by Maya Daniels
The orchard ends and under the full moon, like deer running from a hunting party, we bolt across the field with its knee-high grass. It makes it a little more difficult to run, but when you’re running for your life, you couldn’t care less. Since it is an open field and I feel certain I’m not going to crash into a tree if I don’t look ahead, I look back over my shoulder. That’s a stupid mistake. A merciless vise gets hold of my heart and I think I’m going to die from the sight alone when Faith squeezes my hand so hard that I feel bones connecting. That gets my head back on track, but even though they’re behind me, I can still see them clearly in my head. So many of them, oh sweet Goddess, like a dark never-ending cloud. Their robes are billowing behind them, like creepy shadows with minds of their own going against the wind and gravity, and that’s enough to give you a heart attack. To add to it, you can see the flames they have for eyes, menacing, full of hunger and rage on their demonic faces, while they still hold on to those lanterns with the green light that emanates from them looking like it’s dancing around, cheering them on. I know if they get their hands on us, we’ll be begging to die. Death is not the worst that can happen to a person. Believe me, I’ve become an expert on it.
I put as much effort as I can into making it to safety. I’m not sure the woods will save us, but I trust Faith on this. Not because I finally have no trust issues, but I can see she wants to live as much as I do, so I run! That’s when I see the shimmering barrier between the field and the woods. So someone opened a protection circle around it! There is hope!
We’re so close! It feels like I can stretch out my arm and touch the first trees in the wooded area when I feel a tug on my arm. Everything happens in slow motion, something that I’ll ponder for a while after the fact. I feel the tug and turn my head towards Faith. My eyes go as big as dinner plates when I see a skeletal black hand with a death grip on her hair, and I watch it pull her backwards. At the same time as my hand is released, she lets go and allows it to stop her escape. I was about to stop running to help her, but her words make me keep going despite my entire being screaming at me to stop and try to help, even if we both die here and now.
“Nooo! Run!!!! You’ll come save me. Don’t stop, Alexia, run!!!” She is screaming at me with such force that even though my essence is rebelling and telling me to stop, I obey.
As I reach the first row of trees in the woods and pass them, it is like someone flips a switch. Everything stops—no thundering footsteps from the monsters, nothing. Well, almost nothing, because nothing stops Faith from making sure I hear her.
“Find the old woman, follow the moon, sister. She will tell you where to find me. She will tell you how to save me and those you’re looking for,” she yells loud and clear and I collapse on the ground because I can’t stand or move anymore. I’m gulping air and trying to understand who keeps those monsters away from these woods. I see them moving up and down a few feet in front of it, but they’re unable to come closer. I watch them tie up Faith with ropes that don’t look like ropes at all because they move on their own. Looking at them makes me gag.
“If they have us both, who will save us, Alexia?” Faith says while struggling with the creatures. Seeing her fearlessness in a situation where another would pass out or beg only strengthens my resolve.
“I’m coming back for you, Faith. I swear it on everything I hold dear. Just stay alive, sister! Promise me!”
“I promise, Alexia. Find the old lady. She’ll help you, I know. I will see if I can find the others where they take me. If they’re there, we’ll be ready when you come.” Her voice rings loudly while she looks towards where I am over her shoulder as they lead her away.
“Fuck!!! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!”I scream the cuss word as loud as I can, wanting to curse everything and everyone. Is this what my life is now? Everyone that comes into it gets taken away by monsters because of whatever agenda, and the guilt, pain and sorrow I have inside me just piles on? How much can a person take? Apparently we can take a lot!
I kneel there for a while until I can breathe again without feeling pain in my lungs. My mind is racing, all the questions I have keep playing on repeat with no one to answer them. I better get moving. Faith’s words ‘I was too late’ keep repeating over and over again. Well, I’ll be damned if I’m late. I look up to see where the moon is and start walking. Well, it was almost jogging, but I have no desire to go sightseeing. I need to find the old lady. I have no idea how I’ll know who she is, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Another thought occurs to me then. If Daisy or Lucifer try to wake me, will I just simply go back to my body or will I have to go back where I came from and walk through the portal? At the moment, that might be a little problematic. I wish there was a way to let them know where I am, because I could sure use some help right about now.
With my mind swirling, I put one foot in front of another and don’t lose sight of the moon. After a while, I hear rustling of leaves and when I look up, I see an owl. Sitting on the branch, it’s observing me with interest, but I have no time for fiddle farting around. I keep moving. It follows me, going from tree to tree, and I’m glad it does. I don’t feel so alone. It’s been a couple of hours that I’ve been passing tree after tree, jumping over massive roots and fallen branches, with nothing else in sight. I start doubting that I will ever get out of these woods. My mind starts playing the tricks it always does when doubt creeps in. What if Faith said I’ll find someone here to help just so I don’t get caught as well, to keep me away from the monsters? After a few minutes, another thought occurs to me. What if she’s working with those creatures and she set me up here to never find a way out and die in the damn woods? I shake my head to get rid of the thought as if I’m a dog shaking off fleas.
“Oh, stop it, Alexia! Seriously??” I should’ve been a bloody producer. I sure as fuck create great movies in my head!
I’m talking to myself out loud, just so I can stop thinking. They’re not joking when they tell you the mind is a great servant but a cruel master. If you let it, it’ll create the worst scenarios that will make you lose hope faster than you can blink. Early in life, I learned the lesson to never trust my mind when I feel sad or alone. It’s like a punisher with no mercy or compassion. It can make you insane or suicidal within minutes. Trust me on this and never believe your thoughts when you’re hurt and alone. You can thank me later.
Because I’m lost in my head, as always, I jump a little when the owl decides to perch on my shoulder. I look at it from the corner of my eye since I’m not sure it won’t try to peck them if I turn my head. It looks amused, if a bird can ever look amused. It hoots at me and moves its head like it’s pointing straight ahead, so I squint to see if there is something or someone there. Between the trees I notice a little flicker like fire, so I slow down my steps and creep up slowly, as quietly as I can. I have no idea who’s a friend or foe here. Well, I know the monsters are a foe, that’s a given, and I decide the owl is a friend since it alerted me to danger.
“Thank you,” I whisper to it and it hoots softly like it understood. I find them fascinating, the owls. If Jezzinta were here, she would say, “You find everything fascinating.” The thought of my sister makes me smile—sadly, but still. A smile is a smile and these days I’ll take what I can get. I’m not picky.
As I sneak in closer, the fire gets bigger and brighter and I see it’s in a very small clearing like a circle, big enough for a few people to gather around. On the bonfire, a big black cauldron sways gently like someone just finished stirring in it, but I see no one around. I stop where I am and wait. I’m not moving a foot until I see who’s brave enough and without care to light a fire that makes smoke rise up to the sky so high that it can be seen from any side.
I didn’t have to wait long. From the opposite side, an old lady walks into the clearing carrying some wild herbs in her right hand. Her left hand holds a dagger and I decide I’m not moving an inch until she puts that thing down. I stand there like a creep hiding behind bushes, studyi
ng her. She walks around like she has not one worry in the world and she’s humming some song. Using her dagger, she cuts small pieces of the herbs and drops them in the steaming cauldron. Waving her hand, she fans the rising steam so she can smell whatever it is she is making and she hums with satisfaction. With the gentle breeze blowing my way, so can I, now, and it makes my mouth water, it smells so delicious. Remembering the apples, I shake my head. There will be no eating and drinking here or taking anything, for that matter. This lady knows what she’s doing. She’s wearing black pants with many pockets all around her legs and a black long-sleeved shirt and vest, also with many pockets on it. Her white hair is braided, and her braid sways with every move she makes, all the way down to her thighs. The way she carries herself shows me that she’s well aware of her own power, even if I don’t feel it zapping my skin at the moment. If pressed, I would say she’s in her mid-seventies, but only because of the gray hair and the wrinkles on her face. You’d never guess it from her body, which looks to be in great shape, or by the way she moves. Lost in my thoughts, it takes a second to process what I hear at that very moment.
“Are you just going to stand there, Alexia, or will you come sit with me?” As she says it, she turns her head towards where I am standing, and even through the branches and bushes, she somehow manage to lock eyes with me.
Everything comes to a stop—my mind, my breath, even my heart for a bit, I believe. Her eyes are golden yellow like one would expect a panther to have, and they hold an other-worldly glow to it that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight. What the fuck? She knows I’m here and she knows my name! Oh well, I know I ran earlier, but a coward I am not. I straighten myself and walk out into the clearing, holding my head high. The fact that her dagger is a few feet away from where she is standing and not in her hand has nothing to do with my bravery. Mhm, I almost believe it myself.
“You know my name! How?” is all I say.
“You and Faith were loud enough earlier. I’m sure the entire realm knows your names by now,” she says dryly, and I flinch at our stupidity. Well, you shouldn’t get cocky, either, because I promise you that you would’ve done the same. It’s not like your brain works out perfect scenarios when you’re running for your life. Nevertheless, I want to slap myself. Those creatures will be expecting me now. Wonderful!
“I don’t believe you.” I narrow my eyes at her, she’s not lying but it’s not really the truth. I can feel it.
“Well, well. I see your gifts are getting stronger if you can tell that I’m not being completely truthful.”
“You don’t need gifts to hear the familiarity in the way you said my name, lady.”
She throws her head back and laughs wholeheartedly. Like an idiot I stare at her, dumbstruck by the absurdity of the moment. When her laughs die down to mere chuckles, I’ve just about had enough shit. I need answers and I need to find my sisters.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I have some questions that I hope you’ll answer and I’ll be on my way. I have people to save, and I’m not sure how long they’ll be okay waiting on me to find them. Those things just got Faith, but they have had at least one of the people I’m looking for, if not all, here for a long time.” I say all this in one breath.
“Sit,” is all she says, pointing at a log next to the fire.
“I don’t have time to sit. At any moment, someone might try to wake me, and I’m not sure how I’ll find my way back here again.”
“You didn’t come here on purpose?” Her eyebrows shoot up and she looks me up and down, then she narrows her eyes as if she just finds me lacking.
“Hey, I was on my death bed for three months, and today is the first day I was awake. I have no idea what happened, but I was given a chance to save the people I love, and I’m not wasting it!” I say, pissed off, through clenched teeth.
“Easy there, witchling, I didn’t say you should waste it. Sit, let us talk and I’ll give you something that will lead you back here if someone interrupts your travel.”
That puts me at ease a little, so I go and plop on the log. The quiet in the forest with the whistling sound of the wind through the trees make me feel the pain in my body from all the running and the fear for my life that accompanied it. I watch her carefully. Every move she makes, every blink of her eyes. There is something about her that puts me at ease while at the same time, all my senses stand at attention like I’m on the edge.
“Which realm is this?”
“It’s one of the dark realms. The realm of Tomorith, the Dark Wizard.”
I try to think if I’ve ever heard of him, but I can’t recall if I have. The past, present and future haven’t figured out their rightful place in my head yet. It’s annoying, really.
“Do you know where those things took Faith? And if the ones I’m looking for are there as well?” I ask hopefully.
“She’s been taken to the caves. There is a whole underground city full of those. They are almost always full,” she says with disgust. “It’s my guess, but we will know for sure soon enough. Rajah, go to the caves,” she says and as I’m about to ask who she’s talking to, the owl takes flight from my shoulder and is gone within seconds. My mouth falls open and I gape at her.
“The owl is yours?”
“Of course. Did you think it was just a friendly bird perched on your shoulder?”
“It won’t be the first,” I answer her honestly and she is watching me with narrow eyes again.
“Can you please stop? I have no desire to play games or spend hours of word riddles. Help me get the answers I need, and I’ll be out of your way as soon as I know where to go and how to get them out,” I say with a sigh. I really am tired of the power plays and crap all these creatures are playing.
“I neither want your powers, nor do I want to take anything from you,” I continue. “I’m tired of playing games, and if you have no wish to answer simply and honestly, I’ll take my chances on my own. You don’t trust me, and I can’t say I trust you either, yet here we are.”
“I see,” she says softly.
“Do you? Do you really see?” I feel like crying but I’m holding on to my anger. It’s safer and lately, more familiar.
“Yes, witchling, I see.” She takes a deep breath, picks up two cups from the ground and pours the liquid from the cauldron in them. She hands me one and keeps the other. First, she takes a long gulp from it, looking me straight in the eyes, and then points at the one I’m holding.
“Drink.”
I understand why she is looking at me. She is showing me it’s safe to drink. Well, kind of. There are many types of poison that kill one thing, but not another, so she’s wasting time. I’m well aware she can kill me in many ways if she wants to, but she hasn’t, so I sip slowly from the brew. My eyes widen at the taste. It’s as delicious in taste as it is in smell. I look at the cup and I’m mesmerized by the rainbow colors swirling in it. It smells like flowers and herbs but the taste is so similar to peppermint tea that I take bigger gulps without being aware of it.
“Drink it slowly,” she warns.
“What is it?” I ask as I wipe my mouth with the sleeve of my shirt.
“Something that will help you when you go into the caves. It’ll cover your smell, amongst other things. I’m surprised they haven’t smelled you all over the realm already. I smelt the jasmine as soon as you stepped foot here.”
“What?” I almost yell.
“Calm down. I know you are not aware of it, but others are. Haven’t you noticed how others react to you before now?” she asks, surprised.
“I have…unfortunately.”
I think back to when it started that day I woke up from my coma in the hospital and the way Philip was acting. That brought back memories of Remi and pain mixed with anger starts bubbling up in my heart, so I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, taking a deep breath so I can push it away. It won’t do me any good right now to see red in front of my eyes and not think clearly. I realize she’s talking so I look
at her. I miss most of what she says, but I’m not asking her to repeat it.
“Why haven’t you learned to cover it?”
“I can do that?”
“Of course. Hasn’t your mentor taught you anything?” she says angrily, and I laugh. Now she looks like I insulted her, so I hurry to explain.
“I’m not laughing at you. I’m sorry it looked that way. I’m only laughing because I imagined you telling this to my mentor.” I laugh again, imagining Lucifer’s face as she is yelling at him. “I would pay to see that one,” I tell her. She only shakes her head.
“I need to connect with Rajah to see where Faith is, so you will be quiet,” she tells me.
“You can see through his eyes?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, how wond…”
“I said be quiet,” she cuts me off and I close my mouth with a snap.
I even put my hand on it just in case because I really can’t keep it shut, as you know. I watch her as she is connecting with the owl while I sip slowly, as she told me, from the brew. Between sips, I still put my hand on my mouth, a reminder to keep it zipped. After a few minutes, she shifts her body left, then right.
“Can you describe the others that you are looking for?” she asks.
“Yes, of course. There are three females, all around 5’ 4”, more or less. One has curly long black hair half way down her back, Middle-Eastern looking, the other has a dark blonde shoulder length bob cut, porcelain skin, and the third is Native American. The men are...”
“There are no men in this realm apart from the Dark Wizards,” she says, cutting me off, and I feel a sharp stabbing pain in my stomach and my heart.
Well, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy to find them all in one place, but a girl can hope. I hold my breath in anticipation, praying to everyone and everything in my head that they are there. The time passes very slowly for those who wait. It feels like eternity before she finally opens her eyes and looks at me.
