“Thank you,” Olivia said. “Both of you.” She turned and walked away from the tombs, back toward the cavern under the Great Fairy Tree.
“That was beautiful, wasn’t it Olivia?” Lily asked, holding onto Olivia’s ear for support.
“Yes, it was very nice,” Olivia replied, smiling. “But I can’t quite put my finger on something...”
“Is there something you were going to ask me?” Ink asked.
Olivia spun around. He was behind her, floating lazily in the air as a goat.
“Yes,” said Olivia. She had made up her mind that it was impossible for Ink not to startle her. But the sudden jolt reminded her of what she had been wondering about. “I was wondering what you–”
“I know,” Ink said, smiling. “You were wondering what I had found out about helping the children. Correct?”
“Yes, that’s it exactly,” Olivia said anxiously.
“Well, here is the way I see it,” Ink said. “The Door is decaying faster with every moment that passes. As your world dies, so, too, does the rift between worlds. We finally determined that you would be able to open the Door to allow others through, but I would bet that you could only open it one last time.” He giggled in a low, raspy voice. “Convenient, yes?”
“That’s great news! What are we waiting fo–”
“Not so fast,” Ink said abruptly, floating around her head. “Who’s to say one of those children won’t become the next Lich King?”
Olivia thought for a moment. She had never even considered the possibility of the other children posing a threat to Aeldyn or its people.
“No,” Olivia said firmly. “If they are even still alive, they will be grateful for being brought here. They’ve lived a difficult life in the orphanage and may not know how to think for themselves right now, but they’re all good children and learn quickly. Besides, I’m recording the events of the journey in my father’s journal right now, so that everyone can know what happened and how it almost destroyed this place.”
“Ah, I see,” said Ink. “I trust you know what you are doing by now, Olivia. When would you like to go?”
“Now,” Olivia insisted.
“Very well,” said Ink. “I have a plan. How about you gather your old companions and begin traveling to the Door. While you are doing that, I will gather the children. Is that a deal?”
“So, you’ll bring them to the Door on the other side?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, but we will have to act quickly and synchronously,” Ink said. “Those things roaming around outside your old home are still there. We’ll need to both be at the Door at the same time.”
“I’ll go get the others and we’ll leave right away.”
Ink disappeared, and Olivia turned to find her friends who were all standing in a group inside the Great Fairy’s Hollow. They appeared to be getting ready to go back to their homes. When Olivia approached them with an anxious expression on her face, they all turned to her.
“Olivia, what is it?” Kai-Tu asked.
“I came to ask…” Olivia said, pausing to calm herself, “if any of you would like to help me on one last quest.”
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
“Of course we will, dear Olive,” said Haunches. “We would persist on any quest you may ever have to remark on.”
“Will always go…” said Grimwitch excitedly.
“With Olivia!” finished Gauntlet.
Olivia smiled, thanking everyone profusely. “But I promise, this one will be short and easy,” she said with a laugh.
* * * * *
Olivia and the rest of the group stood before the Door in the Elder Forest. The black, twisted tree looked out of place next to the lively green ones. She hoped fervently that it would still open this one last time.
“Don’t lose hope, Olivia!” said Lily, thrusting her fist into the air enthusiastically. They’re all okay. I know it!
With her staff and her father’s journal in hand, Olivia waited in front of the Door for Ink to give her the signal. Bren and Jin stood nearby, ready to help the children when they arrived. Grimwitch and Gauntlet waited a little behind Olivia, jumping in anticipation of meeting more humans. Kai-Tu, Haunches, Holli, Rufus, and Ronald stood next to a large pile of bright red apples. Thunc and Kili waited behind the others, Kili chirping a happy melody and Thunc dancing.
“Olivia,” Ink’s voice called suddenly in Olivia’s mind. “Get ready, child! They are running to the Door now!”
“I’m opening it now!” said Olivia, running up to the tree. She pricked her finger on the clasp of her father’s journal as she had done before and placed the bloody finger to the keyhole on the tree.
Just as before, Olivia felt her finger latch onto the tree and her heart stop beating, and her lungs seize up. Then, after a moment that felt like an eternity, her heart resumed beating, she drew in a deep breath, and she fell away from the tree. She collapsed to her knees and heard Bren and Jin rushing to help her. She quickly held up her hand.
“Wait,” Olivia whispered. She slowly stood and backed away from the tree as the Door began to etch itself into the rotting bark. Only the lower half of the Door appeared, however. The rest of it had died with the decaying tree. To Olivia’s relief, the knob remained. She quickly grasped the knob, turned it sharply, and yanked the Door open.
Cold, black air rushed in, and everyone gasped, taking a step back. For a while, they only heard the sound of the air blowing through and the distant wail of a siren. But then, Olivia and the group heard heavy breathing and pounding footsteps drawing near. Everyone watched the Door eagerly.
Suddenly, a head appeared through the rift. It peered around, an expression of fear and awe on its face. When its gaze turned to Olivia, the rest of the person scrambled through.
“Olivia…” cried Rosie Walton. “Wha–”
“Hold on, I’ll explain everything later,” said Olivia quickly. “Are the others coming?”
“Yes!” Rosie said, struggling to catch her breath. “That Ink thing led everyone out of the orphanage and told us to run here!”
Rosie turned about fearfully as she noticed the other creatures around her. Olivia noticed that Rosie, who was typically a bit overweight, was looking as though she hadn’t had a meal in many days. Rosie nervously scooted over to stand next to Olivia.
Everyone watched as more children scrambled through the Door. Olivia recognized all of them, even though they all looked starved and sickly. After nearly all of the children had entered, Olivia bent down and looked through the Door.
“Where’s Nachton?” she asked the other children urgently.
“He’s been doing really bad,” said one of the children. “All of us have, really. Ever since Ms. Kobayashi and Mr. Schafer died, we haven’t been able to get any food. Mr. Gloome locked it and himself up in his office.”
“Oh no…Nachton,” Olivia said, tears welling up in her eyes. She was about to dash through to the orphanage to find him when a pale, boney hand followed by messy black hair and a gaunt face came through the Door. It was Nachton.
He crawled through, moving strangely, as if something were controlling him. When he had completely crossed the threshold, Olivia slammed the Door shut. As the outline of the Door disappeared, a crack formed through the center of the tree, splitting the keyhole-shaped knot in two.
“Nachton, I’m so glad–” Olivia started.
“This one…” interrupted Ink’s voice. A black fog seeped out of Nachton’s ear, and from it, Ink took shape. “…nearly did not make it. He is very sick and very weak. I think it is because he has lost hope. You may be able to help him, Olivia.”
Nachton fell to the ground as Ink left his body. Olivia immediately ran to him and held his head in her hands, looking into his large, glassy eyes.
“Nachton,” Olivia said softly. “Everything’s going to be okay. We’re safe here. I missed you so much…”
“O…Olivia?” said Nachton, struggling to focus, his eyes widening. He reach
ed up and touched Olivia’s cheek. “It really is you…”
“Yes, it’s me,” Olivia said, smiling as tears ran down her cheek and onto his fingers. “I bet you’re hungry. Here, have an apple.”
Kai-Tu tossed Olivia an apple from the pile. Olivia held the apple out to Nachton, who stared at it questioningly before grabbing it. He slowly bit into it, his eyes growing even wider. He breathed deeply and took another bite. He sat up, looking around while he finished the apple. Rufus and Holli had passed apples out to all the other children as well, and they all ate noisily and sloppily.
“What is this place, Olivia? Who are these…people?” Nachton asked, juice from the apple dribbling down his dirty chin.
“We are in Aeldyn,” Olivia said, grinning from ear to ear. “And these are my friends.”
“But…why?” Nachton asked, his mouth hanging open. “How did you get here? Is this where you’ve been this whole time? And what is that on your shoulder?”
Olivia looked over at Lily and giggled. “Well, Nachton,” she said, “I’ve quite the story to tell you!”
* * * * *
“Is that…a violin, Olivia?” asked Nachton.
Olivia looked up from the amplifier she had been crafting. Symphology had become an important branch of magic to her. “Yes,” she replied. “It belonged to a very special friend of mine.”
“I see,” said Nachton, staring intently at the violin. “I spent hours in the orphanage reading some of dad’s old encyclopedias on music. The violin is my favorite instrument.”
“Would you like to give it a try?” Olivia asked.
“Wow, can I really?” Nachton asked, his eyes shining with excitement.
Olivia hung her black guitar on the wall. She walked over to a wooden case that stood open, revealing a beautiful violin. She picked it up and gently placed it in Nachton’s hands. He rested it on his shoulder and slowly put the bow to the strings. He played a few notes and then strung them together into a melody. Olivia was amazed at his skill, because he had never touched an instrument before. After only a little while, he was playing melodies so beautiful that Olivia was reminded of Locke. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Geez, is it that bad?” Nachton asked suddenly.
“No,” Olivia said, smiling at him warmly. “It’s wonderful!”
Epilogue
Mr. Gloome was sitting in his office, his feet propped carelessly on his desk. A twisted smile formed on his face.
“It’s been an entire week since those brats ran off,” he said. “I think it’s probably safe to go and have a peek.” He jumped up from the chair, his tight, raggedy suit splitting even further at the seams. The idea of having the entire place to himself made him much too excited. He danced jauntily around the desk.
“A world of my very own!” Mr. Gloome shouted. “I showed them all! I showed them!” He cackled as he skipped merrily over to the office door. He fumbled with his keys for a moment before he found the right one and then fit it into the lock and opened the door.
Before him was a black, desolate wasteland. Orphanage Nine had crumbled around him, leaving only his office intact. He stared for a moment out into the darkness. Then, he laughed.
“It’s mine!” Mr. Gloome screamed. “All mine! Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!” He cackled, his voice echoing in the empty wasteland.
Suddenly, the sound of coughing echoed around the office. The coughing turned into rough and loud hacking before it ended in a gurgling sound. The twisted smile dropped from Mr. Gloome’s face. He screamed loudly, but no one was left to hear.
E. S. Lowell is the imaginative (and somewhat insane) individual behind The Last Fairy Tale, his first novel. While his chosen field of study is in computing, writing has always been a passion of his. The first ideas for the story began to form in his mind when he was younger. It wasn't until he took a course in DNA and Molecular Computing while pursuing his degree in computer science that the ideas began to weave themselves into The Last Fairy Tale. The novel is influenced by many different cultures and traditions, as well as his love for video games, music, and the fantasy stories he grew up with.
If you enjoyed The Last Fairy Tale, please head over to Amazon or Goodreads to rate it and tell us what you think. We also invite you to visit our websites: E. S. Lowell and Ink and Dust Publishing. Here you can find more information about The Last Fairy Tale, E. S. Lowell, and Ink and Dust Publishing!
Contents
Title/Publisher
Special Thanks!
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Prologue
01 - Once Upon a Time
02 - They All Fall Down
03 - A Curious Creature
04 - Outside
Interlude 01
05 - Locke
06 - It's Not a Dream
Interlude 02
07 - The Great Fairy's Hollow
08 - Magic
Interlude 03
09 - Locke's Gift
10 - Handel's Sanctuary
11 - The Journey Begins
12 - A Missing Thread
13 - The Nocturnal Archives
14 - Whitewood
Interlude 04
15 - Kai-Tu's Secret
Interlude 05
16 - The Fortress
17 - The King of New Aeldyn
18 - The Truth
19 - The Beginning
Epilogue
About the author
The Last Fairy Tale Page 25
