by Blair Aaron
“It doesn't seem all that terrifying.”
“That's what you think,” Freja said. To Elsa the place resembled any other forest, full of brown foliage and pale green trees. There was nothing out of the ordinary or magical about the place. But then Freja suddenly pointed to a solitary flower, crimson red, in the bushes ahead. “Look!” she said. “Oh dear, dear. This is not good.”
“What?”
“The forest is calling to you, doll. It knows you're here. It probably senses your innocence.” Elsa's heart began to pound. “Listen to me, doll. Look away now and don't listen to whatever thought pop into your head. I'll get you out of this.” Freja grabbed the reigns to Elsa's horse and trotted slowly ahead. “Just one step at a time, doll. Keep in good communication with me, you hear? OK?”
“Ok,” Elsa said.
“Did you hear me, doll?”
“Yes, I said okay.”
“Elsa listen to me. Can you understand what I'm saying?” It occurred to Elsa something was terribly wrong. In her mind, she was moving her mouth to tell Freja she understood her, but apparently nothing was coming out. Elsa entire body began to shake. She gripped the harness of the horse tightly and prayed that Freja would guide them through this mess. She wanted to ask Freja how long it would be before they were away from the Forbidden Forest but lost all her mental energy. She felt as if she were being pulled into a dream world--the image of the passing trees, one by one, along with the rhythmic trotting of the horses gave Elsa a sleepy feeling.
The forest hypnotized Elsa, telling her Theo was hiding in its deepest, darkest recesses. She looked to Freja, pulled on her wrist, but Freja didn't respond.
“Freja! Theo is in there! We have to go find him!” Freja didn't respond to her, riding on through the trail. Elsa looked up ahead and saw the forest begin to thin. She could see the tree line dissipate up ahead and the edge of the cliff over the ocean. Freja was going to walk her horse right into the water! The entire trip was a complete lie. Freja betrayed her, and she was just pretending to not hear Elsa. The woman was a liar, a cheat. Elsa pulled as hard as she could on her reigns, but the horse continued to follow Freja's lead.
“Stop! You're going to kill us!” Freja ignored her, Elsa thought. But as they emerged from between the forest's edge and the cliff, Elsa's sleepiness lifted. She opened her eyes to find Freja looking over her.
“Are you okay?” Freja looked genuinely concerned, but Elsa swatted her away.
“You lied!” Elsa screamed, her face hot with the rage she couldn't muster earlier next to the woods. “He's in there! I know it. And you almost killed us.” Freja looked hurt. She leaned back, her bony frame almost blowing over in the wind.
“I didn't almost kill you, doll. I saved you.”
“You ignored me the whole time, when I was trying to tell you we could save him. Who knows what happened to him. There's no time to waste.”
“You're right. We can't waste any time.”
“So you admit it, you bitch! You lied to me the whole time. You knew that is where he was.”
“No I didn't. Do you know how long it took us to go past the forest to get here?”
Elsa stopped for a second. “Must have been like thirty minutes.”
“We've been walking along the edge for seven months, doll.”
Elsa's stomach dropped like a stone in a well. “No way.”
“I told you what the forest would do to you. It calls to you, tricks you into believe something that isn't true.”
“No it can't be.” Elsa's eyes filled with angry tears. She just knew that's where he was, she was so convinced in her bones, in her soul, he was there. She felt like a mother whose toddler was kidnapped at the local market on a sunny day, and then later, saw the kid walking among the other adults, but failed to get to her child in time. The child in this instance was Theo, and she failed to save him. She worried whether she would get another opportunity. There was no mistakes that hunch she had when passing the forest's border. Was Freja telling the truth?
Freja touched her on the shoulder. “Honey, it was a lie. We have to press on, or we'll lose even more time. I told you how dangerous getting close to the Forest was. Just imagine now what will happen if you entered it. You would be lost forever. I don't know how I would handle that.”
Maybe she was telling the truth. Freja seemed truly hurt that Elsa entertained the idea she would betray Elsa. And yet, the suspicion that something else was going on continued to lurk in the back of Elsa's mind. She took a deep breath. “Ok. Let's go.”
-------
They continued riding for several minutes, descending down a rocky trail next to the edge of the cliff. Elsa peeked over the side of her horse at the violent waves hundreds of feet below. She could feel the vibration of the water in her chest and the view down to the shore made her sick to her stomach. She resolved to keep staring straight ahead at Freja's horse. Not once did Freja look over her shoulder to make sure Elsa was okay. Elsa just figured she was preoccupied with making sure they didn't kill themselves by falling over the cliff. By the time they got to the bottom of the cliff, the gravel trail opened out to a clearing on the shore, where the waves came ever so close to lapping at their horses' hooves, but did not quite reach them. There was a giant crack between the cliffs, a canyon that seemed even higher than how far they had traveled down. Elsa looked up the walls to the canyon, into the cold grey sky, and thought the place looked like an empty riverbed, several hundred yards in width. The riverbed stretched back as far as she could see.
They rode over the gravel bed until Elsa could see a giant hole in the cliff side.
“This is where he lives,” Freja said, and Elsa's gut sank as they approached the entrance, because the same wolf Elsa saw twice earlier in their journey appeared out of from a behind a boulder. The wolf was beautiful, intoxicating even, with a black coat and burning yellow eyes. He licked his lips as they approached, and Elsa screamed.
“Don't make a move,” Freja said as she gently dismounted her horse. She put her spell book underneath her arm and walked over to Elsa's horse, never taking her eyes off the wolf. Freja's expression, particularly the look in her eyes, surprised Elsa, because she expected Freja to be afraid as she was. Instead, she saw anger and defiance in Freja's face. This was not going to turn out well.
The wolf bared it teeth, its ears pinned back. Freja glanced at Elsa from the corner of her eyes. “Walk sideways along this wall toward the cave.” Elsa obeyed Freja but just as she did, two other wolves emerged from the darkness of the cave.
“Damn you,” Freja said. “Damn you to hell.” Three more emerged from around the corner, joining the other three. Now six giant, beautiful, but deadly wolves growled at Elsa and Freja as they blocked the entrance to the cave.
“You must get into that cave,” Freja told her.
“I can't. They'll kill me. Look at them.”
“Don't worry, I'll protect you.”
“With what? You can't cast any spells, remember?” Freja didn't respond to her, and slipped the giant book into her satchel. And pulled something out of her waist pocket that looked like a stick, as she whispered something under her breath. Elsa stood aghast as a white light seemed to emanate from her hand. The wolves began barking and growling violently. They continued to approach. Elsa slid with her back against the wall of the cliff toward the entrance to the cave, her palms sweating beads.
“You sons of bitches!” Freja screamed and seemed to throw the ball of light in their direction. There was a loud explosion and Elsa fell back into the cave. Elsa was knocked unconscious for several seconds, and when she came to, she lay prostrate on her back with the entrance closed rock solid. A shadowy figure approached her, and Elsa put her hands in front of her face to protect herself.
“It's just me!” Freja said, patting her hands on Elsa.
“You didn't tell me you were a witch.”
“There are lots of things I didn't tell you.”
“Why did you lie to me?”
/>
“For your protection, now get up.” She grabbed Elsa by the arm, lifting her effortlessly into standing position. Elsa wondered whether Freja was on her side. She figured Freja was there to help, and now that she knew she was a witch, she felt safer than ever, though she still wondered why Freja kept that fact secret from her all this time.
“Does this mean you can protect us if something goes wrong?”
“Doll, I'm a witch, but I'm not all powerful. There's no way I can protect you from an angry dragon, even if I do know some spells.”
“Can you use this then?” She held up the page Freja gave her from her spell book.
“No doll. That one is for you. That one I was telling the truth about.”
Elsa smiled, as Freja took her by the hand. “Let's go girlie. We got an appointment with a dragon.” They continue on in the darkness until Freja held up her wand to the air, which suddenly lit the pathway in front of them. The tunnel in the cave continued on for miles, it seemed, and as they made their way deeper into the side of the mountain, Elsa could smell something burning.
“Does that mean we're getting closer?”
“Yes ma'am it does. Shouldn't be too much longer now.”
She walked behind Freja, still holding her hand, like two pre-teen girls sneaking to their dollhouse at night. The tunnel opened out onto a shallow pool with iridescent, yellow fluid. Before long Elsa realized it was a pool full of liquid gold. Freja pulled her by the hand, as if to force Elsa to wade into the pool.
“Wait, I can't. Is it poisonous?” Elsa asked.
“Of course it is. That's how he keeps the outsiders from intruding. But here, I'll protect you,” Freja said. She pointed the tip of her wand to Elsa's forehead, sending a mild tingling from the crown of her head down through the rest of her body. Elsa felt warm and elevated and looked at her hands, which turned from the flesh color of her skin to a pale grey. She looked at Freja, who stood ankle deep in the pool, smiling. Then she followed her into the pool. They walked to the middle of the small lake of gold, until Elsa had to stand on her tip toes to keep her head from going under water.
“It's ok, doll. Follow me.” And with that, Freja disappeared beneath the placid surface, leaving not a single splash in her departure. Completely alone, Elsa looked around the hollowed out area, where the ceiling had dripping spikes and at the silver coins embedded in the rock wall. She remembered what she had read about dragons in her childhood fairy tales--namely, that they liked gold and treasure, and she tried to look for him under the surface of the lake, but it was too murky, and after a brief pause, she worried whether she should trust Freja. She wondered if it was all a trick to poison her, because Freja had lied to her in the past. But then again, Freja could kill Elsa single handedly if she wanted to, given that Elsa was a normal person and that Freja herself was a witch. So she had no reason to bother with an elaborate plot to destroy her. She took a deep breath and dipped her head beneath the liquid. She was afraid of opening her eyes, but suddenly a hand reached for hers and guided her along the bottom of the lake. Freja tapped Elsa's eyes softly to indicate she should look around. Once she did, there was no stinging or trouble seeing, and Elsa surveyed the golden crater, which was lined with cauldrons and cast iron buckets of gold coins, necklaces, and other assortments of pirate booty. All the treasure emitted a yellow hue bright enough to keep Elsa from seeing where she was going. As she followed Freja through the small pathway under the water, Elsa realized that she had not taken a breath since she placed her face underneath the water. She certainly didn't feel out of breath. She opened her mouth to take a breath, giving Freja a knowing glance, who nodded in approval. Elsa inhaled softly, expecting her body to reject whatever the hell the pool was made of. And yet she could breathe normally. They continued through a small hole which had been knocked into the wall of the lake bed. Then she followed Freja to the surface again. When they emerged at the top, there was no sign they had ever been wet. Elsa felt Freja's hair, inspecting it with her fingers. Dry as a bone.
“Amazing,” Elsa said.
“This is only the beginning doll.” Freja looked toward the middle of the lake, and Elsa could see that they were standing in some kind of moat, which surrounded a rocky plateau, fronted by an ornate stone staircase. They walked up the staircase, which Elsa couldn't immediately see what waited for them at the top. She stayed behind Freja, presuming the dragon might be startled and that Freja would protect her from the fire, should he decide to torch them.
But when they got to the top, she saw something she had not expected.
“Old friend. How long it's been,” a voice rang out in the cavern. Freja tried to smile through her cracked voice.
“You bet ya, boy. How ya been? Bet it gets lonely down here,” Freja said.
“You need my help, don't you?” Elsa looked around the cavern for the source of the voice but could find none. She peeked from behind Freja and saw a small stone sink, which reflected the image of a dragon's face staring back at them. The picture boggled Elsa's mind, and she figured he must have been watching them from a safe place somewhere hidden in the vast tunnels of the cave.
“Who's with you?” he shouted, the anger in his voice rising.
“Oh, just a friend. Please don't get mad. We need your help,” Freja said. “You see, my girlfriend here, she lost one of our own. We don't know who did it or where to find him. Or even if he's still alive.”
“He lives, that much I know.”
Elsa's heart leapt with joy. “Oh please sir, could you help me find him? I would be eternally grateful.”
“Silence, child. Tell me one thing--why should I help you?”
“Because I love--”
“I can see into your heart. You have malice and secrets. You hide the fact that you're not innocent.” Elsa felt a pang in her chest at the suggestion by the dragon she was anything less than pure. Freja said earlier that the dragon was clairvoyant, so maybe there was something, on second thought, that Elsa was hiding, even from herself. But she almost immediately threw the thought out of her mind. Even though she had many questions about what happened to Theo, why she was so drawn to the Forbidden Forest, whether Freja was telling the whole truth, and how long it would take to regain that brief moment of happiness she cultivated with Theo, but one thing was certain. She would trade anything to have Theo back, that much she was sure of.
“I am innocent,” Elsa fired back. “You don't know me.”
“Tell me something, dear. How far would you go to regain the love you have lost? Say you had to sacrifice your wealth, beauty, or youth?”
“I would do anything.”
“Anything, you say?”
“Anything,” Elsa said again. The dragon looked at her from the reflection in the pool, smiling, clearly up to something.
“What about your life, would you sacrifice that too, if it meant bringing Theo back?” Elsa stopped before answering, as she could smell the fire in the cave boiling the liquid moat surrounding her. She feared the dragon's blood lust, as there was no doubt he waited for a single legitimate excuse to murder Elsa. He was dangerous, and she should choose her words carefully.
“Yes,” she said, finally, “even my life. I care about him that much.”
“Very well,” the dragon said, and that was it, Elsa thought. This is how she would die, in a darkened cave, with a grandma she didn't trust by her side. But several moments passed, she was still alive, and the dragon remained in his distant hiding spot, watching her from the safety of the undulating water's surface in the stone sink. “If you will truly do anything to save the one you love, then perhaps I can help you.”
Oh thank God, Elsa thought. She would see Theo again.
“But first,” the dragon continued, “you must prove your intentions with a single test.”
“OK, I promise. What's the--”
“Prove to me your intentions are pure, that you truly love him and desire no one else. Do this and I will help you.” Before Elsa could answer, she saw t
he water in the sink drain slowly, out and over the stone basin and onto the floor of the rocky plateau at her and Freja's feet. The liquid seemed to have a mind of its own, forming the shape of a human body. Elsa stood frozen, in awe of the spectacle before her, the liquid person solidifying into someone recognizable, someone she knew and long suspected of being responsible for Theo's disappearance.
“Dorien,” Elsa said, looking up at Theo's older evil brother. “It can't be. You're the dragon Freja told me about.” Elsa's mind raced over the events of the past few days, trying to make sense of what was happening, but Dorien glided to her slowly, his eyes glowing blue. Elsa was transfixed on them. “How could you do this to me? To your brother? He was everything to me, and you knew it. He loved you, too.”
Dorien smiled. “Prove to me, once and for all, you truly love him. If you do, you will feel nothing when I place a single, lustful kiss on your lips.”
“Never,” Elsa said. “How can I trust you that you'll help me, even if I prove my love?”
“A passion-less kiss cannot be faked. If you have any desire for me, no matter how faint, this ruby will glow red hot; should the stone remain cold and lifeless, I will reveal to you Theo's whereabouts.” Dorien opened his hand and showed Elsa a scraggly, ugly rock, red but dim. It resembled a gnarled piece of glass broken from something larger; it was uneven, chaotic, and wild, cut straight from the natural world, unadorned with postcard prettiness someone might associate with beauty or love. “And,” Dorien added, “should the stone glow, you will lose him forever.”
Elsa couldn't think around her anger and despair. She stared first at the stone which Dorien presented to her, then she looked to Freja for help. “Can't you do anything?” she asked. Freja frowned, her eyes indicating to Elsa she would like to help her, but didn't have the power.
“I'm sorry, doll. He's got you in a pickle,” Freja said.
