Snippet

Aunia’s desires were very simple: find her friends, find her father.  She hadn’t anticipated being separated from her friends after going through the gate to faeryland.  There had been a burst of fire and a brittle screech.  Now it was quiet, unnaturally quiet.  The way was dark with swirling unfamiliar shapes and colors.  There seemed to be no sky, no ground. 

 

Aunia reminded herself that she shouldn’t be afraid but maybe a little apprehensive wasn’t a bad thing.  She turned this way and that trying to find anything that looked vaguely familiar, something wordly, a tree, a flower.  The unnatural landscape swirled and twisted and Aunia found herself on a meandering deer path.  It transfigured into a bustling town and then back to the meandering deer path.  Aunia tried to slow the rapid beat of her heart.  Would turning her cloak inside out work here? 

She heard a light whisper, then low angry murmurings, and finally silence again.  A large golden mushroom twisted out of the ground with its large pillowy top billowing up and then quickly it dropped down.  A small glow formed overtop of it, transforming slowly to a tiny figure sitting crosslegged.  It had pale gossamer wings and impossibly large eyes in its child-like face.  It looked at her for a moment then firmly demanded, “How did you get here?”

                Aunia took a quick breathe and answered, “Through the gate…in the land of one of your own.” Aunia learned long ago never lie to a fey.  You can make the words stand on their heads or even find a fancy way to dodge an answer but everything said had to be truthful. 

“In the land of one of our own?”  the thing repeated.  Its tiny wings blurred into a dragonfly’s buzz. 

Aunia knelt down respectfully before it.  “In the land of one of your own.  I mean you and your clan no harm.  I am looking for my father,” Aunia gulped a quick breathe of air and glanced over her shoulder.

The little fairy changed very quickly into a stout, hairy, cylinder-shaped beast with sharp tusks.  “there are others here as well?” it demanded. 

“Yes.” Aunia said.  “But we mean you no harm.” 

The beast melted back into the little faery, “Humans are harm.” 

“Humans are harm?” Aunia echoed. 

The little fairy lifted delicately off the toadstool and hovered directly in Aunia’s face.  It whipped then by her creating a sharp burst of wind.  The gust blew Aunia’s hair into her face tangling it with little knots.  Aunia simply smoothed her hair back.  Mathias’ face and his warm hand in her hair rushed into her mind’s eye.  A ray of sunshine fell on her and a motion caught her eye. 

She looked up.  Mathias!  “I didn’t know where you got to!”  She quickly got to her feet bathing in his dapper smile and then, he swirled away and there was only the little faery sitting there on the toadstool staring at her.  Aunia sank back down. 

“Humans are harm.” Aunia repeated confused. 

The words Agarre gave her before she past through the gate came back to her.  “We sylvans can survive on the aftermath of your emotions if we desire it, while we are in your world.  But in ours, you create too much.” 

Create too much, Aunia pondered.  Aunia tentatively let her thirst surface to full consciousness and she felt the comforting goblet in her hand.  She licked her dry lips at the sight of the fragrant cool water but she knew not to drink or eat anything in faery.  She couldn’t be seen as rude either.  Carefully, she poured some of the water in her hands and smoothed her hair back a second time. 

“Human can harm.” Aunia repeated a third time with realization.  “I mean you no harm.  I only wish to rescue my father and find the people that I came with.  I want to find and then leave with the humans”  The fairy’s eyes turned eerily dark, “Take all humans, daughter of Rune?” 

“Take the humans that should go with me.” Aunia said then she paused, “you know my father?”  The scenery changed again and the darkness returned.  Aunia clenched her hand and summoned her brilliant blue globefire for light.  The low muttering returned. 

“Please, can you help me?” Aunia asked.  She turned back and forth, “The sooner I find what I’m looking for, the sooner I’m gone.”

The muttering turned into a lone whisper and then there was silence.

 

Author's Note

working on snippets here & there while I'm mapping the storyline out. This is just something that I was working on to get a feel for what faeryland may be like.