“Ella, didn’t she tell you about the safe zones?” I couldn’t remember safe zones, but it was all a bit blurry. I shook my head and Kali told us all what Tempest had told her.
“The safe zones are the redwoods, all we have to do is touch them and we will gain mental control again. As long as one of us is still stable they can get the rest to the redwoods.” I looked Kali and smiled as I realized that Tempest knew all along they would come to my aid and she had faith in us. I started a silent prayer that Tempest and the others could be released with us; I could use more of this kind of honesty in my life, as my eyes flashed to Xander and Selene. I looked to Lukin and held out my hand.
“Are you sure you want to keep going? You can always go back now; none of us know what lies beyond this hell for you.” He knew what I was trying to say, I feared that he would die once he was out and I couldn’t stand that thought, but it was his choice to make.
“I am not leaving your side Delilah.” With a squeeze of his hand I smiled and turned around to examine my surroundings a bit more. Now that we were so close up I could look through the arch and see that the wood looked different than it had from the field. An archway of linked branches made an elegant but natural door between the safety of the field into the darkness of the forest. The greens looked more like a black film covering everything, even the moss had a dark and murky layer hiding its clover coloring. I closed my eyes as I took a step forward, I heard a scream from the sky above and turned to see that the tortured were getting closer, I didn’t want anyone to worry so I quickly excused it and walked inside with my head held high and heart hiding in my shoes. I started to think I was not this person; I was not made to be the chosen one. I was scared and no chosen one should be. I felt a hand smack the back of my head and turned to see Freya glaring at me and then she smiled.
“That is one reason why you are the chosen one, now come on.” Keeping pace the once bright blue sky had turned to a deep grey blanket over us, it allowed no light to sneak through and it was already messing with my head. The trees seemed to scowl at us; every broken branch looked like a snake on the attack. The falling leaves from the dead limbs moved down our backs as a spider would, and the air smelled of decay. I noticed a root that had been pulled up by something, it was huge and from where I stood it looked like it had eyes that stared into my soul. I turned to run, half expecting to land on Kali, only as I turned my panic grew, and they were all gone.
TWENTY ONE
. I closed my eyes and counted to five as I heard a deep sound behind me, I squeezed Lukin’s hand, not just for comfort but as a guarantee he was still at my side. Opening my eyes slowly I turned and watched as the tree lifted itself from the ground. It had the body of a large redwood tree, it’s legs were branches and a head made from the roots, as it stood before us, not allowing room to pass I watched as it spread its glorious wings of spider webs and dew. It let out a series of low melodic cries and then opened its eyes to see us. I began to chant in my head, this is not real, this is not really happening, as it lowered its head to get a better look at me.
“Large, funny looking fairy you had better hope I am real.” I jumped back, clinging to Lukin and screamed, followed by complete silence as I let go and stepped forward. This was either going to kill me or help me and I had no other choice but accept it. Standing face to face with what I could only imagine to be a dragon from a tale my mother told me as a child my whole body shook out of fear, my heart raced but I didn’t run away. “I say again, whatever you are. Do you believe in me or not?” His voice was deep and wise; he spoke very slowly and clearly as he looked into my soul. The deeper we got into this hell the more amazing and beautiful it seemed to become. I took a shallow breath and spoke through trembling lips.
“I do, I believe in you.” The dragon seemed to smile as he rested himself on the ground with his head raised like a proud dog.
“That’s better Delilah; now that we are clear I have to thank you for coming and releasing me. I have spent ten lifetimes waiting for you.” I perched on a stump a bit closer to him while Lukin was not as sure and backed up a little.
“Thank me, how did I release you?” He turned his neck to the left and then the right letting out a deep sigh himself.
“You have no idea do you; I believe you have met Tempest already. Like her I have been trapped here and your light has awakened more than you realize, not all of it good either.” As he spoke his eyes scanned the area with fear behind them. What could a dragon be afraid of?
“Where did my family go?” I found myself still looking for them, even Selene and Xander as much as I hated to admit it.
“Only those in the Curse can move on outside the Fields, Chosen One. You and Lukin must do the rest on your own. I hope you asked the right questions while they were here.” Questions, I didn’t really have time to ask them anything. I thought they were here until we got out, I thought I had plenty of time to ask, and like my mother they were gone and I was left to wonder what I should have asked, or done with the time I had
“Will you tell me, what is your name?” He lowered his head and closed his eyes.
“I have longed to hear someone ask that, my name is Ailen and it was my name that trapped me here as you see me.” I thought of what his name could mean, and then I thought that by now I would have started forgetting what I was supposed to be doing, but nothing beyond our numbers seemed any different.’
“Ailen, can you explain to me what the Forgotten Forest really is?” Resting his head on the ground he sighed.
“I am very tired but I will tell you. The forgotten forest was part of a spell once, one that I had no part of. The spell was mixed with other spells and it created the world you see in front of you and what you have walked to get here as well. Since you have been here I have heard the world around me waking up, the good and the bad.” Saying the words again made him look around, with what looked like fear behind his eyes.
“Ailen, can you come with us through the Forest?” The large rooted animal lifted a wing and I saw that he was part of the ground beneath us as he shook his mighty head. I felt scared, more scared than I had been on this wild goose chase, I still didn’t have any clue how to get out or what was in store for us on the other side of this wood, I put my arms around Lukin who stayed perfectly and horrifically frightened as I sobbed.
I had been asleep, that must be it. Fairies and dragons do not live in the real world; they live in books and tales my grandmother would tell. I Had been dreaming all of this and soon would wake up in my mother’s arms telling her about the nightmare I had just lived in my dreams, but as I looked around with everything moving in slow motion before me I knew I couldn’t be in a dream. My body ached from constant running, my arms and legs were still burning from cuts I received when the un-garden tried to kill me, and Xander had shown up in the field to confess his sexual betrayal with Selene. This was no dream; even my nightmares couldn’t make up something so dark and scary. I found myself looking at everything as if I weren’t here at all, a movie playing in my head but this movie I couldn’t turn off. I thought losing my mother would be the rock bottom of reality, but sitting here now I saw that it was just the beginning of the rock and the worst was yet to come. My mother, her death is what started all of this. I turned to Ailen and felt my face turn red with anger and rage, my hands began to sweat as I walked closer to him and my heart raced as thoughts began a battle through my mind.
“Ailen, tell me the truth right now! No games do you understand?” He raised his massive head and neck above me, but I didn’t move from my spot. “All of this started because my mother died, how did Emma know that my mother would die and I would come here?” Some questions you shouldn’t ask, and not because they are dumb, or wrong, but simply because you never really wanted to know the answer in the first place.
“Delilah, this place, this curse is greater than you or I, it’s bigger than Emma and it has a plan that continues now as we speak. Do you think that Emma would have done any
of this if she thought that one day you wouldn’t be here talking to me?” I stood and walked to him, reaching my hand out to touch his snout.
“Ailen, did Emma know that my mother would die?” He closed his eyes and nodded his head.
“Not only did she know, but she made sure it would happen this way Delilah.” I took a step back, feeling the air escape me like a softball had been thrown directly at my chest. I fell to the ground and grabbed Lukin, pulling him close.
“Please tell me Lukin that you are not part of some scheme, but don’t lie to me either!” Lukin looked stunned and pissed that I would ask him that, pulling away from me he stared into me with cold, dead eyes.
“I would have left you to die in the garden if I had been, I can’t believe that you would think otherwise, but you are a Grace woman after all. Something I will not forget again Delilah.” As he spoke he let go of my hands, backed up and then slowly walked away into the woods alone. I thought he would turn around, I thought he would come back for me, but as the minutes went by and his shadow had escaped from sight, I was left sobbing on a pile of tree roots and screaming his name.
*
“What the hell was that?” I sat up from the floor, as if we had never left the room and I had never passed out. “Was it a dream?” The looks on the women’s faces proved that not only was this not a dream, but none of them knew we would be taken away from Delilah so quickly. Eris began punching the floor, screaming and sobbing in anger.
“We could have grabbed her, we could have brought her back with us and we just left her alone!” Selene chuckled and rolled her eyes.
“She’s not alone; she has Lukin now, right Xander?” I hung my head, as the aunts left the room without a sound, and Freya ran to a pile of books. I picked my head up in time to see Selene cast an evil glare at Freya as she picked up one of the books. Selene seemed very curious as to what Freya found out at the exact time she did. I thought back and realized that since Ella had been cast to hell, she hadn’t left her grandmothers side for a moment. I stood up and walked out of the room, it had to be more than just protecting her ass. One person would know the answer to my question and I had to find him, even if it killed me I had to know what was going on. Walking out to the porch I smelled the rain, felt the damp air and thanked the trees I was still alive after having five witches enter my psyche. I could see him from the porch and took off running in the rain.
“Dad, Dad I need to talk to you.” He kept working as if he didn’t hear my yelling. I got to the garage doors and kept talking anyway. “Listen Dad, we saw her, Delilah. We were able to get in and see her!” He turned around, grabbing a rag from the counter to wipe his hands.
“Did you tell her our secret?” He wouldn’t even look at me, just stood still, staring at the floor.
“No, I didn’t tell her about anything, but you have to tell me something or I will go back and tell her.” His eyes found mine and a cold chill ran through my body, we stood in place just staring at one another when the wind picked up and the rain came down harder on the roof of the garage.
“Tell me son, what is it that I have to tell you?” his stare became more cold, and the rain fell harder on the roof. He hadn’t seemed like himself for a week and this feeling of unease was growing rapidly. He didn’t seem right, Selene didn’t seem right and I was stuck in the middle. I needed to get Freya alone even if only to ask her thoughts about this, but right now I needed to calm down this man acting as my father.
“Tell me you don’t hate me Dad, and that we won’t fight like this forever.” He smiled and nodded.
“I love you son, now go do some chores and leave me alone.” I walked out of the garage and let the rain fall on me, remembering the first date Ella and I had. She got so angry at me that it poured so hard it stung my skin. The rain today reminded me of that angry shower. How it came on so suddenly when she thought I had betrayed her, how it seemed to come out of nowhere as I walked out of the house, I turned back to look at my father one last time and then ran for the estate.
*
“Ailen tell me what to do, everyone I care about has left me in these woods and I don’t know what to do.” He let out a sigh that moved the dead leaves around us like a hurricane were coming through and then picked his head up.
“For starters, remember where you are. These are the forgotten woods, and it’s pretty clear they have proven true to the name as you stand here before me, alone and forgotten.” I cried harder and fell to the ground. He was right; I lost what family I had left and pushed Lukin away. For all I knew they had all forgotten who I was by now, or that they needed to help me get out of this hell. The force from Ailen’s blast of air caught me off guard and sent me flying backward. I jumped up, startled and confused.
“What the hell Ailen, are you going to help me or not?” He turned his head to the side and moved his neck closer to me.
“I don’t think you want anyone’s help.” Of course I wanted help; I knew I couldn’t do this alone.
“What is that supposed to mean?” He turned his head to the other side but said nothing as he stared at me. “You think I meant to send Lukin running for the hills don’t you?” I watched as a smile swept across his mouth.
“I think you are acting exactly the way that one had predicted, yes.” That didn’t seem to make any sense to me at first that would have meant that the chosen one wasn’t special at all if she could be so predictable. Then it made sense and I raised my arm to yell at him for his old English put down when he yelled into my face. “You need to stop acting like Delilah and start being the Chosen Grace right now!” A blast from his snout sent me flying through the path, landing in a pile of leaves at least a quarter mile from Ailen or anyone else for that matter I brushed myself off and stood up to check my surroundings. Had he blown me forwards, or backwards? Everything looked the same and I couldn’t tell, nor did I know if I should go forward or backward. I turned around in dizzy circles, making myself dizzier than anything else and stopped abruptly when I heard voices, many male voices talking to one another. I crouched behind a tree and wished I could stop breathing.
TWENTY TWO
*
I ran into the estate screaming for Freya, to my surprise she was standing on the stairs with her arms crossed, and Selene was nowhere in sight. Her stance wasn’t the thing that stopped me in my tracks; it was the look on her face. Complete disappointment and I knew we needed to talk. She waved her hand at me and I began walking up the stairs.
“Come Xander, we need to have a talk you and me.” I felt like she was pulling me, all I wanted to do was run away but against my better judgment I kept moving forward. She took me to a small room at the end of the south wing; I didn’t recognize it and this seemed odd since I thought I knew every inch of this palace. The room was no bigger than the small study on the first floor I had often used as my special thinking spot as a child, but this room had a different kind of library inside of it. All the books were very old, and were bound in what looked like animal hide. They were everywhere, on the shelves of the library, scattered around the desk and side tables and even some on the floor in front of a large sofa. Freya didn’t speak a word to me as she led me inside and sat in a chair by the desk. I sat across from her on the sofa and felt nauseous as she looked through me, cold and deliberate.
“Xander, I think you know why I have asked you to come here and talk to me.” I shifted in my seat, knowing that I had to be very careful not only of what I said, but what I thought as she deepened her gaze.
“Honestly Freya, I am not sure to be honest.” I held a straight face and thought of nothing as I shifted in my seat again.
“I have known you for your entire life Xander, and I consider you to be a part of this family.” She leaned forward in her seat as her stare grew deeper. “I have watched you grow up and become a very considerate and honorable man so you will have to excuse the straightforwardness but what the hell possessed you to have sex with Selene when you are clearly in love with Delila
h?” Didn’t she know the answer to that already, how had Selene managed to keep it hidden from her while remaining by her side since it happened? Forgetting for a moment that she could hear my every thought I continued to rack my brain for an answer as she stood up and walked towards me. “That is an excellent question Xander, I have been trying to figure out what Selene has been hiding from me and I was hoping that you could help me with it, I have not been able to hear a single thought of hers since Ella went missing and Selene is good at what she does, but she’s not that good so if you know something I suggest you start telling me young man.” I still didn’t have it all figured out, but knew that this may be my only chance alone with her and had to go for it.
“Freya, I don’t know about Selene but I need to talk to you about my father.” She sat down on the sofa beside me, still trying to get something more out of my mind but it was just as confused as I was.
“Is something wrong with Israel, is he ok?” I wasn’t sure myself, but as well as Freya knew me, she knew my father on a deeper level and I was sure that if something were wrong with him she could tell me.
“He hasn’t been the same since Ella got here; I don’t mean he’s been in a bad mood either Freya. Something is different about him, almost like he is someone else entirely.” She sat back in her seat and I could see her eyes flashing left to right, examining her memories over the past weeks of my father, and then something stopped her thoughts and her face turned red with anger as she looked back to me.
“Xander, tell me something and don’t lie or I will know do you understand?” I nodded, and thought I would pass out from my short breaths. “We all play a role in the outcome here and I am beginning to think that you have more of a part than you have let on, am I right?” I tried to take a deep breath but air escaped me and I felt lightheaded as I started to speak before thinking.
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