Crown of Faeries

4 | Clandestine

I didn't know which was the worse part of my life right now; my mother dying, Silas kicking me out of the house, becoming an acquaintance of a Reaper, being attacked by Firebirds, the freaky dream, or the fact that I was following a Seer that had tried to turn my dream into a nightmare.

I huffed a piqued breath as I stared at the bony back of the Seer. The Reaper had smashed me in between him and the Seer, claiming it would be easier for him to watch us both this way. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the Reaper's hard gaze of incertitude as he took in our surroundings.

The thick dark brown bark of the forest trees was speckled in gold and silver fungus that slithered in and out through the peeling bark. The tree leaves whistled and sang as the breeze lifted through the near afternoon, colliding with the grass--causing a harmonious melody.

My feet were cold as we continued to walk down the cut-down path the Seer had forged us through. Her head remained straight the whole time she walked, never looking back to see if we were following.

From up above, the hiss of the Firebirds' fumes sounded like quick beats of drums that matched with each step I seemed to take, causing the afternoon of pure sun to be shrouded in shade. My heart thumped at an irregular pace and my eyes swept the land before me.

Trees, bushes, shrubs with all sort of berries, birds, bees, and the soft growls of small predators echoed softly as we walked.

I almost stopped as a vibrant lavender frog jumped from between my toes and bounded off into the bushes to the left of our small group in two quick thumps. The Seer snorted ahead, as if sensing my moment of fright. I glared at her back and watched as her shoulders shrugged. My tongue tasted bitter as I could only imagine the smug look that must have crossed her beautiful face.

How have I never seen any of these creatures before? My thought process took a sinuous turn. My eyes lowered to the ground, and I traced my tongue along my bottom lip. In the afternoon heat and humidity, I could feel my naturally wavy hair cringe into thicker, fuller, waves as the Seer directed us in and out of the shade.

My mind seemed to be doing somersaults as it tried to comprehend everything that was right in front of me. Silas kicking me out must be a dream, I must be back laying right next to my mother with Silas in the back digging a grave. But when I looked up through my eyelashes at the world around me, it looked everything like out of a fairytale. The colors were saturated and the things that drifted or leapt from between the plants, we're not normal the closer we got to this gate.

I swallowed thick and heavily as I lifted my head back up. I could feel the curious eyes of the Reaper and the image of him shifting into nearly what all the crazed villagers said their true nature was crossed my mind. Part man and part raven, the Reapers were told to eat human flesh. And yet...the Reaper's first move upon greeting me was to save my life.

My own curious eyes turned on him and he looked right back. A chill spooked the air on my arms and I turned away. I wanted so badly to ask him why he saved me and what he really was if he wasn't a Reaper, but I knew right now wasn't the time. When will it be the time? I asked myself as the Seer's strides ahead of me slowed just a hair. We must've been getting closer to the gate. What even is this gate? I wondered as images of a made up land crossed my mind.

Faeries were a folk tale. A lost folk tale at that. Even my mother used to laugh at me whenever I thought those silly thoughts of pixies and faeries coming into my room each night to sleep with me, to protect me from the night. She'd always tell me it's a figment of my imagination. So, why wouldn't this situation be the same? I looked up at the Firebirds and squinted my eyes as I watched the two of them twirl in one another's arms. They were playful all the time, everything pretty much a joke. Or at least that was Élan more than Simmer. But as I looked up at the two dancing, I knew this couldn't be real. Firebirds were unheard of in the fairytales and even as I looked up at them now, they still seemed unreal.