by Walleye
“That’s sick.” Maryellen protested. She became agitated. “I have to send a message so I can warn her.”
Thistledown sadly shook her head. “I’m afraid that even if the magic of these fairytales allowed you to communicate with her, which it won’t, that the magic wouldn’t let her believe you.”
“In fact her sisters offered her a way to escape her fate. You and your sisters went to the Sea Witch and gave her your hair in exchange a magic knife but for your sister to regain her mermaid form she had to kill the man she loved with it.”
“I bet she didn’t do it.” Maryellen declared fervently. “And I would have told her not to do it as that would have been murder.”
Thistledown became aware at that moment how much Maryellen had been changed by her adventure. She had become more like her youngest sister than she would ever realize and had a real chance to complete this fairytale. With this realization Thistledown became more devoted to seeing that Maryellen succeeded.
The fairy reassure Maryellen. “No. She didn’t kill him. She threw the knife into the sea and chose to die instead.”
Maryellen smiled sadly. “Good for her. I’m proud of her.” She looked at her friend. “Why did it have to be that way in her fairytale? Why couldn’t she have been rewarded for her love?”
The fairy shrugged. “Sorry. But it’s the magic rules in each fairytale. These tales are morality stories and some emphasize the consequences of failure by having the failed participants suffer and in the dark fairytales they even die. For one such tale Dracula doesn’t have a happy ending for anyone involved in it.”
This was unbelievable. Maryellen realized you either you succeeded in your story and fell in love or you suffered and possibly died. “Let us just say I prefer to live with the ending even if I don’t win.” She growled.
“You certainly won’t live with it if you up and die.” The snarky fairy replied sarcastically as she floated there.
Maryellen wanted to strangle the tiny fairy but pushed the thought down. “All right what can you tell me about this crazy mess I’m in?”
“Not a lot.” The fairy replied. She held her hands up as if they could shield her when Maryellen glared at her. “If it was my choice, I would tell you everything I could but I’m bound by the rules of the fairytale too.”
Maryellen sighed. “Let’s keep it simple then. Tell me what you can.”
The fairy nodded. “Right now you don’t have a lot of choice as you just follow the tug of the magic up the river until it goes away. At that moment you’ll be right where you’re supposed to be. Then the story will kick in.”
“And what happens then?” Maryellen growled.
The fairy shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry but you’ll just have to wait and see what happens when you get there.”
“That’s all you can tell me?” Maryellen protested. The fairy was supposed to help her but all she seemed to be doing was telling her what she couldn’t do.
Thistledown looked at her sadly. “I know you’re going to become very frustrated with me at times, and I wish I could tell you more. But I can’t even tell you the name of this tale as it would give away what’s going to happen.”
“All right.” Maryellen said with a sigh. “How far do I have to go to reach where the story starts?”
“About thirty more miles. We should arrive there sometime in the next two days.” The fairy pointed with her wand up the river. “That is if we get a move on.”
Maryellen felt the tug of the magic compulsion drawing her back up the river and gave into it. As she stroked she thought. ‘Thirty miles? I can swim that in one day. There is no way I’m going to take that long to get there.’
She soon found out why she couldn’t get there as soon as she thought she would when she came around a bend in the river and encountered the first stretch of rapids filled with boulders and foaming whitewater.
As they stared at the churning water, the little fairy asked her. “How are you going to handle this?”
Maryellen studied the hundred foot stretch of churning whitewater with boulders sticking out of it. As a mermaid she had no experience with rapids but it reminded her a little of the fast flow of tidal bores and there you got around the rapidly flowing tides by hopping from one support to another.
She looked at the spacing between potential leaping points and declared. “The rocks seem close enough together that I think I can leap from one to the other and make my way up the whitewater without getting thrown into the churning water and banged around by the rocks.”
“If you can, go ahead. Fairytales always require you to use your own skills and intelligence before you have to resort to magic to solve problems.” Thistledown told her. “But don’t hesitate to ask for my help to get up this whitewater.” The last thing she wanted was to see her friend pounded by the raging river.
“Thanks, but I think I can handle this.” Maryellen replied as she gathered herself for the surge from her lower body to propel her forward to reach the first rock.
She launched herself and landed on the rock. For a frightening moment her hands and fingers skidded across the slippery surface. Abruptly she got a grip with her hands, looked up from the rock and gave the fairy a smile. “See.”
“Eight more to go.” The fairy cautioned her as she looked worriedly at the rocks further up the whitewater of the river. These other rocks looked much farther apart and much more slippery than the first rock.
The next leap from rock to rock wasn’t bad for Maryellen and neither was the second and Maryellen’s confidence grew. Although on the third she almost slipped but somehow managed to hold on. She looked up. Only five more to go. She could do this.
However the next rock she tried to jump to was extremely slippery and with a surprised cry she shot off it right into the whitewater. She was swept back by the current and desperately twisted to miss the rocks as she was swept up and down and swirled around by the surging waters. One rock hit her shoulder and she was thrown up by the water to slide over the top of another. If she had not had her swimming skills she would have been swept under.
Thistledown breathed a sigh of relief when Maryellen came up with a gasp when she reached the quieter waters below the whitewater. She swam into the shallow water of the river and just collapsed there near the bank and groaned
“Are you all right?” The fairy asked her as she flew up. She looked closely but she couldn’t detect any cuts on the mermaid’s exposed body
Maryellen could see that Thistledown was honestly concerned about her and that removed all reservations about asking the fairy for her help. “I’m okay but I think I could use your assistance to get up this.”
The fairy sighed with relief before she told her. “This fairytale does require you to make your own effort to solve your problems but I can make it so that your hands stick better to whatever they grab. Will that do?”
Maryellen smiled at her. “I think so. Thank you. Thistledown, you’re a real friend.”
Thistledown grinned ruefully at her. “Tell me thank you after you get to the top of this stretch of whitewater.”
She cast the spell and watched as the mermaid leaped from rock to rock successfully all the way to the top with only one pause in the middle of the whitewater to catch her breath.
“I could not have done it without you. Thank you again, my friend.” Maryellen told the fairy with a smile when Thistledown had flown up to meet her.
“You’re welcome.” Thistledown felt the hum of the magic of the fairytale locking her into the tale. Her role was now totally in place as magic friend and assister. Whatever happened, she’d be there to the end of this tale and its happy ever after. Whether that happy ever after would be that of her friend or someone else.
After a rest break the mermaid started swimming again. Thistledown noted that now mountains could be seen poking through the haze off in the distance.
On their way up the river they encountered two more areas of whitewater which the mermaid navig
ated quite easily using the enhanced magical grip in her fingers
By the end of the day they were now in a quiet stretch and as Maryellen was swimming along two much larger fairy-like beings about six inches tall flew up to the river. To the mermaid’s surprise they didn’t come out over the water but stayed there hovering above the bank. This made the mermaid very suspicious as the barrier only excluded evil magic.
The eyes of the two began to glow. “Come and join us, little mermaid. The king under the hill wants to greet you.” They called. There was a hypnotic appeal to the voices.
That was all Thistledown needed to hear. She knew immediately who these so-called fairies really were.
Maryellen found herself swimming towards them until she was brought up by a vicious tug on her hair. “Ouch.” She swung around to face an upset Thistledown who flew around and got right in her face with her hands on her hips to glare at her.
“Why did you do that?” Maryellen complained.
“Because I don’t want you to listen to those little witches.” Thistledown angrily warned as she shook her finger in the mermaid’s face.
“Why shouldn’t I listen to them?” Maryellen protested. The larger fairies looked so friendly and so very inviting.
“Because.” Snapped Thistledown. “Those are Willow-o-Wisps. They’ll lead you away from the protective magic of the river and suck you dry if you let them.”
As Maryellen started to turn around the fairy grabbed a lock of her hair again. “Don’t look at them. There are at least a hundred in each group and you won’t last more than a minute if they get hold of you.”
She pulled her wand out with her right hand and touched it to her friend’s hair. “Now, you’re immune and can see them for what they are.”
Maryellen blinked and turned around. Instead of two fairies she now saw two green misshapen figures each with a pair of very sharp fangs. “They’re vampires.” She gasped out.
“And you, fairy, if we catch you, you are dead.” One of the Will-o-Wisps growled as she turned and flew off with her sister to join a cloud that seemed to be filled with Will-o-Wisps.
The Will-o-Wisps swirled and dipped around each other singing softly to themselves. The cloud stopped and paused as a tentacle creature poked its alligator head out of the brush. “AROOOOO!” It said hungrily.
The lights in the cloud flickered and then charged in mass at the creature. The tentacle creature waved its snake-like arms. “AROOOO!”
It vanished inside the cloud of lights all of which glowed fiercely as they attached themselves to its body and began to feed. Suddenly with a piecing scream the creature fell out of the cloud and struck the ground. It tried to lift itself up and vanished as the lights descended on it and the Will-O-Wisps began to devour it.
Five minutes later the flickering cloud of Will-O-Wisps flew away leaving only a pile of white gleaming bones behind.
Maryellen as she realized that that pile of scraps could just as easily have been her bones felt her stomach heave like she was going to throw up. She bent over but all that came up was bile.
After she finished dry heaving she asked. “Are all the creature in fairytales as bad as the ones in this one?”
The fairy shook her head. “You may not believe it but this is actually a mild one as far as most fairytales go. Some of them are very, very violent. For example in one version of Snow White the heroine wins and then punishes her stepmother by locking her feet in a pair of magic shoes which burst into flames and her stepdaughter laughs while she screams and burns to death.”
She continued. “In some versions of Hansel and Gretel either the witch is cooked alive in an oven or the two children are. It depends on who is telling the story and what moral they want to emphasize in their telling.”
“Will this one be anything like those fairytales?” Maryellen asked, wondering what she would be facing.
The fairy looked worried. “Do you want the truth? The answer is that I no longer know what the ending of this fairytale will be. This is because your presence here is mixing parts of your fairytale with this one and the fairytale you come from has a lot of pain in it. Sorry. But that’s all I’m allowed to tell you but I do swear that I will try and reduce any pain for you.”
Maryellen swallowed and touched the fairy’s hand. “Thank you. I couldn’t ask for a better companion.”
The fairy blushed and swore softly to herself that she would keep that promise to Maryellen even if it cost her her wings.
She turned, flew up the river and beckoned. “Come on. Another day should get us to where you need to be.”
Maryellen shook her head and began swimming after her friend. They spent an uneventful day moving up the river. The only creatures watching them were the ever present birds and butterflies. If there were any monsters watching, they stayed out of sight.
When it became dark the birds and butterflies were replaced by luminous bats who glowed a bright yellow and moths that were nearly as big as the bats and whose wings were a luminous blue with yellow glowing spots. While these creatures flew overhead strange-sounding insects sang shrill songs deep in the tuffs of grass.
Maryellen had her usual fish dinner and settled to the bottom of a quiet river pool to sleep. While she did this her friend maintained a leery watch from a tree branch overhanging the pool.
Thistledown had no desire to encounter any of the bats in flight as she suspected they would think that she was a tasty little snack. So she stayed nestled down in a crotch in the branch and kept a cautious eyes on the night fliers going about their business above her head.
She was startled when one of the larger green moths with blue spots on its wings fluttered down to hang just over her head. “I have been sent by the Magic Council to give you a spell that you will need to assist the mermaid in completing her journey. I am also allowed to tell you the vote was unanimous.”
Thistledown immediately understood what this meant. The white forces didn’t want to hinder anyone who was good and the dark forces liked the chaos that a new person introduced into the tale would create.
The moth continued. ”Here.” A roll of white parchment appeared, grasped in its appendages. The moth dropped it down into Thistledown’s hands. “Read this. The spell enclosed in here will help.” Then it flew away.
Thistledown studied the paper using a magic-generated light. It turned out there was a newly magic-generated waterfall ahead of them and attached to the letter was a lifting incantation to help the mermaid get to the waters above the falls. Thistledown felt better about the chances of her friend since the Magic Council was taking an interest. She fell into a restful slumber.
There were no visitations the rest of the night and in the morning the two resumed their journey at first light.
Finally a few hours later they came to a newly formed waterfall that was about fourteen feet tall. The mermaid watched the water pounding the pile of rocks at the base of the falls for a minute and then looked over at her friend. “How do I get over this? I can’t jump that high.”
The fairy thought of the lifting spell she had been given. “Can you climb up the pile of rocks at the base of the falls? I can lift you about eight feet and if you can get six feet up this pile I should be able to get you to the top. Don’t ask for more as that’s just inside my limit in lifting someone as heavy as you.”
Maryellen considered this for a moment. There were no ledges to jump to. There was only the pile of rocks. She could certainly climb it but did it go high enough?
“I’ll give it a try. Please, activate the spell.”
“Sure.” The fairy gestured and Maryellen felt a tingling as the magic activated.
Maryellen swam over and ignored the water pounding down on her as best she could. Using her magic induced grip she climbed up the rock pile until she reached the top.
She looked up and realized she was still about two feet short. She decided to jump and hope she could get high enough to reach one of the rocks but for a mermaid jumping was
not easy. She would have to bend her tail and thrust like she was swimming.
She gathered herself and felt her tail uncoiling as she released. Then she was in the air with the water slowing her down. Barely her fingertips touched one of the rocks and instead of smashing down on the rocks below her body leaped up the falls and she fell with a splash into the river on the other side.
The rushing waters almost carried her back over but Maryellen had been ready for this and had already begun stroking as hard as she could. Slowly she pulled away from the edge and abruptly the pull tapered off.
She saw she was in another quiet section of the river and slowed down swimming as her friend caught up with her to ask. “How much further?”
“About another mile or so.” Thistledown consulted a small scroll that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “There’s one more stretch of whitewater and then you can rest.”
The mermaid gave her a dark look. “That’s what you said the last time I asked. And then we encountered the waterfall.”
The fairy shrugged and offered an apologetic smile. “The River is filled with magic and that can cause it to change.”
“Why doesn’t revelation that fill me with confidence?” The mermaid complained as she started swimming again.
A half an hour later they encountered more whitewater which turned out to be a couple hundred yards long. By using her enhanced grip Maryellen was able to grasp underwater rocks and pull herself along.
Finally she entered a long stretch of deep water just after it had gotten dark. She stroked down the waterway, passing a large flat stone as the water became shallower. Up ahead she could hear a huge roar and then she saw the base of a tall waterfall which churned up the river as the water fell from over a hundred feet up.
But when she attempted to venture closer she found the magic shoving her back. “What’s happening?” She asked her fairy friend.
The fairy smiled at her. “Congratulations. You made it to where you’re supposed to be. Your journey is at an end.”
Maryellen breathed out a sigh of relief and looked around. She saw to her left there was a stretch of sandy beach and beyond that there was a tent-like structure which appeared to be deserted. “Now what happens?”
