by E E Ewer
Taking a moment to look around, Nire became increasingly confused. The place she was in was made entirely of wood, except for the far wall which was stone. There was a fire place, a wooden table and chairs, and dried herbs hanging absolutely everywhere.
It was like she was standing in an old log cabin from the 1600’s that had been designed by someone with almost no sense of planning. The ceiling was low and a trap door was placed in about the center of the room. There was a fireplace, what appeared to be a small kitchen area, and numerous closets, drawers, cupboards and shelves. Each room seemed to run right into the next, and the door that led through the stone wall seemed to be placed at a rather inconvenient height from the floor.
The voice of her host interrupted her thoughts as she spoke. “Let me put on some tea for you,” she said. Nire stopped looking around the house, and looked at the girl who had brought her there. She stood a few inches taller than Nire, and had long thick orange hair with white ends, pulled back onto a very low pony tail. Nire cocked her head at the strange hair as the girl leaned over the fire place and put the kettle on.
When she stood and turned around, Nire was a bit shocked to see that her eyes appeared to be yellow. Then again, maybe it was just the fire light, after all her sage green tank top took on a horrid rotten pea color in this light. The girl had a nice face, spotted with a few very evenly placed freckles. She smiled at Nire as she stared. There was something odd about this girl, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“So are you ok? Are you hungry at all? It sounds like you were out there for quite a while…” the girl asked.
“Um… yeah, I guess I am a little hungry.”
Miko turned and rummaged through a cupboard as she continued to talk. “You know it’s really not the best place to go out drawing… there are a lot of nasty things in that forest… then again I don’t really know you very well so perhaps you know about that already and were prepared… but then again you did get lost…” It seemed that she was more so rambling to herself or just thinking out loud, but Nire caught something of interest as she spoke.
“What do you mean? It’s not dangerous. I’ve been going there for years… hardly any wild animals live in this area…” she started to say as Miko stopped what she was doing and abruptly turned around.
“Not dangerous?” she asked, almost seeming irritated. “How can you say it’s not dangerous? You must be mad to think that is a safe place to go wondering around in…” The girl stopped mid sentence and cocked her head to one side, studying Nire.
After a few moments of awkward silence, the strange girl turned back around and pulled something out of the cupboard. Shutting the door she turned to face Nire, and handed her a piece of bread as the kettle began to whistle. Nire was extremely confused, but took the bread from her and sat down at the table.
Miko prepared the tea, and brought two metal cups with her. Sitting down opposite Nire she poured the hot liquid.
“It’s my own special recipe,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Nire took her cup, brought it to her face and breathed in the steam. It smelled nice, and reminded her of flowers. Putting the cup to her lips she took a sip, and smiled.
“Mmmm.” The flavor was like lavender and roses, a hint of mint and a few other odd sensations she couldn’t quite place. The girl across the table smiled as well.
“Knew you’d like it,” she said. “Now… um. Where, exactly… are you from?” she asked hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” Nire asked, confused.
“Well… you know. What town?” Miko asked again, trying to be as vague as possible.
“South Eaton,” Nire responded. Miko blinked, and had a strange look on her face. “Why… where am I?” Nire asked, catching on to the fact she might not be anywhere near home. Miko hesitated.
“Eastcastle,” she finally responded with a raised eyebrow, curious as to what the girl’s reaction might be.
“Eastcastle?” Nire asked. She couldn’t think of anyplace nearby called Eastcastle.
“Ok then,” Miko said in a strange way as she stood and turned away from Nire.
“Wait, what’s going on? Where are you going?” Nire asked quickly as the other girl turned to leave.
“If you don’t know what Eastcastle is… well, I think we have a bit of a problem,” the other girl responded.
“What do you mean by that?” Nire asked, her heart speeding up.
“Um… look, I don’t really know what’s going on, so if you could just wait here for me for a while… I can answer your questions when I get back ok?” she said as she headed towards the wooden door in the stone wall.
“Hold on a sec!” Nire exclaimed as she stood up from the table and put her hand on the girls shoulder. “At least tell me where Eastcastle is!” The orange haired girl turned to face her, and Nire finally noticed what it was that seemed off about her before. Fangs. She had fangs. Nire let go of her shoulder and took a step backwards.
“Look… if you don’t know what Eastcastle is, telling you where it is isn’t going to help,” she said shrugging and bringing up her hands. Suddenly Miko realized something was wrong. Nire was backing away from her. “Are you ok?” she asked.
“What… what are you?” Nire asked.
“Well…” She hesitated. “I’m a fox.”
“A what?” Nire’s voice dropped.
“A fox. That was me in the forest, the fox … before I asked you if you were ok,” she tried to explain.
“If you were the fox, then why were you chasing me?!” Nire shouted.
“I wasn’t chasing you, I just happened across you right then. I heard someone scream so I went to investigate,” she told the frazzled girl. Nire didn’t know what to say. What had been chasing her then? Maybe it was nothing… Either way that was not the biggest question weighing on her mind. She said she was a fox. Nire stood silently; clearly conflicted with the information she was just given.
“Look, Nire… Why don’t you lay down, ok?” Miko suggested as she went to a closet and took down some heavy blankets and furs. She laid them in a corner near the fireplace and invited Nire to come sit. Nire hadn’t moved, and she was staring at the floor as her head spun the information over and over again. “Nire?” Miko asked. The brunette looked up at the girl standing next to the blankets. “Come lie down,” she suggested kindly.
“Miko… I don’t understand.”
“I know… please don’t be concerned. Just come lie down and get some rest. I will go get some advice and I will be back as soon as I can, ok?” Her voice was calm and soothing, she sounded genuinely concerned for Nire. She had helped her out of the forest after all… but that thorny vine that had wrapped around her heart still clung to it tightly.
“Ok,” Nire said hesitantly as she walked over to the blankets and sat down.
“I will be back soon,” Miko said again as she headed towards the door in the stone wall once more.
Nire lay and watched the fire flicker. She was exhausted; her head and eyes ached, her whole body was sore from running. Nothing made any sense… Maybe I will be able to think clearly in the morning, it’s probably just because I’m so tired… she thought. Her eyes felt heavy and she slowly drifted into a deep dreamless sleep.The sound of a door creaking open and shutting woke the sleeping girl from her rest.
“There,” she heard Miko’s voice say.
“Oh dear,” came another voice. Nire opened her eyes at sat up. She turned to look at the two women standing by the doorway. The other woman was elderly, and stood slightly hunched over. Nire’s entire body still ached, but her head was at least somewhat clear now. She stared at the two women with a questioning look.
“This is Marge. Marge this is Nire,” Miko made the introductions. The woman Miko called Marge walked over to Nire and crouched down to look at her eye to eye.
“You’re a human girl, are you not?” Marge asked.
“Um… yes?” Nire said in response, glancing back a
nd forth between the two women. “What are you?” she asked, extremely curious. Marge looked back at Miko, who shrugged.
“We, my child, are demons,” she responded calmly.
“You’re… what?” The two women could hear the fear rising in her voice as she spoke. Nire shifted and moved back against the wall. “Where am I?!” she shouted, almost in a panic. “Take me home!” Tears began to form in her eyes, and the old woman sat next to her. Nire tried to back away but there was nowhere to go. Marge put her arms around the shaking girl and tried to calm her.
“There, there now. There is no reason to be frightened. What could an old woman like me and a silly little fox do to hurt you?” the woman said. Miko glared at the remark. Nire was tense and crying. The old woman patted her head and ran her fingers down her hair. Somehow, she reminded Nire of her grandmother from when she was a child. The thought helped her relax, and her sobs slowly quieted.
Miko had come to sit next to Nire as well. She smiled as Nire looked at her with tear filled eyes.
“Please. I want to go home,” Nire said again, looking towards Miko.
“Yes, I’m sure you do,” Marge responded, her white hair glimmering in the firelight. “But, we don’t actually know where your home is. It’s obvious you’re not from here.”
“Earth…” Nire said.
“OH!” Miko’s face lit up as she said it, and Nire thought she might know how to get her home. “I get it now. How on ‘Earth’…” she repeated. Marge gave her a strange look. “Oh. Sorry,” Miko apologized for her sudden outburst. Nire then realized neither one of them actually knew what Earth was, and tried to think of another description.
“Um… Midgard?” She said questioningly, thinking back to her Norse Mythology class. This seemed to ignite a spark in the elderly woman.
“Ah, you come from a Middle World. I see.”
“A Middle World?” Nire asked.
“Yes, there are no demons where you are from, correct?”
“Yeah…”
“This is an Under World,” Marge explained. “I don’t know much about the other worlds,” she mentioned quizzically “but there are Upper Worlds, Middle Worlds and Under Worlds. How you would have gotten here though… that is beyond my understanding.”
Nire looked utterly confused. “So… then… where am I?” she asked.
“This is called The Realm of Shadows,” Marge responded. “Both humans and demons live here,” she continued.
“Sh-Shadow realm?” Nire gulped. “Why’s it called that?” She supposed it was a bit of an odd question, if someone asked her why they called Earth Earth, she wouldn’t have much of an answer for them other than its Latin for dirt.
“Hmm. I suppose it is due to our High Lord. He is the Lord of Shadows,” Marge shrugged.
“Oh… Well I guess that kinda makes sense…” The light in the room had dimmed, but it had gone unnoticed until the fire died completely and Nire suddenly became tense again. The candles were still lit, but they cast little light on Nire who became increasingly uncomfortable. Miko noticed and stood up.
“I’ll relight the fire…” Once the flames were glowing brightly again, the fox girl came back to sit next to Nire. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
“It’s just… I’m…. well… I’m afraid of the dark,” she said quickly and winced. It was a horrible truth she hated to admit. The women looked at each other.
“Kind of an odd place to be lost in then,” Marge said as she stood.
“Can anyone here help me get home?” Nire asked, tear streaks still glimmering on her cheeks.
“Eh…” Marge said, stretching her back. “Only one person I know of…”
“Oh, Marge…” Miko whined, wincing at the thought as she swayed uncomfortably.
“Miko you know the rules,” Marge said, almost scolding.
“You saw how scared she was of the dark, and of you and me, and we don’t even look scary! She’s lost and afraid…” Miko defended the girl and looked very concerned. Marge groaned, and looked at the girl studiously as she thought.
“Can someone, please… tell me what’s going on?” Nire’s voice was strained. She felt like she was going to cry again. Marge considered the poor, shaken girl, and seemed to be conflicted.
“House rules. The Lord of Shadows meets everyone in Eastcastle, if you are deemed untrustworthy, you can’t stay,” she said in short. “And,” she added “he is likely the only person who may know how to get you home.”
“Marge…” Miko started. “I was scared out of my fur when I met him, and quite honestly I still don’t like being around him.”
“Oh, he’s not all that bad,” Marge countered, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, well you’re used to him,” the fox grumped. Marge raised an eyebrow.
“Well… you have a point I suppose.” The old woman seemed to be contemplating something as she stared at Nire. Miko turned to Nire, who was still sitting on the floor trying to follow what was going on.
“Marge is the head housemaid here,” she began, “and she’s known the Lord of Shadows for hundreds of years.” Nire’s eyes widened at the mention of the older woman’s age. “She’s probably the only person in Eastcastle who’s not afraid of him.”
“Oh that’s ridiculous. Alastor’s not afraid of him,” Marge joked.
“Alastor wears a full suite of armor and carries a sword,” Miko said flatly. The old woman chuckled a little.
“All right… but she will have to meet him eventually. And he will find out about her, nothing goes unnoticed for long in Eastcastle. And when he does, we will both be in for it,” she warned the fox girl. Miko winced. The idea of being scolded by him was not something she was looking forward to. “In the mean time, keep her to the kitchens and try to be inconspicuous.”
“Right!” Miko shouted with enthusiasm.
Once Marge had left, Nire stood and walked to the table. She sat staring at her hands, concentrating on the situation she found herself in.
“Why can’t I meet him,” Nire asked quietly, “if he might know how to get me home?”
Miko looked at the girl and sighed. “He’s… well… Intimidating, I guess you could say.”
“How so?” Nire gazed up at the fox girl who sat across from her as she was passed a cup of coffee.
“Well for starters, he’s more than a foot taller than you. And besides that… he… well… you see Marge and I look fairly similar to humans. He looks like a demon.” Miko paused and thought. “He is… a good ruler,” she said. “but he can also be very harsh and difficult to be around. He’s got a bit of a temper, and just knowing he’s nearby makes me anxious. It’s not like I think he’d hurt me… not at all… Oh… it’s hard to explain.” Miko thought for a moment as she struggled to find the right words. “He’s powerful. And you can feel it. It’s like standing next to a fire and feeling the heat. You know it’s not going to jump out and get you, but standing next to it you can feel what it could do if you were to get caught in it.”
Nire thought about what Miko was telling her, and it seemed to make sense.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Miko continued, “why are you so afraid of the dark?”
Nire looked up from her cup of coffee.
“Well… it’s kind of hard to explain actually,” she began. “My mom and dad died in a car accident when I was three, and my grandma took me in. But she was old and died only nine months later. Then my step aunt took me to live with her. I didn’t have any other relatives, and it was really a kind thing for her to do. Her name was Vivian, and she married my mom’s brother after his first wife died. I lived with her until I was nine, and she was… well, a little nuts, I guess.”
“Nuts?” Miko asked, clearly unfamiliar with the expression.
“She was very religious and very kind. She thought it was her duty to help me. She took me to church every morning, and home schooled me. She would read the bible to me before bed every night…” Nire noticed the look of confusion on Mi
ko’s face.
“Oh… um, well… never-mind all that. Anyway she said that if you were bad, demons would come out of the darkness and take you away to hell – a place full of fire where you are tortured forever. And when I was little, I thought that there were demons in my closet, and under my bed… and, anywhere that was dark really- and that if I did even the slightest thing wrong I would be taken away. It just got worse and worse… She started being… strange and obsessive. Eventually one day she disappeared. I was too afraid to leave the house, so I stayed there and took care of myself for two weeks until the neighbors called the cops. The police told me they found her, but that she was very ill and couldn’t take care of me anymore, so I was sent to the county home for children. I was sure it was demons that did it to her - that made her crazy.” Miko’s eyes looked sad as Nire spoke.
“Anyway… all those stories about demons in the dark… that’s what did it I guess. If you can imagine, I’m not nearly as afraid of the dark as I used to be.” She looked up at Miko and smiled. “And, I don’t believe it was demons that made her crazy anymore either. Of course, I didn’t believe in demons at all until tonight…” Nire paused and looked out the small window at the pink sky. “Or, last night, I guess.”
Chapter 4
Table of Contents
As morning rose over Eastcastle, there was a noticeable increase in the sounds that surrounded the little wooden hut. Voices from outside came through the thin walls, and muffled sounds from the other side of the stone wall crept their way into Nire’s ears. Miko had crawled up the trap door in the ceiling to the attic where she slept, to get some much needed shut eye after the long night she had endured with Nire.
The brown haired girl had been told she should do the same, but the sounds all around her as she lie in her nest of furs made the task impossible. It wasn’t that she couldn’t sleep through noise, but the curiosity of who and what was just beyond those walls kept Nire in a constant state of tension. What is on the other side of that wall? She asked herself. Obviously it was the castle that was being referred to as Eastcastle, but that did very little to answer her questions about what exactly was on the other side.
