**DAPHNE**
A rumbling sounds in the woods behind us. The ground begins to shake, and I am reminded, vaguely, of something in my dream. The horse Klyesque is seated upon spins in a circle, bucking and neighing as if to warn us of the oncoming danger.
“There’s no more time for talking,” Klyesque hisses. “They head this way as if they know of this place.”
“Perhaps they do,” Ash, exclaims. “Perhaps this entire thing was planned.”
His eyes find mine and there is anger in them. A heat that almost reaches for me, seeking answers to questions he has yet to ask.
Shaking it off, I lean toward Trielle’s ear and whisper, “Take us to the Northern Gate.”
I hold on for dear life as she takes off into the trees. I can hear the others shout in protest, as if they are afraid of my lead. Evergreens whiz by at breakneck speed, the terrain becoming rockier as the ground slopes dangerously downward.
Ash appears beside me. “Slow down,” he shouts. “If you fall you will be trampled. The trees are too dense for a pace like this.”
I do not glance his way as I am concentrating on the road ahead. The trees all around us begin to groan and shudder. Lifting their limbs and parting to create a path. My mouth falls open in shock as the darkness of the forest around us opens up with light. Glancing back, I see the others close behind, their faces are a blur as we bob up and down with the urgent pace of the horses.
The trees...
They are moving.
Each time we pass by one, another takes shape. Guarding our path. Moving to shield us from the unknown evil that haunts our steps.
*The path will be clear.*
At first it is hard to understand what is happening, because Trielle is galloping too quickly for my eyes to see. A black heaviness of solid form ahead causes me to tense as it appears we are heading straight into a mountain of sheer rock.
“Ash,” I screech, closing my eyes as the mountain’s features come into focus. The trees have parted, but the rocks have not. As we pound closer and closer to the doom ahead, I begin to panic.
Suddenly, Delago races to the front of me, Ash crouching forward, edging his beast into a lightning quick tempo and I watch, fascinated, as it appears Delago's hooves are swirling with black smoke. Ash is now leading us straight toward the sparkling black rock anterior of the Hadimere Forest and for a moment it is as if my heart stops.
Just then I recall one of the stories Isabel used to tell me about a boy that wandered too far into the woods and found himself in the Faery Realm.
Suddenly the memory of her voice surrounds me and for a second it is as if she sits behind me to retell the tale...
*...The rock sparkled black against the light from the sun, an illusion for all mortal and immortal eyes alike. Enchanted to guard against unwanted visitors. But the boy was blind from a babe. He could not see, nor could he fear, because the two go hand in hand. And so, he wandered, guided by the witch’s song. Baited into Faery. A gift to the Fae King once enchanted by the Woodland Witch. A tribute to buy her freedom, so that she might return to the Mortal Realm where her magic was absolute. Yet, the boy had no sight, and could not be afraid of the horrors he faced. And so, the Fae King became angry.*
*Cheated of the power he sought to gain the Fae King tied the witch’s magic to the woods of her origins. She would remain the keeper of the Northern Gate and the Master of the Whispering Leaves, never to wander into Shadow or Fae for all eternity. Cursed until the day her Queen would set her free...*
I realize what is about to happen, just as Ash yells back toward me, “Do not stop!”
“What?” I screech. I yell again just as I think he is about to slam into the rocks. “Ash!?”
He slows down, as does Trielle. But neither of them stops as we ride into the mountain and a veil of buzzing energy surrounds us. Pounding down upon my head like water, we move against it. The black of the rock parting like the curtain of a waterfall as we gallop through to the other side.
Oh my God.
Delago skirts to a halt in front of the rock wall not twenty yards ahead of me. He moves aside, as if waiting for me to join him.
“Trielle!” It is all I say to have her slow down. She comes to a halt with a smooth quickness, taking her place next to Delago and shimmering back into her bright red mane.
I glance around and my breath catches. For never have I seen such beauty. The black rock mountain is still behind us, just as it was in the bright of Hadimere Forest. Yet replacing the evergreens, are the strangest trees I have ever had the pleasure of looking upon.
They are taller than the evergreens, almost oak-like in build, but skinnier. Their leaves are a bright teal green, and the deep brown bark is whimsically coiled with flourishing blue moss. This forest is dark yet vibrant with color.
The road that we’ve halted over is an ash-colored path lined with the black sparkling stones of the mountain. They glint and shiver with iridescent light from the sparse partings of the trees.
The creek to my left seems to come from underneath the mountain. Bubbling water and the occasional chirp, of what I can only assumes are birds, serenade us as our friends shimmer through the pass of rock beyond.
“She listens to you,” Ash says simply, as we turn back to our companions. “You can communicate with her.”
I nod, smiling, and he smirks, showing me that at least a small trace of the man I gave myself to is still there. Petra is grinning from ear to ear, her eyes alight with blue energy and Dionie dismounts to kneel at the creek bed. Drinking deeply, he gazes back at me, laughing as I marvel at my surroundings.
“Where are we?” I whisper.
Klyesque saunters over on her strong white steed and smiles. “Welcome to Faery, Lady Daphne.”