Back when Wil McKenzie was a child, his parents used to tell him stories before bed. In these stories, there would always be monsters and beasties and brave young men who could fight them off and save the day. He didn’t know until later that these stories had been based in part on the truth. There were monsters and dragons, and dangerous creatures that had disappeared as Calipan had been tamed. But there were also the Fae.
They were never the stories Wil liked the best, or even really cared about until he was already an adult at Saint Balthazar’s Academy of Magic. He learned about the elves and brownies and goblins and ogres that used to inhabit the land, and that had been that. A curiosity, something he never expected to have to deal with. And why would he? The fae disappeared years ago.
And now he found himself blinking as he stepped from one world to the next, with his girlfriend Darlene Johnson at his side. Both of them were on high alert, looking around as the ring of mushrooms led them to where the kidnapped citizens of Harper Valley were being held. Well, not exactly right where they were being held.
When they stepped out of the ring, Wil half expected an ambush, or a greeting, or something waiting for them. There was nothing. Nothing other than trees and mushrooms and big green beanstalks of some kind reaching above the treeline. He half wondered if he would find a castle if he climbed to the top.
The closest thing there was to life was birdsong and a rabbit the size of a large dog running past them in the clearing, down what looked like a well trod footpath.
“That was big,” said Darlene, watching the rabbit retreat until it was out of sight. “Think we could find one big enough to ride?”
She and Wil exchanged a glance before laughing. Restrained and tense at first before they both relaxed a little and gave in. “Maybe,” said Wil. “Carpets and sleds not good enough, you need a riding bunny? I’ll see what I can do, but damn Darlene.”
Darlene’s face lit up with amusement, before she remembered why they were there. She adjusted her magic detecting spectacles and asked him, “So, where do we go from here?”
Wil’s smile dropped. “Um. Good question.” He looked around again.
They stood at a crossroads of sorts. A clearing in the middle of some woods, with five paths leading through the trees and the faerie doorway behind them. Any one of them could’ve taken them to where they needed to go…Or none of them. Their gnome captive Declan had said that all roads led to Oakheart Spiral, so maybe it didn’t matter.
“This one,” Wil said, pointing at the road closest to the middle of where they were standing. Darlene shot him a look, as if she could read his mind and wasn’t sure she approved of him guessing, but she shrugged and they set off in that direction.
The path took them through a thick treeline Wil couldn’t really see through. The further they went, the thicker the trees were until they had to step over fallen logs and squeeze past a half fallen elm tree. Wil had to tilt his staff to get it through the gap. The entire time Wil kept his eyes and ears open, keeping his eyes on the road while Darlene looked all around through her spectacles. They kept on until one more curve brought them back to the clearing they started in.
“Did we just go in circles?” Darlene asked, wrinkling her nose. “How? There was only one path and it brought us here!”
Wil stepped into the middle of the clearing, looking around. “Faerie magic, I imagine. They’re known for things like this. I’ve read a story about a man who got lost in the woods for a week and when he came out, twenty years had passed.”
Darlene shot him a look. “Gee, I feel so much more safe and secure. Thanks Wil. What now?”
Wil unshouldered his pack and dug in for a magic wand, and one of Bram’s handkerchiefs. He tied it to the wand and took a deep breath. He cast the searching spell, and the wand spun around in lazy circles in his palm. And continued to do so until Wil stuck it back in the pack.
“Right, so, I’m guessing we’re in a stretch of forest made to keep people lost. I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not sure how to deal with this other than just…trying more paths until we find the right one.”
“Well, I guess we don’t have much choice, huh?” Darlene sighed. She rested a hand on the iron bar at her belt for comfort.
Wil picked the next one at random and they went down. Unlike their first choice, this path took them down a stretch of forest wide and open. The singing of birds still followed them wherever they went, but as they got further down the line it sounded muted and distant, like something heard through a closed door. Soon after, though the trees were spaced apart, darkness crept in.
By the time Wil noticed the light dimming with each step they took, it already looked like nightfall. Wil looked around wildly, stopping in place. Darlene continued on for another few steps before she noticed and turned around.
“What’s wrong?” Darlene asked.
“It’s getting dark, but it’s too early to get dark, isn’t it?” Wil looked up. He couldn’t see the sun or any light in the sky. Just dim blue, tinted black now. “We’ve only been here for like half an hour.”
“It’s not dark for me,” said Darlene, looking around. “It looks perfectly lit up.”
It hit Wil. “Take off your spectacles.”
Darlene lifted them up and did a double take. “Oh. Whatever’s causing this, it just glows through these and I can see through it.” She placed them back down. “Do you think we’re in danger?”
Wil shrugged. It was genuinely hard to say. They were supposed to be safe, but Declan had promised him safety from his people, not the environment itself. “Let me try something.” He channeled through his staff and conjured a ball of light. It lit up everything within about ten feet but the rest of the world remained dark. Good enough. He motioned for Darlene to continue.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The darkness pressed in on Wil as they went, swallowing the world outside of his ball of light’s radius. And then, before too long, that radius shrank. The only thing Wil could see was him and Darlene, and he worried how much longer that would last. “Are you sure you can see just fine?” he asked.
Darlene nodded, then said out loud, “Yeah, this is just a normal path. I don’t see anything objectionable here. It’s just been a straight line for…wait a second, I think I see a side path.” She stopped in place. Holding tightly to his hand she led them off the road.
Wil tried not to flinch as branches scraped at his face and clothes as they snuck in. The light in his hand faded until it was pitch black entirely, with only Darlene to guide him forward. Panic gripped him, like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head and shocking every part of him awake. He swallowed it down, trying not to shake as he imagined everything that could potentially get them.
And then, fast as a blink, the light came back and Wil could see. They froze at the sight of civilization. The forest opened up once more to a massive clearing where dozens of little homes stood. Little being the operative word. Mushrooms five feet tall were scattered around, with doors and windows built into them. Even some of the trees along the sides had ladders leading up to homes inside.
More importantly, there were a good hundred wee folk there, just as frozen as Wil and Darlene. They stood at about a foot and a half tall each, wearing clothes made of plants and bark. They looked like miniature people, but wildly alien and different.
“Um. Hello!” Wil called out. “Don’t be afraid!”
The next thing he knew, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from the distance and chaos broke out. The entire village panicked and ran around in circles, some of them too scared and surprised to do much more than keep moving, heading towards any available door. The smart ones got inside their mushrooms and trees and closed up their doors and shutters, leaving a few scared fae outside and trapped with the humans.
“Well, this is a good start,” said Darlene. Louder she called out, “We’re not here to hurt you, we’re just a little lost!”
It didn’t make things better. So Wil just sighed and stepped forward, looking down at the little homes and smelling their meals cooking through tiny chimneys. He came up to one of the little people and towered over him. The little man looked up, quivering in place.
“Mercy!” he cried. “Please don’t smash me, I didn’t do nothing to no humans I swear!”
“Relax,” said Wil. “I have no intentions to hurt any of you unless you hurt me first, I promise.”
There was a little tingle that crept through Wil’s veins and went to his heart and head. Then he remembered that promises had real power here, among these people. The little man relaxed, stroking a short brown beard.
“You should ask our chief,” he squeaked, pointing to the biggest tree in the back, a massive oak tree that towered over the nearby trees.
“Than-” Darlene started before Wil magically silenced her. She looked at him in annoyance.
“Be careful what you say around the fae,” he said. “If you thank them for anything, they may think you owe them for something.” He turned to the fae and said, “The direction is welcome. You may go in peace.”
The little man scampered off, finally finding his right mushroom and diving in through an open window rather than opening the door. Wil couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“You really gotta stop doing that,” Darlene muttered when she could speak again, but she didn’t seem too mad. Mostly just embarrassed she’d nearly made a mistake.
The door to the chief’s tree stood at eye level for him, complete with an entire balcony. Wil brought his staff up and gently tapped the tip of the dragon horn against the door three times. “Excuse me,” he called out. “We seek directions to Oakheart Spiral, but we seem to be lost.”
“Go away!” A gruff, squeaky voice said. “We don’t want nothing to do with humans!”
“But that’s a double negative,” said Darlene with a wicked smile. “So you do want to deal with us. Come on out.”
The door slammed open and an older man with the physique of a potato came out with a gnarled stick to help him walk. He came up to the railing of the balcony and jabbed the stick in Darlene’s direction. “Get out of my village! You don’t belong here!”
Wil opened his mouth but Darlene was way ahead of him. She turned up the charm, smiling and saying, “We’re terribly sorry for the intrusion. We came in from the human world and found ourselves near here, lost. If we had directions to Oakheart Spiral, we’d have no reason to be here. I think we’d leave pretty quickly and probably never come back.”
The chief looked between them with narrowed, suspicious eyes. “Is that true, Wizard?” he demanded.
Wil bowed his head in acknowledgement. “We seek no quarrel with you, good chief. We just want to be on our way. But if we don’t have a safe direction to go, then…” He looked around the village and then back to the chief with a smile. “Your home is beautiful, and looks like a nice place to stay while we get our bearings.”
“Bah. You want to get to the capital? Go back the way you came. Right back through the ring you stepped into.” Then he scowled and went back inside his tree, shutting and locking the door behind him.
The two of them looked at each other.
“Well,” said Darlene, “that was useless. What path do you think we should try next?”
Wil shook his head. “I think we should do exactly what he said. We go back to the ring. If need be, we find another way into Faerie that won’t get us stuck in the forest. You CAN lead us back there, right?”
Darlene tapped her spectacles.
The way back was, like always, much faster than the way there. Wil stayed close to Darlene through the darkness, breathing a sigh of relief when they made it back to the original clearing. There was no telling where the path would’ve led them if they kept up, but part of Wil expected it to lead to another dead end or trick, all to help keep the village hidden.
They looked at the ring of mushrooms. As one they stepped forward, expecting to go back home to Harper Valley. Instead, they found themselves outside of the forest, in a great big meadow. A sea of green surrounded them, broken up by wildflowers of all colors and sizes, some as big as Wil himself. Off in the distance was the largest tree Wil had ever seen, rising up and piercing the sky. Try as he might, he couldn’t see the top through the clouds.
“Is that it,” Darlene said, pointing at the tree. “Oakheart Spiral?”
“I think it is,” said Wil. “Looks…pretty far away. We should probably get moving. How’re you feeling?”
Darlene snorted. “Why? Going to offer me one last chance to go home if I want to? Screw that, we’re getting Bram and the others back.”
Wil smiled and put his hand on Darlene’s shoulder. He squeezed reassuringly. “Then let’s get moving, shall we?”
Another path went from the faerie circle up and over rolling hills and meadow, heading in that direction. They headed that way. The way may have been long and this detour was proof they really didn’t understand how this place worked or what to expect, but Wil was still confident. Nobody was going to keep him from setting things right.