“Your majesty, we can’t travel through the forest.” The knight stated.
“Am I not King? My power here is absolute.” The King insisted.
“But the elves have control over the woodlands.”
“We’ll see about that!” The King strode to the forest edge. “Listen forest denizens, I am your King! You will let us through!” He fell over covered in arrows.
“That really showed them your majesty.” Said the knight dragging his body away. Thankfully his daughter was more sensible…
Some of the larger tomes had runes etched onto their spines. I picked one out and, due to its heaviness, struggled to get it to the table only a few feet away. Opening it, I found it was written in Latin. It was obviously a grimoire of some kind. Somebody had collected spells and written them down in a neat hand. I put that book to one side with the intention for further study.
Another one I picked out had a strange symbol on the spine I had never seen before. All its pages were written in similar types of symbols. I wasn’t sure where this work had come from, though I had travelled far. Using my magic, I was able to interpret some of the symbols. It seemed to be a history of a civilisation I did not know of. On one page was a spell that opened a portal, maybe it led to this lost and forgotten society.
Some time passed while I studied these books. After a few hours I decided to head back upstairs to have a word with the librarian, and maybe come back another day. Once I got back up the stairs, I found the solid black door was locked shut. I was about to knock on the door, when I overheard some voices. One was the old librarian, and the other had a younger and sterner voice.
“Where is this witch now?” Asked the sterner voice.
“She went down to the cellar to look at the grimoires. I’ve locked the door, so she can’t get out.” The librarian replied.
“We need to keep her down there until I can round up all the others. Keep a watch on the door until I return. We need to find out why she is here.” Then I heard heavy footsteps walk away and go out the front door.
I wasn’t technically a witch, so I took offence with that term. My knowledge and power far exceeded what is generally considered witchcraft. I silently went back down the stairs. Once back in the cellar, I conjured up a bag and grabbed the tomes I had been looking at. Sadly I couldn’t take everything, as there was only so much space available and it was inadvisable to store too much in extra dimensional spaces, especially if it was magical. I looked regretfully at all the books still on the shelves knowing it was unlikely I would ever see them again.
Once I was finished pilfering what tomes I could, I went back up the stairs. I said a word, and the door before me exploded outwards. I walked through the doorway to see the librarian looking shocked. He stared at me in horror.
“What are you?” He asked while trembling before me.
Once he was dealt with, I walked to the front door. As soon as I had opened it, I saw a large crowd of people were already there. They saw me and surged towards the door, so I hurriedly closed it again and then barred it. I glimpsed a raised stake in the courtyard with a large amount of firewood around it and guessed what they intended to do with that. There were too many of them to deal with. If I had more time, I could have prepared something, but I was now in a hurry. Already they were pounding at the door and starting to break the windows. I retreated back to the cellar.
There were a combination of spells in the stonework of this building, which meant I couldn’t shift out of here as I intended. So I grabbed the tome I had been looking at earlier, and spoke the strange inhuman words to form a portal. Thankfully it worked, and a green haze began to form in front of me. As soon as I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, I walked through the haze and found myself in a pitch black circular room as if it had been hewed out of obsidian. I looked behind me to see the portal was gone, and so was the book I had been holding. Walking around this room I could find no discernible exit. Any magic I tried reverberated back to me in an unpleasant way. I was effectively trapped. Maybe this is what they had intended for me to do all along…
Not sure how I came to write this story. I think I just had an image of a library with shelves of old books. The main character intrigued me. Someone who may or may not be human who’s able to travel through dimensions searching for magical artefacts. I may write another story about once I’m able to devise a way to get them out of the trap I put them in…
Cindy climbed up into the treetops. Looking south, she saw the forest going on forever. Looking north, more forest, but also a golden city, maybe the Queen’s city.
“Having a good eyeful are ya?” Said a voice. Looking down she saw an angry pixie. “This is my vantage point!”
I’m having problems with my computer. It’s taken me hours to do this post. It should have taken half an hour at most. I’ve been asking people to support this blog for years, but few have. If you could donate some money then I could upgrade my computer and begin posting regularly again. Otherwise it will just be sporadic posts from now on.
Jess and Cindy went downstairs for breakfast. They saw many others sitting at the tables. Jess ordered some breakfast. A few moments later it was set down in front of them. Jess spread a thin smear of jam across some bread and took a bite. She then looked astonished.
“You have got to try this.” Jess insisted handing the bread to Cindy. She took a bite. It was as if she was eating the ripest and sweetest strawberries she had ever tasted.
“Wow!” Cindy stated. She knew any jam she now ate at home would never taste as good.
“Welcome, ah, humans. Two human females! How interesting.” The Innkeeper said. He was tall with a long brown beard. There were two prominent horns on his head.
“Hi!” Cindy said. “We’re wanting a room.”
“Certainly.” The Innkeeper replied.
“And one bed.” Jess added.
“No problem.” The Innkeeper handed Cindy a key. “Your room is on the top floor.”
“Thanks.” They both felt thankful they had a place to stay for the night.
“There’s a pair of knickers up on that tree.” Cindy said pointing upwards. So far all their missing clothes had been spotted hanging on the tops of trees, as they wandered around naked looking for them.
“Well you did say: “Let’s go hiking in Faerie, it could be interesting.” Well you were right there.” Jess stated. Cindy shrugged her shoulders.
“Well that’s the thing with Faerie, anything can happen.”
“Great.” Jess replied. “You have fae blood. Do you have any powers?”
“Of course I don’t. I’m not Melissa.” Cindy blurted out.
“Melissa? Melissa has powers?” Jess asked surprised. Cindy’s face went red.
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Melissa has powers?” Jess repeated.
“Yes, she’s a sorceress.” Cindy admitted.
“A sorceress? How do you know?”
“One of the last times I was in Faerie. I sold that letter of hers for the silver bell at the Faerie Market. The seller took it as payment as it was “a letter of apology from a sorceress”. Thinking back on it now, I may have been ripped off. Later I got trapped on a spider’s web in-between the worlds, and Melissa helped me escape.”
“Huh! Were you ever going to tell me about any of this?” Jess asked.
“I didn’t want to tell you about it. I’m always scared I’m going to lose you to Melissa.” Cindy admitted. Jess sighed, put her hands on Cindy’s shoulders and looked into her eyes.
“I want you to listen to me Cindy. I like Melissa, but I don’t love her. I love you. That’s why I married you. I really wish we could get beyond this.” Cindy nodded at her words.
“So do I.” Cindy agreed.
“Well… we could climb the trees.” Jess said changing the subject.
“It would take a long time to retrieve all our clothing. Besides some are on pine trees and we would get covered in resin.”
“Do you have any ideas? I’m not doing the rest of the hike naked.” Jess stated.
“Maybe if we go find help from someone.” Cindy suggested.
“From whom? We haven’t seen anyone since we went through the portal.”
“If we go down the path, we might find a homestead or something.” Cindy said. Jess sighed again.
“Well it’s better than nothing I guess. Lead on.”
They walked down the path. They hadn’t gone very far when they saw a small figure walking towards them. It was a gnome with a long grey beard. He wore grey robes and had a little walking stick in his right hand.
“Hi.” Cindy said once he got nearer to them. The gnome stopped and looked up at them quizzically.
“Hello.” He said. “I don’t mean to pry, but do you always wander around Faerie naked? I think I should warn you there are certain places I wouldn’t advise you to go without clothing.”
“This isn’t a choice. We went swimming and now all our clothes are at the tops of trees. I suspect pixies are to blame.” Cindy told him.
“I see.” The gnome replied while scanning the treetops. “It does sound like pixie mischief.”
“Do you know anyone who can help us?” Cindy asked. The gnome nodded.
“One moment.” He replied. Dropping his walking stick, he fished out a small flute and then played a few notes. A few minutes later a fairy appeared fluttering it’s butterfly wings. The gnome spoke a few words to it in a language Cindy and Jess didn’t know. The fairy then fluttered off. They stood there waiting. A short while later fairies began appearing carrying Jess and Cindy’s clothes in their hands. The fairies began dropping the clothes at their feet. Within an hour, all of Jess and Cindy’s clothes lay in a pile before them, as far as they could tell.
“Thank you.” Jess said. The gnome looked over their clothes.
“Another word of advice: if you ever plan on meeting the Queen, wear something less mundane.”
“Well I don’t think our plans include meeting the Queen.” Jess replied.
“Thank you for your help.” Cindy said. The gnome bowed low.
“My name is Lemnas.”
“I’m Cindy, and this is Jess, who is my wife.” Cindy told him.
“You live in a farm next to a portal, don’t you?” Lemnas asked.
“Yes. How do you know?” Cindy asked.
“Let’s just say you are known.” Lemnas replied.
“Okay.” Cindy said confused.
“I’ll leave you ladies to get dressed.” Lemnas said. “You owe me a favour.”
“I guess we do.” Cindy replied.
“It will be getting dark soon. There is a good inn a few miles up the road. I have stayed there many a time, you might like it there.” Lemnas suggested.
“Thanks for the suggestion. We’ll check it out.” Cindy replied. Lemnas bowed low again, then turned and walked away.
“We’ve been here two days, and already we owe a favour.” Jess said as they got dressed.
“Can’t be helped.” Cindy answered.
“It’s strange he appeared just when we needed help.” Jess stated.
“Happenstance.” Cindy suggested.
Once they were ready, they continued their journey. They had been walking a few hours and it was getting dark once they came across the inn that Lemnas had told them about. It was a large wooden building with three storeys. There were lights in all the windows and it looked welcoming and inviting to both of them. They walked up the path to the main doors and opened them. Light spilled out along with the smell of ale and smoke, laughter and talk. They both looked at one another before going over the threshold.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Jess and Cindy packed up their belongings and continued on the path they were following. The day grew warm and the scents of flowers like roses and honeysuckle filled the air. It was a peaceful walk, and neither of them saw anyone else. It was as though they had the whole forest to themselves.
Around midday, when they were thinking of stopping for lunch, they heard in the distance the sound of a waterfall. They followed the sound (but kept on the path), and eventually came to a large cascading waterfall with a pool of water.
“I would so love a swim!” Jess stated.
“Yes, me too.” Cindy agreed. As the waterfall was only just off the path, they both agreed it would be okay to have a swim there, and then have some lunch. They both stripped off and dived into the pool. The water was cool and refreshing. Any weariness they may have felt in their limbs quickly ebbed away in the water. They spent the entire afternoon happily swimming, and only reluctantly got out of the water once their hunger pangs could no longer be ignored.
“Hey where are my clothes?” Jess asked looking around.
“I don’t know. Mine are gone too!” Cindy replied. The spot where they had stripped off was now bereft of any clothing. They both went to their packs and found all the clothes packed away in them were gone too.
Ginny kept several scripts in her bag, in case someone asked what she did. She would produce a script and say she was into acting. That usually satisfied them. The fact that she had been here for over two hundred years was only known by her. Sometimes she thought about moving to another town, but she liked it here. People seldom noticed she never aged, and if they did, they would forget.
The town was popular, as it never seemed to suffer any calamities and was a peaceful place to live. No one knew it was due to Ginny’s presence.
Call me Lady Shadow, for that is my name now. I was queen of a great elven kingdom, but my heart was rotten and the Shadow Lord ensnared me. I began working with him to undermine my kingdom and neighbouring lands. Once my schemes were found out my throne was taken, and so now I help rule the Shadow World instead.
We work to shroud the entire world in shadow. I will not rest until I have reclaimed my throne and spread darkness through the land and in the hearts of my subjects. That’s how the Shadow World wins.
Joanne Fisher
Word count: 99
This was written with the prompt lady shadow provided by the Carrot Ranch January 16 Story Challenge.
joanne the geek 