The Magical Forest

Chapter 21

Scarlett pushed the huge painting aside and a huge golden door came into view. Scarlett opened the door for Olivia to get in.

Olivia stepped inside and looked around. There were many small cave like houses. There were about five or six gatherings of people outside some of the houses. Most of them were wearing black cloaks like that of Scarlett's.

"This is our tribe. We are called the Wykers." Scarlett said.

Suddenly, a girl ran towards Scarlett and hugged her.

"Hello!" Scarlett said, smiling wide.

"We were a bit worried. We thought that you wouldn't be able to escape." the girl said, pulling herself back from Scarlett.

She was short and pale skinned. Her eyes were filled with concern.

"Have I ever failed to escape?" Scarlett said with a wide grin. "Anyway Kelly, I want you to meet my friend Olivia."

Kelly looked at Olivia and squealed.

"Are you really the long lost daughter of the Royals?" she said.

"Yes." Olivia answered. She did not know what else to say. The people in the forest knew more about her than herself.

"I can't believe it." Kelly said. She turned to Scarlett again. "Where did you find her? Why is she here? Did you s-"

Kelly was cut off by Scarlett. "Slow down, Kelly. It's a long, long story. First tell me about Jace. Has he returned?"

"Yeah, about half an hour ago." Kelly said. "Turns out he is far better at escaping than you. Let me call him.

"That was my sister, Kelly." Scarlett said.

"I like her. She is cheerful."

"Let's go to one of the tents. I'm really tired. You must have some rest too." Scarlett said as she moved towards the nearest tent.

Olivia followed her inside the tent. The tent was huge. One could never imagine how big the tent was if it was looked at from outside. It had six beds and there was a faded, yellow curtain next to each one.

"It's a huge room." Olivia exclaimed looking around.

"Yeah! I share it with Jace, Kelly and Ethan. You can take the bed at the right." Scarlett said pointing to a bed.

"Thanks for letting me stay, Scar." Olivia said as she sat down in her bed.

"You're welcome!" Scarlett said. "Anyway, I must introduce you to my friends. They'll be glad to meet you."

Just then, Kelly came inside with a bunch of people.

"Olivia, meet Ethan." Kelly said.

"Hello!" Ethan said as he came forward.

He was tall and lean and had sharp features. His green eyes shone with excitement and he had wide smile spread across his face.

"I have travelled so much. Why did not I see you before?" he said.

"That's because I arrived only a few days ago." Olivia said.

"But we were told you were hiding among the fairies." he said.

"Oh Ethan, we all know that's rubbish. She was shifted out of the forest after the war." piped up another girl.

She was skinny and olive skinned and had golden, lustrous hairs. She looked as if she was in her early teens.

"This is Elvira." said Kelly. "Let me introduce you the others."

Olivia tried to memorize their names as Kelly introduced them.

The short red haired boy was Tryce, the tall girl with purple, frizzy hair was called Garith, Eric was the tall one with sandy, blonde hairs and watery blue eyes, Karl was red haired and short.

When Jace came forward, she saw an immediate resemblance to Kelly. He was pale skinned and was short and thin.

"It's good to hear that you managed to escape the dungeons." he said meekly.

"Well! Scar was the one who managed to save us both." Olivia said.

"I beat you at escaping the first time I was caught, Scar." Jace exclaimed, grinning at Scarlett.

"We were waiting for the Queen's visit. You know, I could beat you anytime, Jace." Scarlett replied.

"That doesn't explain why you were an hour late." Jace countered.

As they started arguing, Kelly whispered to Olivia," I think you need some rest. We'll call you for dinner."

"Thanks, Kelly." Olivia said.

Olivia laid on the bed and covered herself with a rug. She had never felt this comfortable for the last few days.

Olivia watched the lamps flicker as she fell into a dreamless slumber.

Hello readers! I am really sorry for the late update. I hope you liked the chapter. Please vote and comment if you liked it. It inspires me to write the next chapters. Any suggestion is welcome.
–Edith