The Horned Prince

Sylvia follows her dream, literally, and comes face-to-face with the man who had been calling for her in her sleep.

The moon was full of light at its peak, and Sylvia lay awake staring at the pocked ceiling. She was anxious for sleep, yet frightened. For the past two months she had been dreaming of a distant world, one that she clung to and prayed to see again. Fae of good and evil, wise elves, magical craggy trees, abandoned castles, illusive water nymphs and whispers of a dark prince became inspirations to art. Living in a house surrounded by woods alone made her nervous at night now, since the dreams recently took a darker turn. In this new world she began seeing dark figures with glowing eyes always just escaping her view, and wolves watching her in the distance howling at the moon when darkness fell.

Sleep finally came, and Sylvia dreamt again of this place only on this night, it called for her. She saw the path within her own woods that lead her to a hole in the side of a large hill. When she peered in to see a light at the end, a deep voice called her name and she was shaken awake with fear. She had only been asleep for half an hour. Energy filled her and she sprung from her bed. She ran down the steps and out the door knowing exactly where to go. The dogs bellowed and barked, confused by her odd behavior.Into the woods she ran, following her well work path. The dogs were barely audible now and Sylvia relied solely on the light of the full summer moon.

The path was hard to follow, in fact nonexistent. She was following land marks now for she had only seen this hill once before. A screech owl called to another in the distance and frogs chirped with the crickets. Finally coming to the place she warily approached the opening. Fear and excitement washed over her, making her mouth dry and fingertips numb. This was the escape she had always prayed for.Sylvia burst forth to the other side, brushing off spider webs and twigs. She was amazed by what she saw. The sky was in its evening colors and the moon was in its early ascent to the sky. Large twisted trees stretched far and tall with lush leafy plumes and strong branches. The ground was smooth with soft vegetation and large boulders covered in moss. A soft tug to the strap of her gown made Sylvia turn around to a small glowing fairy, smiling at her with wide green eyes

“I see you have decided to join us, fair girl. Please, tell me your business here.” Sylvia smiled at how the fairy sounded scripted. In her dreams, they barely spoke.

“I have dreamt of this place many nights, and in my dreams I was shown how to get here.” The fairy tilted her head in confusion. Then, as if remembering something, she grinned.

“I know where you must go. Please, follow me.” She said in an almost cynical manner. Before Sylvia could ask, the fairy flew high and away, making Sylvia run to keep up. She was quickly winded from running before, but pressed on trying to keep from losing sight of the fairy. Bounding over large tree roots and avoiding thorny bushes that seemed to reach for her, Sylvia felt as if she was being tricked. After what felt like an hour, she found the fairy in front of an open field. She hadn’t realized how much darker it was now, and bent over to catch her breath. With a straight face the fairy began to speak. “I can take you no further, but you can see from here where to go. That castle by the lake, I know it looks ominous, but trust me. This is where you must be.” She flew away laughing before Sylvia could ask questions, and left her alone staring up at the immense fortress.

She came up to a large wooden door with black cast iron hinges and a raven crest in the center. First she knocked and waited, then again a little louder. Anxiety filled her, she began to think that she should have tried to head back. It was obvious that the fairy didn't have good intentions. The door opened and a ghoulish girl stood looking past Sylvia. Her golden hair was tangled, face pale and grey eyes that were empty and glazed over. Sylvia stepped back in horror but the girl grabbed her and with amazing strength pulled her through the door, slamming it shut behind them.

“Stop, stop please!” She pleaded, but she was being pulled by the arm through many rooms dimly lit by candle light. Across a vast room filled with weapons and armor, a 20-foot tall door opened to a long deep blue carpet, adorned with a silver pattern stretching to a tall chair in which a cloaked figure sat. Two great grey wolves lay on either side of the chair, and more ghoulish people surrounded them. After a long moment, the girl let go of Sylvia and stepped back. Sylvia stood staring in shock at this figure. She knew right away that he was the Dark Prince she had heard about in her dreams.Tall narrow stained glass windows and candles lined the wall, and the same fabric pattern on the carpet appeared in the long curtains which hung draped from the ceiling and drawn at either side of the wall.“I will leave and never return, never speak of this place if you let me go.” Sylvia boldly stated. The figure stood and began towards her. She tried to back away, but the hands of the ghoul girl pressed her forward again. It was right in front of her now, and in a deep resonating voice the tall figure said

“You answered to my call quickly, I didn’t expect that.” It was the voice that called her name before she woke up. Sylvia felt both betrayed and naive. She should have known. He was right in front of her now, the light just barely illuminating his grinning mouth. He reached up slowly and pulled back the hood. Sylvia gasped and pressed harder against the hands of the ghoul.

“Let me go.” Sylvia was peering into solid white eyes laced with blackness, pale skin, long raven hair and curved horns on either side of his head. Though he had such a malevolent predisposition, his demeanor was welcoming, almost warm.

“In time you will see that I am no monster, and born of no evil.” he said softly. "I will take care of you here, Sylvia.”

“How do you know my name?” He took a step back, still smiling.

“You'll know everything soon enough.” He turned away and both of her arms were grabbed by the monsters around her. She let out a screech and fought back, but she was swept away and quickly taken up winding steps where she was tossed to the floor of a tower and locked in. Sylvia slammed herself against the door and screamed

“You wicked demon! You can’t keep me here forever!” She slid to the floor and turned to the wide gothic arched window. Red curtains fluttered in the soft breeze as the moonlight came streaming in. Sylvia was utterly distraught. Though tears fell, she couldn’t feel the sorrow through the disbelief.

 

Reviews

[Wolfwind]

I enjoyed this first chapter. It's descriptions were well done which allowed for me to visualize the scenery around as the main character went through it. I did feel as if this opening was a bit rushed. I think a bit more time building some suspence might help. That's just my opinion though.

By the end of this chapter I'm left asking myself... how did she get into this fix in the first place? The opening few paragraphs gave a hint that something was going on before the stories time line began, but it's rather vague. I'm hoping there will be a flash back going into how she came to know this land in her dreams.

It's a good solid start to the tale though, which is a good thing.

Aaron - Wolfwind

[Anna Ivy]

Yeah I knew it sounded rushed and tried to slow it down a little with more detail. I think if/when I rewrite this to make it a longer story I'll expand on the beginning.
I didn't think to mention more about her beginning to dream about this place, thanks for pointing that out! I'll make a note :)

[Wolfwind]

Oh, by the way... I really like how you're putting the story up in shorter chapters... It makes it much more enjoyable to review. =)

[Anna Ivy]

Good! I'm glad I did something right haha ;)