Chapter One -Upon the Mountains Like A Flame-

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on top of the disheveled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.
-William Butler Yeats,
"The Land of Heart's Desire"

Chapter One
-Upon the Mountains Like A Flame-

I was in third hour. Which happened to be AP Shakespeare Lit. We were discussing Othello, which we had just finished. Next thing you know that really super annoying fire alarm is going off. It gave me a freaking headache.
     Well we all filed outside and immediately conversations struck up; nobody knew why the alarm went off. Mr. Matte said there wasn't a drill today so it was either a prank, a mishap in the kitchen preparing today's mystery meat or an accident in chemistry or something. I had nobody to talk to; people usually avoided me and I was perfectly fine with that.
     That's when Boer found me. Boer is a small house elf that resides in the administration office. I should explain.
     I'm half fairy. Ha, right? Nope. For cereal I'm half fairy. Half fairy too, not a branch fairy like, say a brownie or Nixie. My mother was the Seelie queen's first hand maid, she fell in love with my father and thus, me. And because of that I am what's known as a Halfling though there are those less flattering names for us.
     I have green eyes, bright green, the color of a fairy's. This enables me to see the fairies. Most who have an open heart and green eyes can see fairies too just don't really ever realize this. I have the same rust colored hair as my mother, and before the fairies got to my dad he said I looked just like her. Something I'm proud of though the Seelie Queen had Mother executed before I could sit up on my own.
     The Seelie Court is that of the Sun, the Day, the Spring and the Summer. The Unseelie Court is that of the Moon, the Night, the Fall and the Winter. You'd think the Seelie Court to be the "good" court and the Unseelie Court the "bad" court but that's not necessarily true, though the Unseelie creatures are less...approachable.
     Anyway, back to Boer. Boer was in his usual small blue suit, a small blue silk cap I'd made for him atop his head. "Elm!" he gasped frantically. "The...the fire!"
     I bent like I was tying my shoe. "What is it Boer? What about the fire?"
     "Not an...not an accident!"
     "What do you mean? An arsonist or a prankster? Either way I don't see why you'd need to tell me."
     "Neither," he gasped again, then stood, finally catching his breath; house elves don't exactly have wings, the poor things. "There was this...this boy who came into the office. He said, 'Could you get Elm Sorcha here please?' Mrs. Prat smiled then asked why. He said, 'Our grandfather has passed away. Mom and Dad were too...overwhelmed to come pick her up. I'm her brother.'"
     Now I listened more intently. "Then what?"
     "Well Mrs. Prat got real suspicious since she knows you live with your aunt and your parents are in the hands of the tree spirits now and she knows you don't have a brother, so she went on the computer to check, saying she was looking at your schedule."
     "Go on!"
     "Well once she was sure she asked the guy if he went here or to a college nearby since he looked about eighteen or nineteen. 'I just graduated from a school in South Carolina,' he told her. 'College starts in a few months. I'm going to Dartmouth. Aren't you going to call up for my sister?'
     "Well Mrs. Prat frowned and said, 'I'm sorry dear, it appears there is no Elm Sorcha that attends this school.' Well the guy frowned and whispered, 'Liar.'
     "'No,' said Mrs. Prat. 'I'm certain there is no Elm Sorcha attending Thorn High School.' Then the guy screamed, 'Liar! I know she's here! I'll just simply have to get her on my own.' Then he knocked over a chair, moved a hand up and set the table on fire."
     I raised my eyebrows. "You're certain?"
     "Course I'm certain! You think a fairy can lie?"
     "Point taken. So was he a fire demon? An Unseelie Court like a Spectral Dragon?"
     Boer shook his small head, green eyes wide. "Nope. He had neither horns, red nails or orange eyes."
     "What did he look like?"
     "He had medium-length blond hair, gray eyes and his skin had a little bit of a tan."
     "So he's either a god of some sort or a Halfling like me."
     "Yes, yes!"
     I could hear a faint buzzing in the distance that was probably sirens. "Okay thanks Boer. Here," I handed him a fairy cookie, normal cookies only baked longer and with chamomile tea and oranges. "And be careful!"
     "You too! Remember he said he'd come for you on his own!" Boer scurried off towards the administration office, two cookies in his satchel, one in one hand and another in his other hand that he munched on.
      "Miss Sorcha," Mr. Matte called. "Come here and join the rest of your class please."
      "Yes Mr. Matte," I sighed, getting up and walking over to the loose group of our class.
     "Please deliver this to the principal or vice principal. I can't leave the class and I don't know where they are." Mr. Matte handed me a piece of paper saying everyone in our class was outside.
     "Yeah."
     "Thanks a lot."
     I headed around the side of the building, past lines and groups of classes, all buzzing about the fire alarm. I smiled a little; like they would ever know the real reason. Boer told the truth; fairies are unable to lie. They simply can't. Every time they try it seems like they're choking or like their throats are on fire.
     I rounded a corner with no students lined up when a hand reached out over my mouth.
     I gasped and would've screamed if the hand hadn't been there. Another arm wrapped around my waist, restraining me.
     Ah crap.

Author's Note

Please excuse any spelling/grammar mistakes! If you're confused about the whole Seelie Unseelie Court thing leave a comment and I'll answer to the best of my ability! Thanks!

Reviews

[Hawkmoth]

This reminded me of Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales trilogy and Charles De Lint's The Blue Girl. I love the way you wove the Seelie and Unseelie courts into the story and the small details about fairy lore and daily life.

[Ashley]

The third paragraph is a bit confusing. For cereal a half fairy?? Otherwise, more show, less tell. Too much info at once makes you feel like you're reading a text book. I like the idea of this though. I love fae. I look forward to reading more!

[K.G]

i love whats happening so far, ur flow is pretty good :3 ;( i like details but random bits are awkward. . . no need to rush! theres a lil rule saying that the first 50 pages of a book should introdruce characters an such, not the first page :) i cant wait for more though. . .so interesting!