Light Heart (ON HOLD)

+3

The woman grabbed my wrist and rushed me back into her tent.

 All I could do was just sit there and stare, I couldn't quite figure out what happened, just that one second Faye was there, the next... Gone.

"She'll be OK." The woman spoke quietly from a different compartment of the tent. "It's just a morpher. They can't physically hurt anything."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, doubting the woman who had been in this place for years.

"I created it." She reappeared in the main compartment with a tray of tea.

I stared at her in disbelief.

She had wavy black hair and pale skin, she was completely clad in black clothing, yet she had inviting bright blue eyes and a pair of long, shimmering, pink wings. Although I'd like to believe they were fake.

"Years ago, when I first arrived here in fact, I dabbled in the dark arts. I wouldn't have classed myself as evil though, the subject just interested me." She began, "this was before the other forest and the other meadow existed. A much simpler time, indeed. One day I was practicing a dark enchantment, one that could resurrect any dead creature. Needless to say it went wrong, and instead of resurrecting anything, it killed everything in the forest. Tianna, being well, Tianna, managed to save half of this area that we call 'Felta', this half though, my half, turned to evil and everything within it died and came back to life as evil entities. The Morphers are a form of resurrected dryads. That's what got Faye."

I sat there unsure on how to react or what to do.

"I put a counter curse on this half though. This curse entailed that all of these evil beings can't kill, or harm. Just use their biggest weapon. Fear." The woman stirred her tea. "My name is Antianna, by the way."

She put down her cup of tea and held out her hand for me to shake, and with a trembling hand I took it.

"However, in a weeks time the curse will be lifted. Unless Faye is saved by then, she will face inevitable torture and death."

I had only just calmed myself down to hear that, and I stared at Antianna in absolute disbelief.

"What?! That's it. She has a week to live." I was horrified. "What are we supposed to do?!"

No answer.

"You don't even seem at all bothered! Isn't she your neice?!" I yelled in her face. Antianna didn't even flinch, she just drunk some more of her tea and accepted it. "I mean I met her, what, 24 hours ago and I seem to have more care for her!"

"Fairies have remarkable senses, I can tell you still don't believe this is real- don't deny it, your body language is way too clear- However, I have a remarkable sense that no harm will come to her." She said easing a smile onto her face.

"How can you be so sure?"

"You have a heavy heart, yes, so you may not seem so promising. However, you have an aura of potential, I'm sure Tianna will agree that there is no way that you won't save her" She put a hand on my trembling shoulder. "Maybe you're right, this is just a dream but I'm sure you'll want it to end in a good way rather than letting Faye slip through your fingers, and anyway, who said you will have to undertake this task alone? I'm sure everyone in Felta will be happy to help you, and maybe a friend from your life, who knows?"

"What do we need to do?" I asked with a newly found appreciation for this woman.

"We have two options, one we have to go through the forest and find her ourselves, or we need to get to the palace and plead to the queen to send her guards down to free her." Antianna explained between sips of tea

"I'm not going back in that forest." I protested.

"Well then, Natasha, you need to get out of that blood-stained shirt, you'll be facing royalty in the morning."

Antianna gave me the heart crystal that Tianna sent me to get and sent me away with the promise that she'll collect me at 10am precisely the next morning.

"The heart crystal will prevent the darkness of the forest to reach you. It will create a path of light for you to follow." Antianna had said. "Now make haste, Tianna will be waiting."

I set off through the forest holding the heart crystal close to my chest. It was just a heart shaped charm on a beautiful necklace. It wasn't even a crystal, as Antianna had told me, it was just a stone holding a massive amount of power within it.

In the forest, quite opposite to the time before, I felt content. At ease. I just wondered through without a care in the world, as if it was something I had been doing all my life.

No creatures followed me or even stirred, and despite the serenity surrounding me, all I could do was worry, worry about Tianna's reaction to hearing her daughter had been abducted, and worry that she would blame me.

Within 10 minutes I was out of the forest and I saw the cream coloured tent sitting in the meadow, this time, however, it was engulfed in a swarm of pixies and sprites.

I pushed passed these tiny creatures and entered the tent quietly, what I saw inside shocked me however. Tianna was slumped on her armchair, her hands wrapped around her knees and she was sobbing lightly, next to her sat a young man, no older than me.

"I'm sorry, miss." He said with an Irish accent. "Apparently the creatures set up the barrier, there was nuthin' that anyone could do."

My mouth opened slightly. This boy had just told her about Faye.

I slowly made my way to the armchair and without thinking put my arms around Tianna. I didn't know what to expect, maybe her screaming in my face "IT WAS YOUR FAULT", but I didn't expect her to hold me in a tight embrace.

However, that's exactly what she did.