Marked By The Unseelie

Chapter 3 Zhier

Chapter 3 

What should I do? Should I run?

That wouldn't be smart. I should think of something else because it would only further the evidence that I can see them. Maybe I should pretend that I am talking to someone else.

And by someone else, I decided to address that python in my hand.

"Hey, buddy. You aren't as scary as people think that you are. You are simply misunderstood." I feel stupid for talking to a snake, but at least it could cover up that I was talking to the fairy boy before me.

The only problem is, how do I pretend to walk away when he is right in front of me? It would be pretty obvious if I changed directions!

"Human, you can see, can't you?" The fairy starts to ask me. I can feel him looking at me, but I keep my gaze solely on the python.

Crap. How am I supposed to get out of this situation? I can definitely pretend to head in the other direction, but that would undoubtedly lead me deeper into the forest! What would I do if he still followed me by then?

Do I even have the time? I have an injured reptile in my hands.

"My mistake. I guess you can't see me after all." To my relief, the fairy guy starts to leave. I did not move for a few minutes and simply pretended that I was inspecting the injuries of the python. I let out a sigh of relief once it was long enough before I started to head back. My heart was still beating a little too fast because of what happened.

I noticed that the python started moving its head like it had noticed something before us. Just before we passed by a tree, the fairy boy jumped from behind it and landed in front of me. I was so startled that I screamed while the fairy just smirked mischievously at me.

"I knew it." He scoffs, crossing his arms in front of him. "You really can see me."

"That's not true. I really can't-" I immediately bit my tongue to stop myself from speaking. Now, there's really no going back on this. The fairy boy's smile grows wider. I tried to keep my face steady and decided to face him head on. "W-What do you want from me? I-I have a python and I am not afraid to use him."

The fairy sneers and hisses at me. "How dare you use a snake as a weapon to defend yourself!" He snatched the snake from my hands and moved it away from me as if he was confiscating something. "You even mistake her as a he! You humans are so..." He says a word that I could not understand, but judging from the look on his face, I can only guess that it was not good.

"I'm...sorry?" I wasn't sure what to say at this point because I was part confused and part scared. I was at the mercy of the fairy before me, and I don't even know what it wants.

The fairy man looks at me with interest. "A human apologizes. Now that is a first." He started to rub his chin with interest while he was staring at me. "Perhaps you are not such a bad human as I first thought that you'd be." He momentarily focuses his attention on the snake, placing his hand on the injured parts of its body. Scales started to cover the burned parts, making the charred skin look like it was merely flaking away. After that was over, the snake looked brand new and unharmed. The fairy sets the snake down on the ground and allowed it to slitter away from us.

"How...what did you do?" I could not help but voice my amazement at what I had just witnessed. I experienced many bizarre things, but never up this close.

"I am a seelie fae named Zhier." He answers like it was supposed to explain everything. "We take care of the living creatures around us. We make sure that humans could no longer harm them through their wicked methods."

"I don't know how many humans you have met, but I can assure you that I am not one of those bad humans who harm the animals."

"I suppose that would be the case." To my surprise, he suddenly grabs my wrist in a very tight grip and pulls me towards him. "That's what I would say if you did not bear the mark of the dark prince." He starts to twist my wrist until he exposes the back of my left hand where I got a small scar after the accident that left me in a comma. It was just a small inverted triangle that was starting to become painful the longer that the seelie far draws closer. "Where is he?" He hisses and inches his face closer to me.

"Who are you talking about?" I tried to fight him, but he was much stronger than I am. "You are hurting me. Let me go!"

"Not until you reveal where he is!"

"I don't even know who you are talking about!"

"Lies!" He starts to yell, and his grip was starting to become stronger. "If you didn't know who he is, why do you have his mark? Why do you have his protection?! Don't even bother to lie about it. I saw it with my own eyes. His powers manifested earlier to save you from a falling branch."

A falling branch? My thoughts begin to stray until I am brought back to earlier when I was back in the fire and rescued the koala. I recall how the branch was neatly split in half when I last saw it coming towards me. I did not freak out at that time because that was not the first time that I was miraculously saved from a life threatening event.

"I see that you are not surprised, which means that you do know something about the unseelie prince." He concluded.

My fear was suddenly replaced by annoyance when I started to fight him forcefully. I was getting annoyed. "I thought I told you that I DO NOT KNOW!" As I screamed the last part, the snake that we thought had slittered away returned and bit Zhier on the leg for some unknown reason.

"What the?" Zhier got momentarily distracted and loosened his grip on my wrist. That was an opportunity for me to push him back and stomp on his other foot to get my hand free from his grasp. "Human!" He started to yell, but I was already running away from him to get back to where my mother and the other rescue teams were.

"I'll be back for you, human! And when I get you, you will tell me where the unseelie prince lives!"