Into the Nightfell Wood

by Kristin Bailey

  “Is he hurt as well?” Elric stood and took a step toward the crest of the hill.

  “I don’t know, but you have to stay back,” Fox called to him. “If you fall through the shield, you could be trapped on the other side. Only someone with pure fairy magic can pass through and still come back.”

  A howling scream filled the air, followed by what sounded like the high trumpeting call of a large deer.

  “I have to do something.” Elric ran forward. He didn’t know what he could do, but he had to help. He couldn’t just stand there.

  Elric rounded the top of the hill and looked down on the scene below. The colors of the shield shifted in bright blues and greens in front of him as he watched the place where it met the bottom of the hill. It reminded him of bits of colored glass. A crack sliced up the shield, jagged and threatening, like a frozen bolt of lightning.

  On the other side of the shield, a creature the size of a bear lifted its head. It was a terrifying mix of beast and man, standing on its hind legs at easily nine feet tall and covered in greasy black fur. It opened its long, bear-like snout, stretching the leathery gray skin of its face as it displayed jagged yellow teeth. Its red eyes glowed like hot coals, while the shaggy fur around its neck stood up in a thick ruff.

  It turned toward Master Elk, who was charging at it in the form of a white stag.

  Glittering light streamed from several wounds on the powerful stag’s snowy hide. Master Elk’s silver horns gleamed like blades as the fairy charged with his head bent low so he could skewer the beast against one of the wide trunks of the ancient trees of the Nightfell Wood. He didn’t have the safety of the shield to protect him from the beast. He was fighting on the far side of it.

  Elric watched in horror as everything seemed to happen with an unnatural slowness. The sound of the Elk’s hooves hitting the rocky ground clattered in his ears. The monster’s arm swung in a ruthless arc. Claws the size of skinning knives, slicing across Master Elk’s neck. The blow sent the stag flying toward the dark shadows of the trees.

  “Master Elk!” Elric rushed forward, remembered Fox’s words, and stopped himself. There was nothing he could do from this side of the shield.

  The reaper stalked forward, its bony shoulders undulating beneath its shaggy hide.

  Elk transformed into a fairy warrior and pulled himself to his feet. He braced himself, holding his sword at an angle in front of him. Magical fire reflected in his shining blade. But Elric noticed how low he held the tip. His stance didn’t show the strength it usually did as silver light flowed from his neck. He sliced his sword in front of him and a wall of flame appeared between him and the reaper.

  The monster reached the wall of fire and roared.

  The reaper swung at him, but Master Elk dodged and slashed at the creature, cutting the reaper across its hairy forearm. The creature howled, then snapped at him. It fell onto its bony hands and stalked in a tight circle, walking on all four limbs like a beast, pushing Master Elk closer to the edge of the dark wood.

  Elk was trapped. With his back to the wood, he was vulnerable to attack from another beast lurking in the shadows. It was the beginning of an ambush.

  The reaper sprang. Master Elk slashed at it with his sword, but it reared up and used the mass of its thick body to knock Elk over. The reaper grabbed Master Elk in its bony fingers, then bared its long fangs.

  Elk disappeared, then reappeared as a stag, crashing into the beast with his sharp silver horns. The beast swung its enormous arm into the body of the stag, throwing Master Elk into the trunk of a tree.

  The stag collapsed, and didn’t rise again. The reaper stalked toward him, letting out a snarling bark.

  Elric had to do something. Master Elk was in trouble. He glanced behind him, but there was no army charging through the plains to come to their rescue. Only Fox and Zephyr remained hunched in the grasses. He turned back to the shield. He wasn’t a warrior, not yet. But he had never been a coward. If the reaper wanted a good look at him, that was fine by Elric.

  “Hey!” he shouted, charging at the shield. “Hey, you there!” He ran down the slope, waving his arms. “You want to take someone back to the Grendel, why don’t you take me?”

  If Lord Raven had wanted him to be the decoy that protected his sister, he might as well do it now. The slope steepened toward the shield, and his feet skidded in the loose rocks. The beast turned to him and Elric stared into its cold, dead eyes.

  “You heard me, come and get me!” Elric shouted. He scrambled toward the enormous monster that could easily tear him in two. Black blood flowed from its wounds into its matted hair. It charged away from Master Elk and toward the shield. Elric fell on his hip and slid toward the shield. He scrambled to hold on to something to keep himself from sliding through.

  His heel caught a stone, and he stopped his slide just inches from the edge of the shield. He was so close that the light of the shield cast his feet and legs in washes of bright color.

  The reaper’s eyes glowed with a killing light as it slowly took a step toward him.

  Elric pushed himself to his feet, his nose nearly touching the shimmering barrier. “That’s right!” he shouted, though his arms were shaking. He waved them at the beast. “It’s me your master wants. I’m the Otherworld child!” Elric sidestepped along the shield, drawing the creature away from his wounded teacher until he came to the large crack.

  Elric could feel the beast’s low growl rattle through his bones.

  The reaper shook out its scraggly black ruff like a wet dog. Its wounds oozed as it snarled and stalked closer toward the shield. Elk staggered to his feet and gave Elric a nod. His distraction was working.

  “Come and get me!” Elric shouted again.

  The creature threw its head down and crashed into the shield like a battering ram. The crack lengthened. A sound like ice fracturing echoed through the air.

  Elric’s heart pounded as he took a step back. The reaper threw itself against the shield again, and branches appeared on the crack, limbs on a dead tree.

  Elk slipped through the shield to the safety of the open field. “Elric, run!” Elk screamed at him. “It wants you. Run!”

  But Elric couldn’t move. His legs felt as if they were made of stone, too heavy to lift. The creature’s eyes burned brighter, and Elric heard a distant laugh on the wind, dark, cruel, and full of malice. He had felt the chill of that wind before back in the Otherworld.

  The Grendel.

  The reaper stilled at the edge of the shield, listening to its master’s voice on the wind. It tapped a single claw against the crack as if testing the damage it had caused. This wasn’t a mindless beast, and that frightened Elric more than anything he had seen thus far. It was plotting.

  Fire flashed in the creature’s eyes, then it smiled at him.

  Its bat-like ears swung forward and it lifted its snout high in the air, breathing deeply. Then the creature howled, a long haunting note that slid deep into the shadows of the wood. Those burning eyes met Elric’s again, before it fell on its paw-like hands and loped off down the slope of the bluff. It disappeared deep in the shadows of the woods.

  Elric let out the breath he was holding. The creature was gone. They were safe, and yet, he had never felt more vulnerable. The crack in the shield remained.

  He turned and ran to Elk’s side, lifting his teacher’s arm so he could help carry him to safety.

  “That was very brave,” Elk said, his deep voice resonant, but lacking the strength it usually carried. “Risky, but brave.”

  “It’s still out there, somewhere.” As they crested the hill, he saw Zephyr lift Fox to her feet, then Zepher flew over to them. He carefully tended the wound in Elk’s neck, with Elk offering quiet guidance.

  Fairies always spoke as if they were immortal. Now Elric wasn’t so sure. After all, the queen’s daughter had died as a baby.

  Zephyr looked over at him. “Are you harmed? I really don’t know how to heal mortal wounds.”

  “I’m fi
ne,” Elric mumbled. “Scratched up a little, but I’ll live.” He brushed grit out of the scrapes on his palms. Something wasn’t right. The reaper didn’t act as if it had been driven off. Something had distracted it, called it away. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of Elric’s stomach, but he did his best to ignore it. This was his first battle. He had won. He had protected the fairy realm. Why didn’t it feel right?

  Elk’s dark eyes met his. His teacher nodded at him in approval.

  Elric had done his job. He’d given the reapers a target. Now he had to see to his sister. He turned toward the palace.

  Zephyr flew up beside him. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “I need to find Wynn. I left her alone.” He jogged down the hill toward the great tree. “I need to get her back to her room.” Really he just needed one of her hugs. The kind where she didn’t let go until she almost knocked him over.

  Besides, he had promised her that he would return as quickly as he could.

  “I’ll come too,” Zephyr said, flying ahead of Elric and turning backward as the breezes that constantly surrounded him cooled Elric’s heated skin. Fox supported Elk, keeping her wounded arm close to her side, even though the silvery light had stopped flowing from her shoulder. The guards spoke together as they started toward the palace. Zephyr stayed close to his side, and Elric wondered if the young and uninjured fairy was on orders to protect him.

  It didn’t take long before they reached the gardens and found the shimmering sand paths leading through the roses. Elric wound through the garden trails until he reached the place where he’d left Wynn waiting.

  She wasn’t there.

  A scattering of petals blew across the swirling patterns she must have traced in the sand. “Wynn?” he called.

  He hated when she wandered off, but she wouldn’t have gone far. “Wynn! I’m back! Wait until you hear what happened.”

  His voice drifted off over the silent gardens. An uneasy feeling crept over him. “Wynn, where are you?”

  “Maybe they brought her inside,” Zeph suggested. He rose in the air several feet and looked around. “I don’t see her anywhere out here.”

  “Look.” Elric bent down and picked up a dark feather. He touched the sand. It still faintly glimmered from the pronged footprint of Wynn’s hen. “Mildred must have found her.”

  The uneasy feeling lingering in his stomach reached up and grabbed his throat. Wynn would follow that hen anywhere.

  Zeph bent down beside him to look at the marks in the sand. He waved a hand over them, and they glowed slightly brighter. One footprint with the impression of toes, and another muffled outline of a foot wearing a shoe. Wynn only had one shoe on. The prints led in a direct path out of the gardens toward the field beyond.

  Elric’s heart sank. She couldn’t have. Wynn wasn’t foolish. She wouldn’t have left the garden.

  He ran to the edge of the garden path, following Wynn’s footsteps, only to see another path of trampled grasses leading across the meadow. Zephyr gave him a worried look and followed him as Elric tracked his sister’s trail through the grass until it disappeared through the shield.

  “Wynn!” Elric screamed. “Wynn! Come back!”

  Zephyr blew through the shield, flitting over the small clearing on the other side. He paused and picked up something from the ground, then floated back through the shield.

  He was holding up a silk ribbon from Wynn’s dress.

  Wynn was gone.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Wynn

  WYNN FELT THE GROUND TREMBLE. Maybe it was her. She felt shaky as she looked up at the branches of the tall trees. They were so thick, like a thatched roof, but ugly and twisted. She was turned around. She didn’t know which way to walk to go home. There was no path to guide her. She hadn’t been in the dark for a long time. In the Between, everything glowed around the fairies. Even nighttime was full of light under the dome. The woods were full of shadows that made Wynn feel afraid. She had never been afraid in woods in the Otherworld before, even when she was alone. These woods were different. They were cold and damp, like a rainy day in the fall just before the rain turned to snow. The chilled, wet air clung to her face and felt heavy, like sadness.

  “What do we do?” Wynn picked up Mildred and cuddled her. She wished Elric were here. She didn’t wait for him in the garden. She should have listened. The snake tricked her.

  Mildred’s feathers felt soft against the side of her face as her tears wet them. The woods were danger. She had to find a way back. Elric would be waiting for her.

  When she lived at home with her mother, she used to wander in the woods. She always placed sticks to show her way home. There were no sticks behind her. She ran from the snake too fast.

  A loud and scary howl sounded in the distance.

  She couldn’t stay here.

  If you are lost, sit down in one place. I will find you.

  She heard the voice of her mother in her head. “If you are lost, sit down,” she repeated aloud.

  Wynn crossed her legs and sank to the forest floor. The skirt of her pretty white dress billowed around her like a cloud. “Sit down.” She held Mildred tighter.

  Elric would know she was lost. He would come to find her.

  “We will wait here, Mildred.” Wynn stroked the bird’s neck. Mildred cooed at her in a soothing way. The howl sounded in the woods again. A shiver raced through Wynn. She looked up. The heavy branches of the trees creaked in the cold wind. Something clattered. A bird’s wings flapped frantically.

  The light around her dimmed as dark clouds covered the weak light that managed to creep through the branches.

  She wished she had fairy magic. She would turn into a bird and fly away from this place. Up high, she could see the way home. But the shield would block her if she tried to go through. Wynn drew herself up into a tight little ball, curling around Mildred. She was scared.

  “My queen, my queen . . .” She tried to sing the familiar song to make herself feel braver, but the words stopped coming to her. She wanted to get up, to run, to climb a tree to get away from the dark woods, but there was no way to escape. No. Mother had said that if she was lost, she should sit and wait. Mother always told her the best thing to do. They practiced over and over so Wynn would never forget. She wanted to run so badly. She was so scared.

  “Sit and wait,” Wynn whispered. “Elric will find you.”

  A dry branch snapped nearby. Something rustled in the bushes.

  Wynn’s heart pounded, and she couldn’t swallow. What if something else found her before Elric did?

  “We need to hide,” she whispered to Mildred. Looking around the small clearing, she tucked herself behind the twisted trunk of one of the enormous trees. She remembered hiding before. She got down low and reached for her old gray cloak.

  Wynn grabbed a handful of her snowy-white dress. She didn’t have her gray cloak. She only had princess things. The dress was pretty, but it seemed to glow in the dark shadows. Wynn took a closer look. It did glow! This was not good for hiding.

  Mildred kicked the dried leaves piled near the trunk of the tree. The leaves were dark. Wynn scooped them up and spread them over her skirt, then pressed her body into a nook where the trunk had curved in a gnarled way. “Stay quiet, Mildred. We’re hiding.”

  Her hen listened, and tucked her beak into the feathers of her chest. Mildred mistook hiding for napping, but that was all right. It felt good to hold Mildred close. Wynn trembled as she held her pet. She shook so hard, the leaves covering her skirt shivered in the darkness. Something was coming.

  Wynn pressed her eyes tight shut, and hugged Mildred.

  She heard the rustling. It came closer . . . closer.

  “And what is this?” a squeaky little voice called out. Wynn peeked around the trunk of the tree.

  There, in the clearing, stood a strange little creature the size of a large cat. He picked up a torn piece of her skirt and turned it over and over in his hands. He had the face of a man, with a
long nose, pointy teeth, and large amber eyes that took up most of his face. Fox ears poked up through a mop of black hair, and they twisted this way and that. But the strangest part of the little man was his legs, which were like a rabbit, and covered in dark red fur. Maybe that wasn’t the strangest part. He also had a long rat-like tail that ended in a tuft of black hair.

  “This is fairy stuff!” the little creature squealed. He clutched the piece of her skirt close to his chest, and looked around the shadows. His ears twitched. “Soooooo light. So shiny!” He rubbed it against his cheek. Then he swung a small sack off his back, and tucked the piece of fairy cloth inside. “How did fairy things get here?” he said, hopping around the clearing on his springy legs. “There are no fairies in the dark woods.” He found a black feather and picked it up, pulling it under his long nose. “The feathered one?”

  Wynn felt a rush of joy. She knew this creature! His name was Hob. He had greeted them when they first came to this land. Elric said he wanted to steal things from them. But Wynn liked him. He was nice, and he had tried to help them.

  But what if this wasn’t really Hob? She’d already met a Mildred that wasn’t really Mildred.

  Hob hopped around, sniffing suspiciously. “Feathery Otherworldsy cluck, cluck? Are you here, yes?” he asked. Mildred cooed her happy greeting. She stretched her neck out toward Hob. He bounded toward the sound of her clucking.

  The little man-beast almost landed in Wynn’s lap before he saw her behind the tree. He screamed, then Wynn screamed. She accidentally dropped Mildred into the leaves.

  “You!” Hob shouted. “Wynn Otherworldsy girl, why are you in the woods? You are dressed in fairy things.”

  “Hob?” she asked. “Are you a snake?”