The Other Side

by Alan Hotchkiss

  ‘Hello Eric.’

  ‘Errrm….hello,’ replied Eric a little unsure.

  ‘Don’t be alarmed, I must apologise for you being thrown in here, I can assure you I do not agree with the King’s decision.’

  ‘So let me out and let me go home then,’ said Eric.

  ‘I am truly sorry, but I can’t do that for now. Believe me I want to, but if I were to do so we would be stopped before we even got close to leaving the castle and then we would both find ourselves in here, which would not help either of us. Just for now you must remain here as the King wishes but I will try to free you as soon as I can. Here, you must be hungry,’ Doogard raised his left hand and held out a small sack through the bars of Eric’s cell.

  Eric pushed off the back wall, took the sack from Doogard, then sat back down again. Opening the sack he found it contained a few small loafs of bread, some fruit and a bottle of something. Suddenly realising how thirsty he was, he took the bottle from the bag, pulled the cork out from the top of it and gave the bottle top a quick sniff. He then gave Doogard a quizzical look, unsure whether he could trust him or not.

  Doogard opened his mouth to say something, but the voice came from the cell next to Eric’s. ‘Don’t worry boy, you can trust Doogard, drink away, it’ll pick you up a bit,’ said Bron. ‘Doogard, how are we my old friend, still running around after that fat oaf upstairs I hear.’ Doogard’s face broke into a smile and he let out a hearty laugh. ‘Yes I’m afraid so Bron, it must be done if I’m ever going to convince him to set you free,’ said Doogard, then laughed again. ‘Here, I have a sack for you too, my friend.’ Doogard walked over to Bron’s cell and handed him a sack the same as Eric’s. Bron thanked him and the two men shook hands through the bars. ‘Stay strong friend,’ said Doogard then the two men beat their fists over their chests and made that grunting noise at the same time. Eric glanced back down at his bottle before deciding it was okay, then held it up to his lips and took a long drink. Immediately his tired and cold muscles began to feel refreshed again. ‘Wow, that’s good stuff,’ he said, licking his lips.

  ‘I must go now I’m afraid, I’m not supposed to be here, but I just needed to check you were alright and tell you that I will get you out of here as soon as I can, both of you,’ said Doogard, glancing back at Bron. Then he turned and headed back down the corridor, with the light fading as he did.

  Chapter 17

  Inside the Queen’s chamber wasn’t what Finn had been expecting. He imagined it would look as it did from the outside: a tree house basically, however inside was very different indeed. The whole room appeared to be made of mirrors, rather than wood as expected, even the floor and ceiling seemed to be made out of one very large mirror. The walls were lined with mirrors everywhere, which reflected Finn’s image over and over and made for a very confusing and uneasy feeling. Although it was a very large tree, the whole size of the chamber seemed to be far larger than it looked from outside and other than being lined with mirrors over the whole room, there appeared to be nothing else within it, no seats, tables or any kind of furniture at all. As Finn slowly walked deeper into the chamber the large doors swung shut, banging loudly as they closed, making Finn’s heart skip a beat as he nearly jumped out his skin. It was eerily quiet and the Queen was nowhere in sight, which didn’t help Finn’s feeling of unease. As he glanced up he watched himself moving slowly for a few yards in the ceiling, which was strange.

  ‘Hello Finn.’ The icy voice startled Finn and he wasn’t sure if he had heard it out loud as it strangely felt like it had just reverberated around inside his head. He glanced around the room but could see no one. ‘Over here Finn,’ said the voice, this time coming from just over his right shoulder. As Finn looked over to where he had just glanced a second ago and seen no one, and now there stood the Queen with that same cold, unwelcoming smile she had when they had first met. ‘Please come in,’ she said beckoning him in further with her hand, ‘Have a seat my dear boy.’

  ‘Have a seat where?,’ Finn thought to himself, however as he looked to his left, two circles in the mirror floor appeared to no longer be solid. Instead the area was swirling like mercury, then from straight out of the floor the swirling material grew in the air, moving like liquid, swishing and swirling around as it grew higher in the air until Finn realised it was turning into a shape very much like a chair. As the material stopping growing and swirling, two glassy, very solid looking chairs now stood before Finn.

  Finn stood staring at the chairs, mouth open, whilst the Queen moved across the room and sat down on one of them and then motioned with her hand towards the other one, ‘Please, sit down Finn,’ she said with a tone that sounded like she was telling him to sit rather than asking.

  As Finn sat down the Queen began to speak again, ‘this must all be so much for you to take in and of course, the big question you must be asking yourself is, why am I here? Well first and foremost, you are home,’ as she said this, the Queen reached out and gently touched Finn on the knee and instantly it sent a chill ricocheting through his body.

  ‘Home?’ stammered Finn with a bemused look upon his face.

  ‘Yes my dear boy, believe it or not but this is your true home. You have…I believe you have been wrongly raised without any knowledge of the true world you belong to. You see, unknown to you your mother was one of us, a fairy, which in turn means that you have wonderful fairy blood coursing through your own very veins. You were born right here in the Woodland Kingdom, however before you were even days old, you were taken from us and your dying mother by a person you believe to be your gran. She took you through the portal to earth, where you and your brother were hidden from us and raised like humans in ignorance of your true status. For we fairies are far mightier beings than mere humans and to be raised as such is an insult to our whole race.’

  Finn sat and listened to the Queen, unsure of what to make of what she was saying. It sounded unbelievable and far-fetched, but then here he was, sitting in the Queen’s chamber in the middle of the very Woodland Kingdom she spoke about. He had travelled through a magical portal and seen some very strange things indeed, so was she telling the truth? Are he and his brother really from this world? As he continued to ponder this thought the Queen carried on speaking.

  ‘You have so much to learn about who you really are and what you are capable of doing and everyone within the kingdom will offer you any help you require. You must be dying to explore the place I imagine?’ asked the Queen.

  ‘Eeehhh yeah I guess…….do you know where my brother is?’ said Finn as he raised his head and looked into the Queen’s ice cold blue eyes. She studied him for a minute, as if weighing up what to say before speaking again.

  ‘Not for sure I’m afraid Finn, though as he has travelled through a different portal and there aren’t many portals in use these days then he has most likely travelled to the southern regions of our land, which are ruled by the Elf King Drer and his followers. Now the Elvish people are far more savage and bloodthirsty by nature, than ourselves, they spend more time fighting with each other than anyone else,’ said the Queen as she rolled her eyes and shook her head in dismay at the Elves. ‘However don’t despair just yet,’ she quickly added noticing the horrified look on Finn’s face. ‘They are also greedy and will not disregard something quickly until they are sure there is nothing to be gained from it, or in this case, him, and I have already dispatched a messenger to travel south and discuss terms for handing the boy over to us. So as you see there is no need to be alarmed, once we find out what King Drer demands in return then a trade shall be made and you will be reunited with your brother before you know it.’

  ‘Oh…okay…I guess,’ said Finn. He definitely didn’t like the sound of Eric being stuck with savage, bloodthirsty elves, but if the Queen was telling the truth then hopefully he shouldn’t come to any harm before they were reunited. There was something else that the Queen had said which bothered Finn however. ‘Erm…you mentioned something about the person that I believe to
be my gran, what did you mean by that?’

  ‘Ah yes, I am truly sorry that you have to find out this way Finn, but I’m afraid your gran is not who she makes out to be. She is in fact no relation to you and your brother at all,’ said the Queen in a tone that implied sympathy, however her cold eyes were at odds with this, thought Finn. He couldn’t believe for a minute that his gran, who had raised both of them all by herself with nothing but love and affection wasn’t really his gran at all and he thought about the note Max had given him with the warning about the Queen. However, he wasn’t about to mention that to her and he wanted to hear everything that she had to say so all he said was, ‘So who was my gran really then?’

  ‘I’m afraid the person pretending to be your gran was nothing more than a traitor to the fairy race. She was part of a small group of fairies that became power hungry and decided they wanted to rule the kingdom all to themselves. They led a futile and failed attempt to try to overthrow my reign as queen. They disgraced not only themselves, but also the families they belonged to. There is no other crime more punishable than treason within the fairy race. Once rounded up and apprehended they were sent to our treetop prison where I can assure you, they will suffer immensely for the rest of their lives for what they have done. However one of the group, somehow evaded capture and in a final act of treachery, managed to steal something very precious to myself, and to our whole race.’

  ‘Me and Eric?’ asked Finn raising his eyebrows in surprise.

  ‘Yes that’s right, you and you brother. The one that took you goes by the name of Ashikar. I’m sure you will know her by another name but that is her true title. She managed to take you both through the portal to earth and set up a new life for you — all in ignorance of where you truly belong. We’ve been searching for a long time, trying to find you both, and once your brother is reunited with us, we will hold a celebration unlike the kingdom has ever seen.’

  Finn was feeling rather bewildered and wasn’t sure what to believe. Everything sounded so ridiculous to him that he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. As he opened his mouth to ask another question, the Queen swiftly stood up and said ‘Well Finn I think that’s probably enough information for you to digest for one day. Go and explore the kingdom and let your head unwind for a while. Max and Tala are waiting outside to give you a tour of our wonderful home, I’m sure you’ll find it exhilarating.’

  The Queen’s seat started to melt back into the floor again and within seconds it had disappeared altogether, prompting Finn to stand up before his seat did the same. He looked at the Queen, but sensing he was about to ask something she quickly interjected, ‘Don’t worry Finn, we’ll speak again very soon, but for now I have other pressing matters that I must attend to, so please enjoy the tour.’

  Although Finn wanted to ask more, he was also happy to be finished with the Queen for now. He found it very unsettling in her company. Quickly turning on his heels, he headed for the door. However as he neared the exit her shrill, icy voice rang through his head once again. ‘Just one more thing before you go Finn.’

  As he turned around to face the Queen again he found she had made up the ground between them in a flash and was standing right before him. A long white finger pointed towards his neck. ‘That chain you have, was that a gift from Ashikar?’

  ‘Erm…yes my gran gave it to me but said it was a gift from my parents before they died,’ said Finn, suddenly developing an awful feeling of dread in his stomach. The Queen’s long fingernail scooped up the chain and slowly pulled it out from beneath Finn’s clothes to reveal the dark red gemstone that hung from it. As she did, Finn thought he noticed a look of delight within the Queen’s eyes and then as she lowered her hand until she held the gemstone between her thumb and forefinger the gemstone lit up and sparkled a bright red. It was just for a millisecond, but Finn was sure of what he had seen.

  ‘You are probably unaware, but it is a gift from our world. The gemstone is called the Straize and it is very rare and valuable. It’s a very nice gift to have…you should make sure you take great care of it,’ said the Queen, unable to take her eyes off the gemstone.

  ‘I will…..thanks,’ said Finn feeling extremely uncomfortable. Just as he was getting worried that the Queen was going to take the stone from him, she let it fall from her fingers and turned her back to him.

  ‘Tell me, does your brother have a chain like this also?’

  ‘Yes, we both received them on our tenth birthday,’ said Finn. The Queen slowly turned her head around, ‘and does your brother have his on him too?’

  ‘Normally yes but it’s at our school just now as his teacher confiscated it from him earlier today… or yesterday maybe,’ Finn suddenly realised he wasn’t even sure what day they were on.

  ‘That’s good,’ said the Queen, a wry smile forming on her face, ‘otherwise those savages would have stolen it from him the minute they set eyes upon it.’ With that she began walking away from Finn. ‘Go explore,’ she called out while dismissively waving a hand back at Finn. Without needing any further encouragement Finn also turned and made for the door. It opened, seemingly by itself once again and he rushed through, grateful to be leaving the Queen’s chambers at last.

  Chapter 18

  ‘Well, what did you think?’ asked the Queen. Part of the mirrored wall began to ripple, then appeared to start tearing apart and crawling back on itself, until it reached the size of a doorway. It solidified at that moment and looked like it had never moved in the first place. A man walked out of the newly formed doorway.

  ‘Interesting. I believe he’s telling the truth about having no knowledge of our world. I’m not sure why you didn’t just rip the Straize from his scrawny little neck when you had the chance though?’ he said, raising one of his dark eyebrows.

  ‘It was most tempting, I must admit,’ said the Queen, in a dreamy daze, thinking about the Straize. ‘I could feel the power within it consume me as soon as I touched it, it was incredibly difficult to let it go and turn away, but the boy is important. We may still need him and things will run smoother if he believes he is safe here.’

  ‘And what of the brother? I wasn’t aware we had sent anyone down to speak with the southern scavengers?’

  The Queen let out a shrill laugh at this question. ‘Of course we haven’t sent anyone south, they’d probably be ripped apart before they even had a chance to speak to that savage old fool Drer. But as long as Finn believes this, it will keep him content for now. ‘

  ‘And the other Straize?’ enquired the man with a glint in his eye.

  ‘Set off for earth immediately. Take whatever resources you need and find the other Straize before Drer’s men do,’ commanded the Queen. ‘Also, if you come across that traitorous snake Ashikar, then bring her to me as well.’ A wry smile formed on her face at the thought of this. ‘But first and foremost is the Straize. Ashikar is a bonus, but she can be dealt with at a later time if need be.’

  ‘As you wish my Queen,’ said the man who gave a curt bow, then quickly set off to make arrangements for his return to earth.

  Chapter 19

  Finn had found Max and Tala awaiting him outside the Queen’s chambers. He had been enormously relieved to be away from the Queen, but she had mentioned they would be speaking again soon, and that wasn’t a particularly pleasurable thought. For the time being however, he was feeling excited about his guided tour around the Woodland Kingdom.

  They travelled down to the ground by another fairy elevator within a tree. A different one from the first time. ‘How many of these lifts are there?’ he had asked Max.

  ‘There are many. Unknown exactly, as some are hidden, some can only be used by certain people and others simply come and go,’ he said with a wry smile.

  Finn wasn’t exactly sure how a lift could simply just come and go, but he had already seen enough strange things here to think that Max may well be telling the truth.

  As they continued through the Woodland Kingdom, many of the residents came out t
o greet them, although they mostly seemed to be interested in Finn. Many said hello or just smiled, others said ‘welcome back’, which Finn found a little strange.

  ‘Wondering why all the attention?’ asked Max, picking up on how Finn was feeling.

  ‘Yeah, a little,’ he replied.

  ‘You see, you might not know these people, but most of them knew your mum, and your gran.’ He said the last part in a whisper and gave Finn a little wink as the boy glanced up at him. ‘So obviously everyone is intrigued to see you now as the last time they did, you were only a baby.’

  As Finn pondered this thought, he felt Tala tug at his sleeve. ‘This way’ she said, nodding towards a dirt trail that led away from the little cottage villages. After about five minutes following the dirt path, Finn suddenly felt a cold shiver run right through him and remembered about the protective force field. They carried on walking for about another ten minutes when they came upon a large, open clearing where the sun shone down brightly through a large, circular break amidst the dense treetops.

  ‘Wait here,’ said Tala at the edge of the clearing.

  As Finn stood wondering what he was waiting on, Tala and Max walked into the clearing then both produced what looked like a very small flute and started to blow through them, producing similar but slightly different sounds. Looking extremely bemused, Finn was about to ask what they were doing, when a long, dark shadow suddenly whizzed over him. Looking up into the clear sky to see the cause of the shadow, he saw some kind of large, winged animal circling the sky directly above them.