The Otherworld

Chapter 2: Not Alone

"What is that?" a disgruntled voice asked impatiently.
"I don't know," another voice answered.
"It kind of looks like a de-winged fairy, if you ask me," a timid voice spoke.
"No one asked for your opinion, Alfie!" one yelled.
"I'm s-s-sorry Zarreth. M-m-maybe if you poke it with a stick it'll wake up and we can ask it ourselves. Surely the c-c-creature would know what it is," Alfie stammered.
"Yeah, sure. Let's poke this creature, who, may I add, is twice 'r size and has the power to throw us 22 feet into the air. But hey, maybe it'll tell us what it is before it kills us, or eats us!" Zarreth shot back, his voice dripping with saracasm.

Alfie shrunk back, embarrassed.

Xayleah began to wake up. She rolled onto her side and rubbed her eyes before sitting up. Tired still, she stretched her arms out and let out a loud yawn, completely unaware of where she was.

"Shush, it's waking up now becuase of your idiotic bickering," one whispered.
"Who left you in charge, Rayen?" Zarreth challenged.
"Guys, shush," Alfie grabbed Zarreth and Rayen's arms, pleading for them to be quiet, "That thing is waking up and by the sounds of it's stomach, it's hungry. If it sees us, we could very much be b-b-breakfast, like Zarreth said."

The 3 teens ran and took cover behind a tree, propping their heads to the side slightly, so they could watch the strange, unfamiliar creature.

Xayleah idly looked around at her surroundings for a few moments before realising where she was. Her eyes widened in shock and horror. She didn't wake up in her bed. She was there - in the enchanted garden still. Her memories of last night's events suddenly came back to her. The loud music. The overwhelming colours. The sudden loss into the garden. The darkness. The silence. The frightening memories washed over her like a wave. She began to panic, her heart beating like a drum.

She was so afraid and confused. Every night she'd sneak into the garden, after the moonlight had changed it. Afterwards, she'd fall asleep in the midst of the colours and music and wake up back in her bedroom. Never had she woken up in the garden before. The garden would have been changed back to it's mundane form by the time the sunlight hit its soil.

Xayleah knew something was different. She knew this wasn't meant to happen. And she knew that somehow, she was a million miles from home. Feeling alone, she broke down in tears once more.

Alfie looked on at Xayleah sympathetically.

"Don't go lookin' so sad just 'cause that thing's cryin'," Zarreth warned.
"I can't help myself. Look at it. It's crying. It looks lost," Alfie explained, his expression melancholy. Slowly, he came out of hiding from behind his tree.
"ALFIE! Get back here! You don't know what that thing is!" Rayen whispered to Alfie as loud as he could, flailing his left arm out at Aflie trying to grab him and stop him, while his right arm gripped around the trunk of the tree he was hiding behind.

Alfie was already metres away from Xayleah now. Rayen was too late to stop him.

"E-e-excuse me, are you alright?" Alfie asked shyly.

Xayleah looked up from her hands that were now drenched in her tears. To her suprise, in front of her stood a little dwarf. He looked around 3"5, and wore thick-rimmed, uneven glasses. He wore a maple leaf on his head as a hat and a bright green shirt that looked like it was sewn together with the skills needed to make a potato sack. Oddly though, despite his strange appearance, she suddenly felt calmer. Xayleah smiled wryly at him, tucking away a strand of hair in her face behind her ear.

"I'm ok. Really," Xayleah looked down, trying to hide her tears.
Alfie placed his hand on hers. "I-I-I'm your friend. Not y-y-your foe," he reassured her with a wry smile.
Xayleah looked at him and gave him a kind smile. "Thank you."

Suddnely, Xayleah heard slow footsteps behind her. Her eyes widened and she was now on high alert. They were getting closer. She stayed extremely still.

Alfie was worried. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Shush." Xayleah silenced him, still not moving.

Soon, the footsteps were right behind her. In one fluid movement, she twirled around and knocked over the two beings behind her with her leg.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE AM I?" she screamed at them. She stood up, towering over the other two dwarves. Xayleah looked fierce, her expression serious. Her hands were now balled into fists.

Alfie ran between her and the other two dwarves. He held out his hands in front of him towards Xayleah, trying to stop her from hurting the other dwarves.

"No no no, please don't hurt them. They are my f-f-friends," Alfie pleaded. He gestured to the slim one with the baby-face in the bright blue tunic, "That's Rayen. And that one," now gesturing to the built, stocky one in the dirty brown vest, "is Zarreth."

Zarreth and Rayen stood still, wide-eyes and afraid of this new creature.

Xayleah sofened her expression and unballed her fists. She let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I've just been so jumpy since I got here," she apologized.
Rayen hesitantly walked towards her. "It's ok, we understand. Right Zarreth?"
"Hmph!" Zarreth crossed his arms and turned away.
"Zarreth..." Rayen sounded stern.
Zarreth let out a sigh and turned to her. "It's ok," he gave in regrettingly.
"You look lost. and alone," Rayen observed, his voice sympathetic. "Come with us, you sound hungry. Our home isn't very far. We can give you some food."
Xayleah nodded. "Thank you."

Rayen smiled and nodded back.

"We're your friends now, and we'll help you f-f-find your way home," Alfie promised, "We won't leave you here alone. You have us now."