The Beginning

           When the sun finally began to sink below the peak of the mountains across the valley wherein lay the castle, Alicina gave up looking for Emily.

            Standing alone on the forest path, she stared into the darkness. The most important thing, she decided, was to find shelter for the night. Emily’s disappearance had left her nervous of what else might await nightfall. When turning a bend in the path revealed a small clearing with a fire pit in its center and a circle of stones to offer some scant protection, she sighed inwardly in relief. Exhausted after the day of walking�"a day twice as long as it ought to have been, with the sun rising higher in the sky on this end of the magical stairs than the other, she began to hunt around for sticks and leaves to build a fire. She had been camping many times�"with her family and on school outings, but always there had been matches or a lighter, never had she created fire out of nothing before.

          Once she had a nice pile of combustibles, she opened the book she had found in the mysterious room and in the waning light quickly scanned its pages for a spell that might be useful.

          Centered in the book, under a section entitled Practical Magic, she found a table of spells.

           Scanning down, she muttered, “Farsight, no. Fear. Hmm, sounds like a bad one. Oh, here we go! Fire�"to burn something.” Picking up the book, she walked over to the fire pit and spoke the word, pointing at her pile, “Urere.”

          Flames burst into merry life, dancing among the leaves she had carefully placed under the deadwood she had scavenged. Soon warmth began to reach her fingertips as she held them out and light flickered across the stone circle, giving it the appearance of a warmly-lit room safe away from the forest quickly going black as the sun dipped below the horizon.

          Alicina sat back against a stone, the book in her lap, her sword in its scabbard at an angle from her hip, one hand on the pommel. A smile crept across her face. She had worked magic!

          “Cool.” She whispered softly. Drowsy, her eyelids flickered and she drifted asleep.

          Hours passed. The creatures of the forest, magical and mundane alike went about their business. Through the darkness several miles away, on the edge of the forest where it met the farming lands around Elendor Castle, an army made its way through the trees. Their leader, a man in a midnight blue cape astride a black horse, muttered dark magic that silenced their progress to the rest of the world. Slowly they made their way toward the castle, its inhabitants asleep with false assurance that the forest itself would protect them.

          Alicina awoke with a start. A sound far off came to her ears. Straining, she heard it above the hoots and whistles of the forest nightlife. It sounded like a stadium football game from miles away�"the dull roar of a thousand voices and thunder of applause. Getting to her feet, she looked around. To her left rose a rocky outcropping. From the top she would be able to see for miles above the trees. Shoving the book in her belt, she began to climb.

          When she reached the top and looked out toward where she had seen the castle the day before, she gasped. The valley floor was alight with the flames of a thousand torches. Men surrounded the castle, arrows flying up, their deadly tips glinting in the firelight as they rained down on the guardsmen within who were defending their home with all their might. As she watched, a man fell to his death from the crenulated wall, an arrow through his heart. Alicina screamed, forgetful of the forest around her. Whirling, she began to descend to the ground and her campfire, but the pound of hooves much closer to her than the battle that waged below made her pause. Were some of them coming her way? The sound grew louder, from the direction of the path that led to the castle and she realized she was exposed here on the rocks in full view of the campfire light. Climbing quickly down, she hid behind a boulder and waited.

          From around the bend five horsemen rode at neck-break speed. The first, still in his bedclothes, held a sword in his right hand and the reins in his left and by the light of her fire Alicina saw fierce anger in his face as he led his party away from the fighting. Judging by his attire, Alicina decided he must have been asleep in the castle before making his escape. Just on his heels rode an older man in full chainmail, also riding with his sword drawn, and Alicina could see it was wet with blood. She shivered, fear freezing her behind the stone that was her only protection.

          The next horse had two riders, a broad shouldered man in his fifties with graying curls dressed in a crimson brocade tunic over chainmail, and a woman riding pillion in a white nightdress, her hands clutching him around the middle as though she were afraid, while her eyes roamed the forest around them as she rode by. Somehow, as the light flickered over Alicina’s hiding spot, their eyes met for an instant and Alicina saw comprehension dawn in the woman’s face.

          “Halt!” cried the woman, and leaning forward, she urgently tapped the man’s shoulder. He reined in hard and with a trampling of hooves, brought their horse to a stand just beyond the light of the fire. The two men who rode behind were beside him in an instant, circling, their swords drawn, eyes on the forest and the deserted fire pit, wary.

          “What is it, Milady?” the guard with the bloody sword urged his mount back up the path to her.

          “There is a girl behind that rock,” the woman pointed to where Alicina crouched, and now Alicina saw that it was not a woman at all, but a girl her own age. In the darkness with only a sliver of a moon she could not see the girl’s face.

          The guard dismounted in one smooth motion, his horse snorting its disapproval, and pointed his sword at Alicina, “Come out here!” he commanded.

          The younger man who had led point gave a snort like that of the horse which almost made Alicina laugh, if she hadn’t been so terrified, “Would you come out if someone pointed a bloody sword at you?”

          “We have no time for this,” the older man barked. His voice was thick with tension.

          “Father, we cannot leave a girl alone in this forest,” the other girl was reproachful, “Who knows what evil walks tonight?”

          She slipped off the rump of their mount and approached, staying behind the guard but beckoning kindly, “Come out, it’s alright. We are not your enemies.”

          Alicina stood up and walked out from behind the boulder. As she met the girl’s eyes, there was a collective gasp. They were identical!

          The girl was thin and looked sickly as though she had lain abed with illness for a long time, but her eyes and the point of her arched nose, the jaw line and her dark hair were the exact image Alicina saw in the mirror every day.

          “Impossible!” the young man breathed.

          “Oh. My. God.” Alicina said flatly, “You look just like me!”

          “A sign from the gods,” the girl whispered, “She is the answer!” she told the man.

          “Huh?” Alicina blurted, confused.

          “Milady,” The guard said, lowering his blade, “we must go.”

          The sound of hooves was echoing up the path again, and this time Alicina knew from the looks on their faces whoever it was would not be friendly.

          “Take her up on Cloudwalker, Benjamin,” the older man said. The knight in his bedclothes stepped forward in ascent and took Alicina by the shoulder, “Come. It’s not safe here,” his voice was kind and his eyes alert as they met hers. She nodded and followed him to his horse.

          The other girl turned to follow and stumbled weakly. Alicina watched as the man she had called Father lifted her into his arms. Benjamin dropped Alicina’s arm and strode over to the other girl. The man gave his daughter to the knight without a word, mounted his own horse, and then turned to take her from Benjamin’s arms. The girl lifted her gaze to Benjamin and met his eyes. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips before allowing her to be taken up behind her father once more. Their fingertips lingered with each other for an instant, and then Benjamin quickly ran to his mount, and pulled Alicina up behind him. Alicina wrapped her arms around his middle gingerly, afraid. But she was more afraid of finding whatever was chasing them.

          “Ride!” cried the guard, and taking the rear, he urged them on as the sound of hooves grew louder.

          They rode. Through the darkness up the path the way Alicina had come during the day, they galloped. Behind them, Alicina heard shouts followed by a sharp whistling sound. Turning to look, she saw an arrow pierce the ground behind them. She gasped, her whole body going cold with fear. Other arrows followed, none finding their mark�"but it was only a matter of time.

          She looked forward over Benjamin’s shoulder. Once again they were in the lead, pelting down the path toward what Alicina hoped was safety. Suddenly, a bush ahead of them on the right shook and from it emerged a raccoon, now racing beside them. Upon his back was a tiny leather saddle in which sat a little man no larger than her forearm. Urging his odd mount forward, the raccoon gave a great leap and landed on Sir Benjamin’s lap!

          Alicina looked at the creature in astonishment.

          “Sir Benjamin,” the tiny man addressed him by name, “More of us are coming. Take this.” He handed a small vial to the knight. Benjamin shouted above the wind, “Do you have another? I must bring this girl with us.” And the small man noticed Alicina at his back.

          “Indeed,” he replied, as calmly as though they all sat in her living room back home. He pulled another from a pouch around his waist and handed it to her.

          “It is Gnome Potion. Drink!” Benjamin cried, and following his own advice, he downed the contents in one gulp.

          Alicina did not ask questions. Pulling out the tiny cork, she put the vial to her lips and drank. Behind her, she glimpsed other raccoons landing on the mounts behind them, and the girl and her father had already drunk their share of the potion.

          That was all she had time for before the world spun. She felt as though she was sinking down, down and the forest seemed to twirl around her. When she could see normally again she was seated on a vast rocking surface with Benjamin still in front of her, but now they were both the same size as the gnome! He grinned, his face more bulbous and foreign than ever when it was at eye level. Reaching out a calloused hand, he pulled Benjamin onto his strange mount, and then turned to Alicina. She realized then that the potion had shrunk them but not their horse, which was still galloping down the path with them standing small on its back!

          “We’ll have to ride three on Bandit,” the gnome shouted to her, gesturing to his raccoon, “but he’s strong. Come!”

          She took his hand, mounted up behind Benjamin on the furry back of the raccoon called Bandit, and gripped the knight tightly as they leapt from the back of the horse. The ground rushed up at them; she squeezed her eyes shut as they hit with an aching jolt and then they were scampering through the bushes leaving the path and their pursuers behind.

          Alicina listened to the call of the men who pursued them like a fox listening to the call of hounds. As they crashed through undergrowth, dead leaves and low-lying branches in the forest, she wondered inanely whether Emily had encountered a similar adventure of her own. Had she been captured by the men who now pursued them? Who were these people Alicina had fallen in with, and what had happened to their castle? But, most importantly the question burned in her mind of how she would ever get home.

          Alicina was distracted from her thoughts by their arrival at a tiny wooden door hidden under the roots of a large tree. Here, the gnome dismounted and fumbled with a key as the others fell in behind him. Looking over her shoulder, Alicina saw her look-alike mounted up behind the other girl’s father on one raccoon, the guard with the bloody sword�"now cleaned and sheathed at his hip�"riding pillion to a third gnome and the two other knights that had accompanied them rode a fourth whose gnome had already dismounted and was grabbing the reins of the others.

          Relieved that they had all arrived safely, Alicina was just turning around again when she heard a female voice say, “Come inside out of the chill, all of you, before you catch your death!”

          A female gnome in the attire of a peasant woman with a floor-length apron wrapped around her plump middle was gesturing them inside the foyer beyond the door.

          “Sir Benjamin, you remember my wife, Bess?” the gnome who had brought them made the introductions.

          “It is a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Gnome,” Sir Benjamin bowed politely in his bedclothes.

          “Such a night!” Bess worried, all aflutter, “A terrible, terrible tragedy! Thank the gods you are all right.”

          “Thank you, ma’am,” Sir Benjamin bowed again, but his face was tight as though her words had reminded him of their near escape.

          “And who is this?” Bess asked, curiously peeking around his shoulder, “Oh my word!” she gasped as she met Alicina’s eyes.

          “Indeed, that is an excellent question,” the older man had come up behind them, his daughter leaning heavily on his arm, “One we all would like an answer to.”

          Alicina gazed dully back at each of them, exhaustion eating at the edges of her vision to where the whole of this seemed slightly unreal. She could not possibly be standing in a miniature house underground faced with a gnome and his wife in peasant garb.

“Can it wait?” the other girl asked faintly. She swooned slightly, and then recovered.

          “Milady!” Bess cried, seeing her for the first time. She spared barely a glance for Alicina�"but that one glance was full of question, before rushing to the other girl’s side.

          “We must get her warm, quickly,” she urged her husband, and putting actions to words, she swept the girl up in her strong arms and led the way to a back room, Sir Benjamin on her heels.

          “We have not been properly introduced,” the gnome who had rescued her and Benjamin bowed beside Alicina, drawing her attention, “I am Meriwether. That lovely gnome who just left is my wife Bess. We are liegemen of Lord Tyrone.”

          “Who is Lord Tyrone?” Alicina wondered.

          The gnome looked surprised and glanced at the older man in explanation.

          “I am he,” said the man, drawing up, “Lord Tyrone of Elendor and the Enchanted Forest.”

          “All of which can wait until morning,” Meriwether said firmly, “Milord, you are exhausted, and this girl looks to be on her last legs. Catch some sleep. You are safe here.”

          Alicina could only agree. She followed Meriwether wearily down a hallway into a small guest room pleasantly lit by candles and a cheerful fire in the grate. Wondering sleepily how the smoke reached above ground, she decided to leave such questions for the morning as she crept into the silk nightgown Meriwether left on the bed for her and went to sleep.

*   *   *

          “It was Lord Derek, I’m sure of it,” Sir Benjamin’s voice was low but sharp with anger, “I saw him through the trees.”

          “We cannot accuse without evidence,” Lord Tyrone sounded weary despite a full night’s sleep.

          “How else do you explain Eric’s involvement?” Benjamin’s voice rose, “The castle doors did not open themselves. With Neal as witness…”

          “Neal is my liege and therefore will not be considered without prejudice,” Lord Tyrone interrupted, “We must appeal to the King for aid and not rely on the courts for action.”

          “The King wants an Elendor/Secundae allegiance,”

          “Yes,” Lord Tyrone agreed, “And moreover, he can be trusted with the truth about this girl.”

          “Speaking of whom,” that was the guard, and Alicina heard footsteps as he came to the door where she had paused, listening, “I believe she has come to join us.”

          He opened the door and Alicina stepped into the parlor hesitantly, uncertain of her role in this conversation. Clearly, they had been discussing the attack on Lord Tyrone’s castle, and from the sound of it they knew who had done it. Would this Lord Derek now be seeking them? Alicina did not care to become involved in politics or war�"she just wanted to go home.

“Who are you?” the guardsman who had opened the door beckoned her inside and shut it behind her, “I think it is time we found out who we rescued.” He smiled kindly at her, but Alicina could see a hint of suspicion behind it. This man did not fully trust her.

          “Alicina Peters,” she told him softly, “What is Elendor?”

          “It is a fiefdom of Telidore�"one of the largest estates held by a nobleman of this kingdom, and includes the Enchanted Forest as well as Elendor Castle. It has been ruled by my family for more than four hundred years,” Lord Tyrone said, and there was more than a hint of pride in his voice, but Alicina detected sadness to, and a deep anger.

          “I don’t know anything about Telidore,” Alicina said, frustrated, “Or Elendor, or any of this stuff. How did I even get here?”

          Sir Benjamin leaned forward, “You are not from this kingdom?”

          “I’m not from any kingdom!” Alicina snapped back, “I’m from the United States of America. It’s a Republic, not a kingdom. And I’ve never heard of Telidore, or magic, or any of this stuff until yesterday.”

          The guardsman and Lord Tyrone shared a look, but Benjamin leaned even closer, “You’re from the Land Above!”

          “The what?”

          “The Land Above,” he said excitedly, and for the first time she noticed a scholarly attitude about him. It was in the way he slouched slightly�"like one accustomed to reading books, and a blue ink smudge on the pinky of his right hand.

          “Never heard of it,” she said matter-of-factly.

          “Of course not,” he replied, unperturbed, “You wouldn’t have, if you were from there. Long ago, ancient Sorcerers sealed off the entrance to the Land Above to prevent the escape of dark wizards. They were trapped there in a world without any magic, so they could never do harm to the Land at the Heart of the Mountain. Telidore and her neighboring kingdoms are essentially a different world than your own.”

          “There’re more than just you?” Alicina asked, interested in spite of herself. She didn’t really want a history lesson, but what he said did make sense, in an odd way. Of course she hadn’t ever seen magic, if the real world was locked away from it somehow, and ‘above the mountain’ pretty much described how she had gotten here, which Benjamin had no way of knowing.

          “Oh yes, to the south is the Regn Republic�"a republic run by centaurs. And to the north is the Gryphon Empire…”

          “Centaurs! Gryphons?” Alicina cried excitedly, “You mean those things really exist here?”

          “Of course,” Benjamin said with a shrug, “The reason why you don’t know of them is because the old spell prevents any magical creature from entering the Land Above. No one has ever broken it in a thousand years.”

          “Whoa, okay, this is too much,” Alicina said, shaking her head. But her excitement grew. Maybe being lost here wouldn’t be so bad.

          And yet, she still needed to find Emily. Who knows what could have happened to her in a land with centaurs and gnomes and evil castle-attackers.

          “Let us focus on a plan of action,” Meriwether interrupted their impromptu geography lesson, “We must get a message to the King that you are alive and well.”

          “Yes,” Lord Tyrone said, “But more importantly, that the ceremony did in fact unite Benjamin and Alice, and she yet lives.”

          “Who is Alice?” Alicina asked.

          “I am.”

          While they had spoken, Lord Tyrone’s daughter had entered the room, leaning heavily on Bess. She looked even more wan than Alicina remembered from the night before. Her hair was the same color�"dark brown, but it hung lank about her shoulders. Her eyes were set too deeply; dark rings beneath them made the brown irises frightening. And her skin was thin and translucent, almost as though it were rice paper over her veins which showed starkly on her neck and the top of the hand which gripped Bess’s tightly.

          “What’s wrong with you?” Alicina blurted, unable to help herself. The girl looked extremely unwell.

          “I’m dying,” Alice said flatly, “A wasting disease.”

          “We don’t know what is causing it,” Benjamin said. He had walked to Alice’s side and in one smooth motion he lifted her up into his arms. Striding over to the couch beside Alicina, he laid her gently there, kneeling at her feet in loverly fashion.

          “But we suspect dark magic,” a fourth man had entered the room, holding a cup of tea in one hand and a half-eaten biscuit in the other. Taking another bite, he washed it down with tea before adding, “Lord Derek is known for his knowledge in the magical arts.”

          “I don’t believe you’ve met Sir Roald,” Lord Tyrone gestured to him, “Another of my liegemen, and one of the best.”

          Sir Roald was a broad-shouldered, deep-voiced man in full chainmail with a crimson and gold tunic. He looked much the same age as Benjamin, but where the first knight was tall and thin, Roald was thick-chested and had the look of a fighter about him, his hair shaved close in military style and muscles stood out in his back when he turned to sit. But as he caught her eye and nodded a greeting, she saw that he had kind eyes of a deep ocean blue.

          “Nice to meet you,” she mumbled, feeling slightly underdressed in her borrowed nightgown.

          “Don’t forget Eric,” the last of their party, the dark knight who had ridden rear-guard strode in and seated himself next to Roald. He was deeply tanned, with brown eyes and dark hair and reminded Alicina of an Italian model she had seen once in GQ. His curls flopped into his eyes as he hunched over the table to grab a biscuit of his own, and he brushed them back with a habitual gesture, “With him always at Elendor Castle, he was perfectly placed to poison or trick any of us. He could have easily slipped her something without anyone the wiser.”

          “Sir Jarvis of Pecuniae,” Lord Tyrone introduced them, “Son of the richest fiefdom in Telidore and a stalwart knight.”

          “Its nice to meet you all,” Alicina replied, “But look, none of this has anything to do with me. I just want to go home,” she finished lamely when they looked at her.

          “Your presence here is a sign from the gods,” Alice insisted, her thin body looked frail and tired but her voice was strong as she pierced Alicina with a gaze that reminded her strongly of her English teacher, “This attack from the Rodere will mean civil war if he tries to claim Elendor lands!”

          “It looks like he already did claim it,” Alicina pointed out, “Not to put too fine a point on it.”

          “The king knows nothing of this,” Sir Benjamin said, shaking his head, “If he learns that the Rodere attacked us he would declare them rogues. There would be war�"a war Eric and his father could not possibly win.”

          “Indeed,” Lord Tyrone said gravely, “Our only hope is to reach the capital at Aestas and convince His Majesty that an allegiance between Secundae and Elendor is still possible.”

          “You were hoping to wed Benjamin and Alice,” Alicina realized.

          “They did wed,” Jarvis corrected her grimly, “Last night.”

          “But then…” she protested.

          “There is little point in a wedding without the hope of a child born,” Roald pointed out, “If an heir of both Secundae and Elendor could succeed Lord Tyrone…”

          “Then Elendor, and the Enchanted Forest, would be safe,” Alice whispered. Alicina looked at her. Her face was drawn and miserable. Benjamin’s soft touch on her arm seemed to hardly stir her.

          “Alice would have trouble keeping a babe to term,” Lord Tyrone said, his face impassible.

          “She probably won’t live that long,” Roald said bluntly to Alicina, “Not unless we lift the evil curse that has touched her.” His fists clenched in anger.

          “How can I help any of this?” Alicina wondered.

          They all looked at her.

          “You look just like me,” It was Alice who broke the silence again, “If you could take my place, convince the people of Telidore�"convince the king that I and Benjamin are happily wed, with a babe on the way, Elendor would have an heir and therefore be sacrosanct.”

          “Eric will be forced to pretend he knows nothing of the attack. For the sake of peace, we will allow him that deception,” Lord Tyrone said flatly. Anger wrought deep lines on his face, but his voice was firm.

          “No way,” Alicina said flatly, “I’m only thirteen. There’s no way I’m getting married to some guy I don’t hardly know so he can knock me up and save your stinkin’ kingdom! Find some other way! I’m going home!”

          She stood and strode from the room, furious. The anger lasted until the door shut behind her and then she burst into tears. How she wished Mom was here! Even with Emily lost, and that her fault, she still would rather have had someone yell at her and tell her what to do than have to figure a way out of this mess herself. As furious as Mom would be with her when she got home, she would never expect Alicina to do something like this to get Emily back!

          “I want to go home!” She sobbed, leaning heavily against a wall in the hallway just beyond the parlor.

          A gentle sound behind her, footsteps on the wood floor and a hand on her shoulder told her someone had slipped out of the room to follow her. Turning, she saw Sir Jarvis. His swarthy skin was shadowed in the dim light of candles, his brown eyes soft. Tears spilled out of her eyes and for a moment he looked awkward as any young man is liable to do when faced with a crying girl. But he had a heart as big as his kingdom, this dark knight, and he treated her as his own younger sister as he placed an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close without a word. She sobbed into his tunic for a moment, hiccupping slightly. Then, embarrassed to be caught crying in front of a complete stranger, even if he had helped save her life the night before, she pulled away.

          “You must think I’m such a baby,” she began.

          “You’re lost, and you don’t know where you’ve landed,” he told her, “It’s not surprising you’re in shock.”

          “I just…” she sniffed, “I just want to find my little sister and go home.”

          “You have a sister?”

          She glanced up. Roald had come to stand guard over them, his back to the door into the parlor, holding it shut to give her privacy. She felt gratitude wash over her.

          “Her name is Emily,” Alicina whispered, “She got lost in the woods while I was searching for a way home,” Alicina told them, her voice tight with fear, “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”

          “How old is she?” Roald asked.

          “Six,” Alicina winced. She knew how careless, how irresponsible she must sound. Who left a six-year-old alone in a strange wood?

          “Peter the Gnome said he found a Lostling in the forest yesterday,” Bess had come softly up behind them from the opposite direction, “She said her name was Emily.”

          “You know where Emily is?” Alicina clutched Bess’ dress front eagerly.

          Bess hesitated, “According to Peter, the Lostling had met with a wererabbit.”

          “A what?” Alicina asked, bemused.

          Jarvis and Roald shared a look between them.

          “What is it?” Alicina urged them, “What’s wrong?”

          “A wererabbit is a human infected with the Werevirus,” Jarvis said seriously, “At each full moon they are forced into the shape of a rabbit.”

          “You mean, like a werewolf but a bunny instead?” Alicina laughed.

          “It is no laughing matter;” Bess said soberly, “Your sister is forced to wear the form of a rabbit every month for the rest of her life. The Werevirus is highly contagious. She must be careful never to bite or lick anyone, or share blood with them.”

          That sobered Alicina.

          “They are from the Land Above,” Jarvis told Bess.

          “Indeed?” Bess turned grave eyes on Alicina, “I’m afraid that complicates things even more.”

          “What do you mean?” Alicina was desperate now.

          “For more than a thousand years neither magic nor mythical creature has been able to set foot in the Land Above, due to a powerful spell set upon it by ancient Sorcery,” Bess told her.

          “So you mean…” she faltered.

          “Your sister is now partly magical by nature.”

          “She can never go home,” Alicina whispered, horrified.

*   *   *

 

 

Author's Note

Please let me know what you thought of my story.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

The chapter was very good. I like how you write. You make every situation come alive to the reader. The story line became more interesting. You added some myth and tale. Thank you for sharing the amazing chapter.
Coyote

[Sarah Nicole Nadler]

Awesome review, your answers are super helpful

[Coyote Poetry]

I love your work and you are welcome.

[Tony Jordan]

I'd like to know where Ana goes next.
Good effort.
:)

[Sarah Nicole Nadler]

Thanks! I took a real situation in life and tried to write a softer ending. If you stay with me until the end I hope you'll like it.