A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Forty-Six

Sneaking out of the castle and out of Poland proved to be easier than Anthony suspected. Under the cover of night, he cleverly slipped out the window of his bedchamber by climbing down a rope of bedsheets then swiped two horses from the royal stables. Meeting up with his friend Cherri at the edge of the woods, the two galloped away toward the next kingdom. By noon of the next day, the two had entered the Black Forest of Germany, and they had entered a very dark and shadowy part of this forest.

"Anthony I don't like this part of the forest." Cherri told him. "I sense something sinister about it."

"Cherri they're only trees." The prince dismissed.

"You forget, I can speak with the trees and trees no more about the world than you humans give them credit for. In fact, they probably know more about a place than any other living thing."

Allow me to take a moment to elaborate something. Cherri is what many in this place and time would call a Dryad. Or a tree nymph or a tree spirit. Their homes are in forests and they keep themselves very close to trees. Sometimes they can even turn themselves into trees. But their greatest ability is that they're in tact with all forms of nature, allowing them to communicate with and sense any native to a forest.

Cherri was especially in tact with the natural world. She even bore features that resembled a type of tree in one or another. Her hair was red and orange like autumn leaves but it was also pink like peach or cherry blossoms. Her skin was the color of the bark of a Himalayan Birch, her right eye was as green as the leaves of an Evergreen Tree and her left eye was as brown as an Oak Tree's bark. She wore clothes that she made herself from things provided by trees such as flowers, leaves, wood, and occasionally needles and seeds. But there was one problem with Cherri, she was something of a power challenged dryad. That meant her powers didn't always work the way they were supposed to and they would just come and go at certain times.

She and Anthony had met when he was a boy and she saw him climbing up a tree in the royal gardens. The branch he was on had snapped under his weight and sent him falling, but she used her powers to will the tree to catch him with it's other branch. When the young prince saw the talents she possessed, he was amazed and asked to see more. Cherri was surprised to find a human not frightened or suspicious of her, and flattered that he wanted to see more of her natural gifts. From that day on, the two were as thick as thieves. They had spent many years running about the kingdom and causing harmless mischief, much to the disapproval of the king. But whether his father liked it or not, Anthony and Cherri were friends for life and nothing would ever change that.

"We best take care here Anthony." Cherri warned. "We're in the Black Forest and this is the very heart of all lore and mystique. Many supernatural creatures dwell here and most of them are very dangerous."

"Don't worry Cherri, I can handle myself just fine against any odd creature that we may face."

"You say that now, but just wait until we meet one."

They continued on in silence for another hour, then suddenly they heard a mixture of strange noises drifting toward them through the trees.

"What the hell is that?" Anthony asked.

"I don't know but if I had to guess, giants perhaps?" Cherri answered.

Anthony quickly dismounted his horse and drew his sword.

"Don't worry Cherri, I'll protect you."

"You protect me?" Cherri said. "Anthony you've never fought anyone in your life. You've never even taken fencing classes."

"Well how hard can it be to use a sword?"

"Okay I'm just going to be quiet and let you think about that for a minute. Hopefully the answer will come to you before you learn it the hard way."