
“Ah…yet here you are. Not just betraying me but bringing a curse nonetheless.”
“Leave him be, Silas. You know he can’t say no to me,” Calla stated.
“Before the big show I would like to speak to Karissa,” Silas said.
Karissa walked towards him only when Calla motioned to her to come. Cautiously she walked to him feeling exposed, but she hoped it would be a short conversation.
“Listen to me, to get home all you have to do is follow that road…,” Silas pointed down a windy road that was hardly marked except for rows of weeds that were carefully planted on either side, “find the well and jump in. You will be back in your forest safe and sound.”
“Thank you, Silas,” Karissa replied with a trembling voice.
Before Karissa could walk away, she turned to the rest of them, and said, “You all should be ashamed of yourself to turn on someone who trusts you.” As the words left her mouth she thought back to what her father would say and threw it out the window. She couldn’t stand to see injustices, and this was no different. All three of the traitors looked at one another with irritation, but before either of them said anything she walked away hoping that they would just let her go.
Surprising to her, no one followed after, but just as she was going around the first curve in the road her heart stood still. A loud echoing scream made the butterflies leap up as though they were all in a deep sleep previously. She knew it was Silas, and it was too late for her to do anything about it. With her eyes closed in regret, she continued to find the well. Every footstep felt like it was taking her ages to get anywhere, but in the clearing there sat a crumbling well. Unlike the rest of the area, this well had plenty of plants that flourished around it and even the same luminous mushrooms that she had found on the stump.
She planted one foot on the top and pulled herself up. Moving the bucket, she took a deep breath and trusted Silas one last time before jumping in feet first. The well dropped her to another bed of flowers, but this time she knew exactly where she was. A forest grew around her, and as she sat up she looked around to find a tree that she and Arc had carved their names in when they were seven. Quickly, her eyes found it just a few feet away. Without stopping to collect more berries she ran with all her might.
With her feet pounding, she knocked loudly on Arc’s home. His mother answered and before she could say hello to her she ran into his room. Her breathing was heavy, and Arc knew that something had to of happened out in the woods. Before Arc could ask, Karissa kissed him just like Silas kissed Calla with love and passion. It was her first kiss, but a long overdue one. She had become more grateful and worried about time passing them both by before she could tell Arc how she felt. Now it was perfectly clear that they both felt the same way.
Karissa ended up telling Arc all about the fairies, but he had made her promise to never return. She accepted, but a promise to not return to the land of fairies could be too much to ask for. Especially, for someone who had magic that already flowed throughout their body.
