Note: This story is based off the events of A Branch of Silver, A Branch of Gold. Which while not part of the Goldstone Wood series, is still very much a part of Goldstone Wood.
CHAPTER 1
On the
morning of Esmeralda’s tenth birthday, Lume rose with a gladsome heart. He beamed a greeting to the little girl as
she ran from the outskirts of the eastern forest. Esmeralda did not notice Lume’s birthday gift
of light, for her eyes were fixed upon the trinket clutched in her hand. Moreover, her ears rang with a mysterious
song, a song of silver melody.
Collette saw Lume’s kind smile as she
emerged from her family’s humble dwelling.
She, too, did not acknowledge him, for her mind was fraught with worry. Meme had wept all through the night. Even
high within her loft chamber, Collette had heard the stifled cries of pain.
Collette quickly banished these
thoughts. Meme’s pain was her fault, and
the more Collette allowed herself to think about this fact, the more miserable
she became. Today was her sister’s
birthday, and there were many things to do.
Speaking of Esie, where could she be? Perhaps it was too much to hope
that she’d gone to gather—
“Collie!
Collie! Look what I have!”
Collette
turned toward the excited voice.
Esmeralda whirled into view, her disheveled hair bouncing around her
flushed face. Her eyes glowed with
excitement, and she held aloft a shining object.
“Dragon’s
teeth, Essie,” Collette sighed. “Must
you screech so? You’ll awaken—“ Her voice dwindled as she beheld what dangled from
her sister’s fingers. A chain of silver
gleamed in Lume’s early-morning light. A
teardrop-shaped stone nestled in the center of the chain, a stone of crimson
fire.
Collette
swallowed. “Where did you find this
necklace, Esie?” she asked.
Esmeralda
smiled. “In the eastern forest. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Despite Collette’s unease, her
heart warmed toward her sister’s excitement.
There were so few luxuries to enjoy.
Collette grudgingly nodded affirmation to Esmeralda’s question. The necklace was indeed beautiful. But, how had her sister found it?
“You
saw this in the forest and retrieved it? You expect me to believe someone
dropped such a precious heirloom and—“
“No!”
Esmeralda said, her smile widening. “It
was a birthday gift.”
Collette
frowned. “A birthday gift from whom?”
she asked.
Esmeralda
caressed the necklace, her reluctance to answer clear. Finally, she murmured, “I don’t know. A man.
He met me just as I reached the forest.”
“A man?
What man?” Collette’s mind spun, and she saw the figure materialize before her
eyes, the handsome figure of a man with ebony skin, emerald eyes and a kind
smile. She saw the shoulder-length jet
black hair and the extended hand, the hand that held the—
Collette
pointed at the necklace with a trembling hand.
“Esie, you have to take it back,” She tried to speak firmly, but her
voice trembled. “Please. You have to throw it away.”
Esmeralda
blinked. Tears shone in her eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered. “You don’t understand. I heard a bird singing, and I couldn’t help
following the music. It was so
lovely. The man was so kind. He said the necklace would heal Meme.”
Those
who journeyed to the eastern cranberry bog had no way of knowing they were
being watched. The Faerie Beast that
observed them could make himself invisible.
Thus he had little fear of being discovered.
The Beast crouched within the
watery bog. His skin was wrought from
midnight, and it glinted with sparkling brilliants. This creature was a toad. Those who think this fact is cause for
amusement would do well to reconsider.
Faery Beasts of any kind deserve respect, and this particular toad was
beautiful. Dignity clothed him in robes
of magnificence, and his movements were majestic. He raised his head and sniffed. His stomach churned with revulsion at the
cloying scent of mortality. The Gates
were closed to him. This fact caused him
immense frustration. But he was
patient. Soon the one he despised would
be dead. What need had he for Gates when
others could do his bidding? All he need do was wait.
CHAPTER 2
Meme’s
sickness had begun the night Collette served cranberries for dessert. The pail of innocent-looking fruit had held
Death within its heart. But Collette had
not fallen ill. Oh, no. Death was too cruel to kill the one who was
to blame. Instead, Meme had been the chosen
victim. Death did not strike with sudden
brutality, however. Meme lay in fevered
agony, a fever that gnawed at her hart.
Collette
and Esmeralda knelt at Meme’s side.
Esmeralda held a cup of water, and Collette cradled Meme’s head as she
tried to spoon pottage into her mouth.
Meme’s lips hung limply open, but no matter how many times Collette
tried to feed her, the concoction dribbled down Meme’s chin. Finally, Collette abandoned the task. “It’s no use,” she said.
Esmeralda
nodded. “Why won’t you let me use the
necklace, Collie?” she asked, her voice desperate. “I have to try.” She raised her hand in which
the necklace reposed. “Please let me
try.”
“No.”
Collette felt her features harden. She abruptly
stood. “Come. Let’s go find some honey. Surely we can find enough to make you a
cake. And then we’ll—“
“Why
are you so stubborn?” Esmeralda hissed, her face flushing with fury. “He told me to show you the necklace. If I’d known you’d be this way, I’d never
have shown it to you! How can you be so cruel? Papa would have let me use--”
“Papa isn’t here, is he?” Collette snapped. She winced when she saw Esmeralda’s face
crumple. Sighing, Collette bowed her
head in shame. Grandmem’s voice entered
her mind. “Beware of strangers and their
gifts, child. Faeries seek entrance to
this land, and they’ll try any means necessary.” If only Grandmem were alive to
help her now. Fool that she was, Collette
had not heeded the warning when the gift of cranberries had been given to
her. Now she was paying for her
folly. If only her people were not at
war with Corrilond. Then perhaps Papa
could advise her. As it was, Collette
was alone. A twelve-year-old should have
some guidance. How was she expected to
care for Esmeralda when she couldn’t even care for—
BANG! WHOOSH!
The cottage door opened with a resounding crash. The sisters screamed as utensils and
bric-a-brack flew from tables.
Grandmem’s treasured rocking chair began to move; an erratic to and fro
motion that made the poor contraption screech in protest. Above this pandemonium, a strange sound could
be heard. Was it Collette’s imagination,
or was the sound laughter? Strange laughter to be sure, but laughter
nonetheless?
“Who’s
there? That’s Grandmem’s chair! Stop it at once!” Esmeralda’s voice broke
through the laughter with indignant fury.
The little girl’s face was pale, but her voice was strong.
“A
lovely thing!” a disembodied voice cried gleefully. “I’ve never seen the like!” The chair rocked
even faster.
Collette knew she was mad. The sleepless nights were finally taking
their toll. But, she would not allow
Grandmem’s chair to be broken. Without
thinking, she lunged forward, clasping the writhing chair in her arms. A sharp wind tore at her hands, but its touch
was not malevolent. “I only want to
play,” the voice said plaintively.
Collette
swallowed her fear and tried to make her voice as stern as Esmeralda’s had
been. “That’s not yours. Who are you?” She sighed with relief as
Esmeralda came to stand beside her. The
girl put her trembling hand onto Collette’s shoulder.
The
voice laughed again. “I’m here for you two.
Sent by the Gatekeeper, I was.
I’m to take you away.”
“Take
us where?” Collette asked.
There
was a long silence. Finally, the voice
said, “To Here and There, to Near and Far.”
Collette
frowned. “Do you even know what you’re
saying?” she asked.
“Yes!”
the voice said excitedly. Then more
softly, “No.” Then, “Maybe?”
Collette
looked at Esmeralda. Both girls
shrugged. We’re mad, Collette thought.
This thing seems nice, Esmeralda
thought. It was she who finally said,
“We can’t leave Meme. She’s ill, and we
have to stay nearby.”
“Mortals
are so amusing!” The voice laughed as if Esmeralda had told the funniest joke
imaginable. “You will be nearby. At least, I think so.” The voice paused for a
moment and then said, as if just remembering.
“Oh, and I’m a sylph.” Without further ado, Collette and Esmeralda felt
frenzied hands grab them. They screamed
as the cottage door banged against the wall.
A kaleidoscope of color danced around them, and Esmeralda cried out indignantly
as one of her locks was painfully tweaked.
Then the world tilted, and the sisters knew no more.
The
toad hopped through the bog, his every nerve-ending screaming with
frustration. By Iubdan’s great black
beard! Why must he endure the indignity of being unable to pass through the
Gates to the mortal realm? Shouldn’t the blasted woman be dead by now? Had the
mortal girl not given her mother the cranberries yet? Such dazzling fruit, too,
fruit cleverly inundated with his own poison. “It will not be for nothing,” the Beast
whispered, his rich voice deep as a shawm’s note. “I am Gushnal, and I will avenge what is
mine.”
A
trilling song filled the toad’s ears, a song of utter sadness and entreaty:
“Beyond the Final Water falling
The Songs of Spheres recalling,
When hatred seeks to stifle your very soul,
Won’t you call to me?”
Gushnall
raised his head and surveyed the vast bog.
He saw nothing, although he knew the singer of that silvery song. “Save your voice, Song Giver,” he
murmured. “Little good you did for her.
I no longer want to hear your false promises.” He trembled, for the
song was poison to his ears. He steeled
himself for more waiting. Time was
irrelevant to him, anyhow.
CHAPTER 3
The
Wood always enjoyed observing a sylph’s antics.
Now it watched as two mortal girls were deposited unceremoniously in a
rather cantankerous blackberry thicket.
The brambles, angry at being disturbed, hissed and quivered. They withdrew their thorns from masses of
dark hair in an attempt to rid themselves of the intruders.
“Ouch!”
Esmeralda gasped. She stumbled from the
thicket in Collette’s wake. The sisters
gazed around the vast Wood, unable to discern a path of any kind. “Where are we?” Esmeralda asked.
“Near
and Far, Here and There,” the sylph sang.
Both girls became aware that the sylph had not ceased its mad
capering. The wind whirled around trees
and bushes, paying no heed to the exasperated quivering of the branches and
briars. It laughed with joyful abandon. “You mortals do not listen. I said
I’d been told to take you Here and There, and that’s what I’ve done.”
Collette
frowned. “You speak in riddles.” She
placed a hand to her head, which was beginning to ache. “We have to help Meme. Don’t you understand?”
“Under
stand? Riddles?” The sylph danced around Collette, playing with her hair in delight. “Here is Nowhere, you see. We—“
“Lights
Above! Do allow them to collect
themselves before you bombard them with more than they can handle,” a different
voice said. Collette turned toward the
voice. A beaming young woman stepped
from beneath the sheltering arms of a maple tree. Collette gaped upon seeing her. The woman’s hair was a hopeless shambles. It was more untidy than Esmeralda’s if that
were possible. She wore a simple
homespun dress. Stitched along the
garment’s border was an intricate design of cranberry blossoms. Collette gasped upon seeing the dress, for
Grandmem had always sewn cranberry blossoms along the borders of her garments. The woman’s eyes shone with moisture, and they
were strangely familiar. Grandmem’s eyes, Collette thought. But this woman was not Grandmem.
The
woman approached Collette and Esmeralda.
She extended her hand. Before the
woman could speak, Esmeralda said, “You’re crying.”
“You’ve
both grown so,” the woman said softly.
Collette
frowned. “Who are you?” she asked.
The
woman shook her head, her face falling slightly. “No one told you of me?” she asked.
Collette
tried to think, but so much was happening today. “I don’t remember,” she said.
“Wait!
You look like Grandmem,” Esmeralda said.
“She said she had a sister. She
said her sister had important work, that her name was—“ Her voice trailed away.
Suddenly,
Collette remembered. She remembered
sunlit days sitting with Grandmem as she sewed.
She remembered Grandmem’s stories, stories that Collette had banished
from her mind. She thought of the story
about a curse, of how Grandmem had been captured by a mysterious family. She remembered stories of a courageous
younger sister. But if these stories
were true, how could such misfortune have befallen their family? Why were they
suffering so? “You’re Great-Aunt Heloise,” she said.
The
woman beamed and nodded. She drew closer
to the girls, and Collette knew what she wanted. The woman wanted to embrace them. Yet Collette could not bring herself to hug
this woman. Esmeralda, apparently, had
no misgivings. She flung herself into
Heloise’s arms, babbling incoherently.
“You
can help us! Meme’s ill. Her fever will
not break, and Collette won’t let me give Meme the necklace. Grandmem says you know magic. Can you—“
“Dragon’s
teeth, Esie!” Collette hissed. “Hold
your tongue!” She glared at her sister and then turned her gaze to
Heloise. The woman smiled at her but did
not draw closer. She seemed to know that
Collette had no desire to be hugged, and she respected that decision. Collette watched as Esmeralda allowed Heloise
to hold her. Both woman and child were
crying, their pearlescent tears mingling.
Collette
suddenly felt a searing heat in her chest. Burning words scalded her tongue. “I know of your trickery! Grandmem said you
were a Gate Guardian, one who kept Faerie Beasts away. Your task is to keep mortals safe. Well, you’re not doing a very good job! I-I’m
doing all I can, and still it’s not
enough. I—I—“ Her voice broke into
crystalline fragments, and she sank to her knees, tears cascading down her
cheeks.
A
familiar hand patted Collette’s shoulder, and she felt herself being drawn into
a two-fold hug. Esmeralda’s arms clamped
around her, and she felt the sturdy arms of Heloise add support to the embrace. Collette shook as her grief poured from her
in torrents.
Suddenly,
another entity joined the hug. Collette
felt her hair flutter in gentle hands, and she looked up to see the sylph
dancing around them. It was laughing,
but the laugh was softer now and tinged with compassion. The sylph itself seemed bewildered by this as
compassion was an emotion for which it had no name. Collette smiled in spite of herself.
“Won’t
you tell me what’s happened?” Heloise asked gently. “There are times I cannot prevent a Faerie
Beast from causing mischief. Many of
them are quite cunning. Won’t you tell
me all?”
Collette
swallowed and prepared to speak.
“Grandmem had just died,” she said.
“It was during last spring. The
Oakwood was not yielding, and the cranberries were scarce. The flax crop was poor. Everyone was so hungry.”
Gushnal
dove beneath the bog’s surface, sliding through the water like an eel seeking
its hole. He entered a small grotto, a
grotto invisible to mortal eyes. “Ashnall,
I have come,” he said.
No
sound came to Gushnall’s heart , no cheerful voice greeted him. The silence always brought him pain. He hopped to his daughter’s side. As always, his Faerie heart broke at the
sight of her deplorable state.
Ashnall
crouched in a corner of the grotto, her misshapen legs quivering with
pain. Her ebony skin was dull. It no longer shone with the brilliants so
common to her kind. Lacerations marred
her back. Her body shook incessantly as
if she were being dealt continuous blows.
Yet it was the absence of her voice that struck Gushnall as the cruelest
injustice. He stared at her, observing
the crimson tears that flowed from her eyes.
“Why do
you waste time weeping over him?” he murmured tenderly. “He cared nothing for you. I have saved you from him.” Gushnall bent
close to Ashnall’s quivering body. He
dared not touch her, but he had to give her some form of comfort. He watched his daughter’s tears fall to the
ground. Ashnall’s tears hardened as they
fell. They transformed into vibrant
stones. “I will always protect you,” Gushnall
whispered. “I will never let harm befall
you again.” Using his front legs, Gushnall carefully gathered the
teardrop-shaped stones from the grotto’s floor.
He hopped to a small chest in the corner of the room, the only furniture
the grotto contained. Within this chest,
he placed Ashnall’s tears. The chest
held so many stones, yet it never filled completely. Gushnall gazed at the stones and began to
count them. He caressed their vibrant smoothness. He dared not touch Ashnall, for he would hurt
her as he had done before, but he could touch her tears.
Crouched
within her corner, Ashnall observed her father.
His fury had been so strong. She
had been unable to stand against it. I weep for you, Father, she thought.
CHAPTER 4
“So,
this man offered to help you gather cranberries?” Heloise asked.
Collette
nodded. “He was very kind. He said I looked weary.” She swallowed,
suddenly aware of how idiotic her story sounded. “I thought of Grandmem, of how she always
sewed cranberry blossoms into our garments.
We were so hungry, and I wanted to help, but I could find nothing to eat. I looked everywhere.”
Heloise
shook her head. “He came to you in his
human form, I suppose,” she said musingly.
“He sought to confuse your mind. You
met him at the easternmost cranberry bog, you say?”
Collette
nodded, relieved that Heloise seemed to understand. “He brought me a pail of berries,” she
said. “They were the most perfect cranberries
I’d ever seen. I took them home as a
treat. He said no payment was necessary. He just wanted to help me.”
Heloise
frowned. “Faerie’s always demand
payment. I do not know who this beast
might be. Perhaps I can journey to the
haven and ask—“
“I
will, mistress!” the sylph said joyfully.
“I’ll go at once! I’ll find the Dame.
She’ll give me the answers you seek!”
Heloise
smiled at the whirling wind but shook her head.
“I need you to do something more important. You must journey back to the cottage and
guard it. The mortal girls’ mother must
be kept safe. Do you understand?”
“Yes!”
the sylph said. Then, more softly, “No.”
Then, “Maybe?”
Heloise
laughed. “You’ll do marvelously
well. Go and make me proud.”
The
sylph jigged merrily about its mistress’ head one last time. Then, with a laugh of giddy pleasure, it
vanished.
Heloise
stared after the departing wind for a moment and then turned back to the
girls. “The Lumil Eliasul bid me send
the sylph to fetch you both. He told me
to meet you here in the Between. We must
determine who it is that wants to hurt you and why before we can act.“
“Gushnall
is their enemy,” said a voice.
Collette’s brain felt as if it might disintegrate. Really! How many strangers was she expected
to meet in one day? She turned to see a man standing before
her. All attempts to describe this man were
impossible. His face was quite plain,
its very ordinariness making it unimpressive.
Even so, Authority clothed him in its luminous garments, and his eyes
were the most probing Collette had ever seen.
They seemed capable of seeing into the darkest caverns, yet they shone
with kindness. When those eyes fastened
upon her own, Collette felt as if the man could gaze into her very heart. She cringed, for she did not want him to see
her, but at the same time, she instinctively felt unafraid. Collette watched as Heloise bowed her head in
reverence to the man. He smiled and
addressed the girls. “Gushnall is a
formidable foe, but I can help you defeat him.”
Esmeralda,
who had been surprisingly quiet for some time, suddenly said, “It’s you! You gave me the necklace!”
The man
smiled at her, and Collette gaped as he clasped Esmeralda’s hand. “I know it frustrated you to wait about using
it, my child, but this necklace will serve a two-fold purpose. Your sister was wise to be cautious. I knew she would not allow you to use my
gift. That’s why I bade Heloise to send
the sylph to fetch you. I have chosen
you both to perform a vital task.” He gestured to Esmeralda’s hand, and she
opened it to reveal the necklace. It
still gleamed, and Collette was suddenly aware that the stone had altered. It was no longer solid. It had
softened, its fiery edges reaching to touch the silver chain upon which it hung.
“The
stone is liquid,” Collette said in awe.
She reached out her hand as if to touch it, but the man gently detained
her.
“This
stone is one of my tears,” the man said softly.
“Look into it, and you will see and understand.”
Collette
and Heloise approached Esmeralda. They
peered at the necklace she held. The
glimmering teardrop stone seemed to expand before their eyes. Scenes unfurled like opening flower petals,
and the Wood itself watched all with bated breath. As the scenes appeared, the man spoke.
“Gushnall
is a Faerie King. He has always been attracted
to beauty. Yet no beauty can compare with
that of his daughter. He loves her with
a fierceness rarely displayed among Faerie Beasts. His queen had been captured by a Roc. Gushnall tried in vain to save her but was
unsuccessful. So, he vowed to protect
his daughter at all costs. You can
imagine his shock on the day he learned that Ashnall loved a mortal man.
“You
must understand that those in Gushnall’s demesne have an unusual gift. The gift is one of healing. The gift is contained within their very
essences. The tears they weep are
jewels. Their very skins are composed of
jet. Wherever they go, they leave behind
beauty. One touch from them or from the
jewels they weep can bring healing.
“Ashnall
had often seen a mortal man come to the cranberry bog to gather fruit. One day, she approached him in her human
form, for she was mesmerized by his beauty.
She could not banish him from her mind.
Ashnall and the young man met often, and over time, Ashnall grew
courageous enough to show the man her true form. The young man had a kind heart. He resolved to love Ashnall for herself and
not for the treasures she could give him.
“The
young man had a sister, and one day the sister became very ill with fever. When the man visited Ashnall again, he told
her of his sister’s predicament. Ashnall
gave the man a jewel which he took to his home.
The man placed the jewel on a simple chain he wore. He gave the necklace to his sister. When the jewel touched her skin, it melted,
and its essence brought soothing peace to the sister’s heart. Instantly, she was restored to health, and
the man rejoiced.
“But,
word of someone’s good fortune can sometimes produce envy in others. In time, certain men learned of the sister’s
miraculous recovery. Thoughts of wealth
filled them, of the good fortune of possessing such a valuable creature. So, one night, they journeyed deep into the bog. They called into the open air, saying that
Ashnall’s betrothed was in terrible danger.
They said he was severely ill. He
had sent them to plead for her help.
“Ashnall
heard the desperate cries, and her heart lurched with terror. Without stopping to think, she emerged from
the bog, and the men were upon her. One
carried a net fashioned from iron, which he threw around her body. Others jabbed her back with knives. Her skin of jet fell away in chunks. She wept with pain and terror, and her tears
hardened into gleaming stones which other men greedily collected.
“Ashnall screamed and struggled. Her screams summoned Gushnall. He was vehemently opposed to Ashnall’s love
for the mortal man, and when he saw what was happening to her, he raised his
head and sent forth a curse. ‘By Lady
Life-In-Death herself, I will give gifts to all of you, gifts of Death and
Disstruction! Your women will suffer, and your children will moan in agony!
They will writhe upon their deathbeds, and I will watch their every labored
breath.’
“The
Dragon’s sister heard Gushnall’s cry, and although she was indifferent to the
identity of the sufferer, she decided to help him. Lady Life-In-Death whispered in her
solitude. ‘Blood congeal within
him. Turn to icy droplets of Death.’ Her
whisper carried throughout the worlds both Near and Far, and Gushnall felt the
hardening of his veins. He approached
Ashnall, whom the men had released. They
knelt upon the ground, pleading for mercy.
Gently, Gushnall touched Ashnall’s shoulder. ‘Come, my daughter. I will keep you safe.’
“At
that moment, Ashnall felt her body freeze.
Her legs splayed outward, twisted in a crouch of pain, and her body was
as stiff as a statue. She tried to
speak, to plead with her father, but her voice was frozen as well. She could say nothing.
“Gushnall
cried out in fury, suddenly realizing what he had done and to whom he had sworn
allegiance. An icy voice whispered to
his heart, ‘You may now always remember what was done to her and how her
betrothed caused the assault. Destroy
them all, Faerie Beast. Make the mortals
suffer. In particular, cause pain to the
Gatekeeper’s family.’ You see, Lady Life-In-Death had often sought entrance
into the mortal world to wreak havoc but had been prevented.
“Gushnall
called for other Beasts of his kind to help him, and he carried Ashnall to his
home. There she remains to this day,
forever bound in her pain. Gushnall
keeps her by his side, and he has vowed vengeance on your family.”
There
was a long silence after the story had been completed. Finally, Collette whispered, “Our uncle died
of fever before I was born. Meme told me
so. She said he was to marry, but his
betrothed mysteriously vanished.
Everyday, he went to the cranberry bog to search for her.”
The man
nodded, his face sad. “He sought Ashnall
constantly. So long he had sought her,
for he had heard of the story from the terrified men. Moreover, many of the men had suffered from
fevers. Gushnall appeared to your
uncle. He came to him in his handsome
man form. ‘You will never find her,
mortal. I will keep her safe from your
kind. The Lumil Eliasul forbids me from
harming mortals, but I have spilled my own blood to counteract his wrath.’ Gushnall
showed his wrists to your uncle. Vibrant
scars gleamed upon them. Before your
uncle could step away from him, Gushnall placed his hand onto your uncle’s
shoulder. ‘My daughter has suffered at
mortal men’s hands, and I, too, have subjected myself to the shedding of
blood. I gave my first two lives in
order to see that justice is done. I vow
by my blood that within a fortnight, you will be dead.’”
“But
surely Uncle told him that he had not sent the men to attack Ashnall,” Collette
said.
The man
nodded. “Several times, but Gushnall was
beyond reason. He has killed your uncle
and now seeks your mother’s life. He
blames her for the trouble as well, you see, for it was her recovery that drew
the men’s envy.”
Collette
shuddered. “What can we do?”
“Come,”
the man said. “We must go to the
cranberry bog. I will journey ahead of
you.” He gestured to Heloise to approach him.
When she did so, he pointed to a winding pathway. “Follow this road, and you will reach the bog
safely,” he said. Then the man vanished.
As the astonished
sisters followed Heloise along the winding path, Esmeralda suddenly asked, “Who
was that man? What’s his name?”
Heloise,
who was walking by Esmeralda’s side, smiled.
“He is the Song-Giver, the Lumil Eliasul himself,” she said.
CHAPTER 5
Gushnall
felt the shifting of the bog water around him, and his heart quivered with
anticipation. Someone had finally passed
through the Gate. He glided toward the sound
of voices.
“I met
the man just here,” Collette said. Her
mind traversed the familiar ground, and she saw the two clusters of bare
cranberry vines that she had parted that fateful day. She had passed through them in order to
journey deeper into the bog, hoping to find any source of food she could. She remembered the strange feeling that had
enveloped her as she stepped beyond the vines, the feeling that the bog stretched
on forever. Then the handsome man had
approached her.
Collette
turned to Esmeralda and Heloise. “You
talked of Faerie Gates and how you guarded them. Do Gatekeepers only keep Beasts out? Can
mortals enter—“
“Actually,
we Beasts as you call us have ways of diverting the prying eyes of Gate
Guardians. Enchantments can be masked, you
see, for caorann berries mask all means of glamours.” Collette’s heart froze as
the murky water before her parted like a gossamer curtain. A Creature hopped toward her, a translucent
creature with dazzling skin. The
creature seemed to be draped in a coat of jet, and his large eyes gleamed with
ruby light. Collette gazed at the
creature in awe.
Gushnall
smiled, and his large tongue flicked from his mouth. “Welcome back, mortal girl. I apologize for appearing to you in this
form, but I felt disguises were unnecessary.
Have you come for more fruit?” His smile broadened, and Collette
shivered with fear. This creature was so
handsome, yet his very being dripped contempt.
“Y-You
tricked me.” Collette spoke without thinking.
Gushnall
tilted his large head, and for a moment, sadness seemed to pass over his
features. “The deception wouldn’t have
been necessary if the Gates had been open to me. I only seek to avenge the honor of the one
who is mine.” He shifted his gaze to Heloise, and his ruby eyes bulged with
fury as he addressed her directly. “Those
men sought to flay my daughter, to cut her very heart away! I had to bind her!
I had to give her protection. Do you
know what I’ve suffered? I sought entry into the mortal world for twelve years,
but I was prevented. I devised a way to
disguise the gate to my demesne. Only
mortals who stumbled through the gate could be influenced by me. I never wanted to give the girl the poison
for her mother, but what else could I do? You
are the one to blame!”
Collette’s
mind spun, and her lips felt swollen.
What could she say? Meme’s sickness was her fault, wasn’t it? She gazed
into Gushnall’s blazing eyes. “She’s not
the one to blame. It’s my fault,” she
said. “If you want to hurt someone, then
hurt me. Leve Meme alone.”
Gushnall
stared at her. His tongue flicked
outward once again as if he were considering her proposition. “I have no quarrel with you, girl. Your mother’s illness is a form of
justice. Yet I see that you, at least, know something of pain. You would truly give your life to restore your
mother to health?” he asked. “If death
is truly what you want, I can grant your request.” He gestured to the water. “Simply drink. The water’s poison will be painless.” He
laughed, a laugh of bitter self-loathing.
“Those in my demesne who have drunk the water have died painlessly. I am not like the Faerie Queen of old, the
one who burned her subjects to death in her wrath. Etalpalli’s people are no more, of
course. I still have subjects who live.
Alas, my subjects flee from me now, although I never intended to hurt
them. Will you drink and save your
mother’s life?“
Collette
gazed at the water surrounding her. Meme
had lain in agony for a fortnight with no relief in sight. Collette was only twelve. Esmeralda needed Meme. What should she do? She gazed at Gushnall’s gleaming ruby eyes. “You will restore her? Truthfully?” she asked,
her voice trembling.
Gushnall gazed at the mortal
girl. For a moment, he thought of the blood
that he had shed. He had cut himself
with stones and watched his life’s blood fall again and again. He had screamed entreaties for Ashnall to be
restored. Nothing had happened. His plea had fallen on deaf ears. Yes. Perhaps
he would honor this mortal’s request. After all, what better revenge could be had
than watching a mother pine away for her lost child? Fair was fair, after
all. Wasn’t his lot to watch Ashnall suffer? Why shouldn’t the mortal woman
suffer as well? “You have my word,” he whispered. Before Collette’s astonished eyes, he changed
into his handsome man’s form and smiled at her.
He bent toward the water. When he
stood upright, he held a jeweled goblet in his hand. He held the goblet of water as a cupbearer
might when presenting wine to a queen. The
gesture was mocking. “Allow me to give
you drink, mortal,” he said.
Suddenly, a trill
of birdsong filled the bog. Startled,
Collette spun around. She gasped. Esmeralda was nowhere in sight. Heloise, too, was gone.
Collette
peered around her, searching for any sight of her sister. All she saw was the vines shimmering before
her eyes. Perched atop them was a wood
thrush, his speckled breast gleaming.
His beak was open, and song cascaded from him in silvery trills of
liquid beauty. Collette seemed to hear words
within the song. Death resides within his soul. Follow
me toward life. Your sister is
within. Won’t you follow me?
“Esie,”
Collette whispered. Meme was dying. Esmeralda couldn’t be lost, too. Collette darted through the swinging
cranberry vines, and the thrush flew ahead of her. Collette heard furious splashing and knew
that Gushnall pursued her.
Gushnall
heard the infuriating song, but it was not the song that arrested his
attention. The very air of his demesne
shivered, and he knew that intruders were within his grotto. Ashnall had to be protected. He would deal with the mortal girl later. He entered his demesne, intent upon reaching
his daughter’s side. All around him lay
the prone bodies of his subjects, those who had succumbed to his poison. Those subjects who remained alive kept well
away from their king. But he did not
stop to survey his victims now. More
pressing matters were at hand.
CHAPTER 6
Deep
within her prison, Ashnall quivered with the ever-present pain. The pain of her captivity burned. Yet the pain was not from fire. Ice encased her body. In her mind, she always saw the men with their
gleaming knives and felt the iron net clamp around her. Above all, she heard Father’s curse, a curse
that confined mortals and herself within its grip. Would she never be free?
Suddenly,
Ashnall heard an unusual sound. Strange
footsteps approached the grotto.
Two
mortals entered Ashnall’s prison.
Ashnall saw a little girl and a woman.
She watched in shock as the little girl hurried to her side. The girl knelt and reached toward her. Ashnall felt a strange sensation prick her
heart. Could the feeling be hope?
No. That was surely impossible.
“Fool! Keep
away from her!” The cry of fury filled the grotto, and the very walls shook
with Gushnall’s wrath. Ashnall could
only watch helplessly as Father bounded into the prison. His front legs shot outward, connecting violently
with Esmeralda’s back. The little girl
fell to the ground. Father knelt beside
her, his face twisted with rage and frustration.
Heloise
ran to Esmeralda’s side. The girl was
shaking with convulsions, and her eyes were glassy. Heloise glared at Gushnall. “What have you done?” she hissed.
“I
defended what was mine. It’s quite easy
to kill now, you see. Death resides in
my very skin.”
“Esie!”
Collette ran into the grotto, her face flushed.
She hurried to Esmeralda’s side.
As Collette knelt, she saw that a glimmering object lay beside her
sister’s splayed hand. The
necklace. Trembling, Collette retrieved
it.
A voice
filled the grotto. Collette recognized
the wood thrush’s song, and she heard his insistent cry. Follow
me, child. Release his daughter’s
pain. In doing so, you will free many. Collette turned toward the direction of the
voice and saw that the thrush perched upon the lid of a humble chest. She rose and approached him. The necklace pulsed in her hand, and Collette
gasped as she felt warm moisture bathe her palm. Slowly, she placed the necklace on the chest.
CRASH! CLINK! PLOP! The wood thrush
flew upward as the chest burst open, and a torrent of gleaming jewels cascaded
to the ground. Collette gasped as the
jewels began to melt.
“No! You mustn’t!”
Gushnall cried with a keening wail and hurried toward the shattered chest. “I cannot touch her. I will kill her if I do. Her tears are all I have to hold. Don’t you see? Please! Please—“ His voice
trailed away, and he fell within the deluge of tears, scrabbling to gather
them.
Ashnall watched
as the mortal girl hurried to her sister’s side. Pity for Father filled her heart, but she
also felt strangely light. It was as if a
burden had been lifted from her back.
The wood thrush hovered before Ashnall, and she knew this creature’s
name. Tears fell from the wood thrush’s
eyes, and they landed on Ashnall’s battered skin. The thrush sang:
“Beyond the Final Water falling,
The Songs of Spheres recalling.
When your tears are bound within another’s possession
I will cry for you.”
Ashnall
felt her frozen heart lurch. She looked
to where Father crouched by the destroyed chest. She looked toward the mortal woman and mortal
girls. There faces were etched with
pain.
Ashnall’s
tongue suddenly moved in her mouth, and her voice burst forth. “I won’t let you hurt anyone else, Father!”
The
grotto grew deathly still. Gushnall’s
head jerked upward. Then he flew to his
daughter’s side. He gasped as she hopped
away from him. She approached the
pain-wracked girl. Slowly, Ashnall
extended her right front leg and touched Esmeralda’s forhead.
CHAPTER 6
Collette
gasped to see the beautiful Faerie Beast before her. The toad’s skin gleamed with moisture, and the
gaping wounds upon her back were slowly closing. She looked as beautiful as her father was
handsome, but the jewels that adorned her skin were even more lustrous.
Collette
suddenly saw that Esmeralda’s cheeks were glowing. Her sister slowly sat up. Trembling, Collette helped Esmeralda to her
feet. She smiled tentatively at the
Faerie Beast before her. “Thank you,”
she whispered.
Ashnall
smiled. Then she turned toward
Father. He crouched within the corner
where she herself had so recently been bound.
He was shaking. She hopped to his
side and wrapped her front legs around him.
Gushnall
stiffened beneath Ashnall’s touch.
“Release me, daughter,” he said with desperation. “My poison will destroy you.”
Ashnall
only tightened her grip. “I live,
Father,” she said. “Your touch has not
harmed me, for the Lumil Eliasul’s tears have broken my curse. Won’t you let him help you, too?” She embraced him once more. “I wept for my love, Father, it is true, but
I also wept on your behalf.”
The
familiar song finally entered Gushnall’s soul, for within his daughter’s embrace,
he was able to allow the words to pierce his heart:
“Beyond the Final Water falling,
The Songs of Spheres recalling.
When your heart has been frozen by Life-In-Death’s touch,
Won’t you call to me?”
Gushnall
shuddered, but words fell from his tongue.
“Song-Giver, I am unworthy. You cannot
help me. I have sworn allegiance to Lady
Life-In-Death, and I am hers. I can’t
even weep, for I am frozen.”
“That
is why I weep for you, as I weep for all my children who are lost.” The thrush
alighted by Gushnall’s side. “You have
given up two of your lives, but you still live,” the Lumil Eliasul said. “Ashnall shall rule now as queen. I have saved her, and I seek to save you as
well. You will cause no more harm to
befall the mortal world.”
Gushnall
nodded. He turned to the thrush and
bowed his head in submission. “I will
stay within my demesne and obey my daughter’s will,” he said. “I will leave the mortal’s alone. This vow I make upon my final life.”
The
Lumil Eliasul nodded. “I accept this
vow, and I will enhance the locks on the gate of your demesne so that no mortal
will pass through again. Lady
Life-In-Death no longer holds you. You
are under my protection as is Ashnall. I
have sent out a call to your former subjects, and they will arrive here
shortly. You will instruct them to
listen to Ashnall and obey her.” The thrush flew from Gushnall’s side and
perched upon Heloise’s shoulder. “You
may go, dear ones,” he said, addressing Heloise, Collette and Esmeralda. “There is one who awaits you in the Near
World. Besides,” here the thrush trilled
an amused refrain to his song, “I think the sylph has grown rather too fond of
your Grandmem’s rocking chair.” He flew from Heloise’s shoulder and hovered
above the wreckage of the chest. Nothing
remained of Ashnall’s tears. Collette
saw that amidst the debris of the broken chest gleamed a chain of silver and
crimson.
“The
necklace,” Collette said. She turned to
Esmeralda and smiled. “Won’t you go and
claim your birthday gift?”
Esmeralda
grinned and retrieved the shimmering necklace.
Both sisters turned to thank the thrush, but he had vanished.
Heloise
approached the sisters. “Shall we go?”
she asked. Both girls nodded.
CHAPTER 7
Esmeralda’s
birthday proved to be the most memorable one of both sister’s lives, for as
they neared their cottage, they heard a familiar voice. “Why, you pesky thing!”
“Meme!”
Esmeralda flew from Collette’s side.
When Collette reached the cottage door, she gasped. Furniture was thrown willy-nilly, and
Grandmem’s rocking chair lay in shambles.
The sylph hovered above the wreckage, blowing hither and yon in
ecstasy. Meme knelt by the broken chair,
her cheeks glowing with indignation.
Collette
and Esmeralda rushed to Meme’s side.
Meme rose and smiled at the girls.
She enfolded them in her arms.
“You’re all right!” Collette stated the obvious with sheepish abandon.
Meme
laughed. Then her smile grew
pensive. “A few moments ago, I awoke
feeling wonderfully well,” she said. “It
was extraordinary. Then I heard the most
appalling racket! I saw your grandmem’s chair—“ Her voice stopped as she spied
the woman standing in the doorway. “Aunt
Heloise?” she whispered.
The two
women embraced. Then Meme looked at her
daughters. “Have you girls been into
mischief?” she asked suspiciously.
Both
girls grinned. They began to talk at
once. “This sylph burst in, you see, and—“
“I
received a birthday gift, and—“
“It was
my fault—“
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH! The sylph joined in the tumult of talk, adding its laughter to the
words. Then its voice rose above
all. “You mortals amuse me so! All this
fuss about nothing important! I must repair this strange thing, for it was what
I was sent to do!” It flew among the wreckage of the rocking chair, scattering
pieces in a feverish attempt to fix the damage.
“Oh,
Lights Above!” Heloise said with exasperation.
She knelt by the chair fragments and touched them with her hands. Instantly, the chair’s pieces flew
together. Stunned silence followed. Then the family began to laugh. “How did you do that?” Esmeralda finally asked.
Heloise
grinned. “I keep Faerie Beasts from invading
the Near World, and you ask how I can repair a chair? It’s just a trick I
learned.” She looked at the sylph, who was preparing to use the chair once
more. “We must go,” she said firmly.
Collette
frowned. “Will we ever see you again?”
There
was a long silence. Finally, Heloise
said, “Yes. I’ll make certain of
it. Time moves differently where I am,
but I will always be near. Besides,”
here she grinned, “the Song-Giver made certain we saw each other today, didn’t
he? You never know what’s in store according to his timing.” She embraced both
girls and Meme once more. Then she
raised her arms. “Let us go, sylph,” she
said.
The
sylph touched the chair one final time.
Then it approached its mistress.
It whirled faster and faster until Heloise was completely enveloped in
its touch. The world spun, and Heloise
and sylph vanished.
Collette
and Esmeralda looked at Meme. Meme
sighed. “She comes and goes,” Meme said
sadly. “She has a great work to do.”
Then she looked at Esmeralda’s hand. “What
do you have there, child?”
Esmeralda
looked at the gleaming necklace. The
stone had hardened once more, and its crimson fire gleamed against the silver
brilliance of the chain. “My birthday
gift,” she said. She placed the necklace
around her neck and looked at Collette with confusion. “I didn’t have to use it to heal Meme,” she
said.
Collette
thought for a moment.
She thought of the
pain-wracked Faerie Beast and the chest that had broken at the necklace’s
touch.
He said the stone was one of his tears, she thought.
Perhaps the necklace
had heald Meme.
Perhaps the
necklace’s power reached to many places and touched many people.
Collette did not know.
She only knew that Meme was well.
Perhaps the ways of the Lumil Eliasul were
too mysterious to fully understand, but he watched over them all.
He shared in the suffering of mortal and
Faerie alike.
Many chose not to
acknowledge this fact.
They refused his
help.
Nevertheless, he was steadfast,
and his love would never cease.
And,
truly, wasn’t that the point? Oh, indeed it was.
Collette felt her heart lighten within her.
Had she been able, she would have whirled
about as exuberantly as the sylph.
Instead, she grinned at Esmeralda.
“I think he wanted you to keep the necklace as a souvenir,” she
said.
“I never made you a birthday
cake.
Let’s go find some honey.” And
that is just what they did.
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