III

That day was a bit uncomfortable.  Her encounter with the creature left her feeling quite faint.  Her mother was worried about her for she had left her daughter in a healthy state just the night previous and now she felt unexplainably ill.  Anna dared not tell her mother what had happened over the night, partly because she did not want to upset her and partly because she was not sure if anything had happened.  She talked around, never directly answering her mother’s questions.  At last, the questions ceased and her mother put Anna on the couch in the parlor to rest.  Covering her in a blanket, her mother kissed her on her forehead.  “I will make you some soup.  Would you like that?”  Anna nodded.

 

As her mother was in the kitchen preparing the broth, Anna lied on the couch, thinking about the extraordinary things that the faun spoke of.  She hoped to see him again soon.  She looked out one of the windows, half fogged with the morning frost, hoping to see a butterfly go by.  Her mother then walked back into the room.

 

“Now then, sit up if you can, Anna, so you can eat.”  Anna sat up and her mother put the eating try over her lap.  “Eat as much or as little as you can.  Here is some bread and butter, as well.”  Anna stirred the hot soup with her spoon, watching the steam rise into the air.  Her mother took her seat across from Anna in the rocking chair.  They sat in silence for awhile, the only sound the sharp clicking of the spoon on the ceramic bowl.

 

“Mama.”

 

“Yes, Anna.”

 

“Why did you call me the name that you did?”  Her mother looked up, thrown by Anna’s question.  “Why is my name Anna Nora?”

 

Anna’s mother put her knitting down on her lap.  “Because when you were born, you were the light of my life.”

 

“Am I still the light of your life?”

 

Her mother places the knitting on the table beside her chair and kneels down next to Anna, holding her hands in her own.  A loving yet perplexed look came across her face.  “Why would you ask me this?”

 

“I do not know.”

 

“Listen to me.  You need not ever worry that I would or even could ever stop loving you.  You will always be the light of my life.”

 

They fall into each other’s arms, hugging on another, and sit silently in the moment created.

 

———

 

Anna woke up, again in a dazed state, this time, though, she was right where she remembered.  She must have been sleeping for sometime because the room darkened in the evening sky.  Candles were already lit on the tables and a log sat smoldering in the fireplace.  Her mother’s words floated in from the next room.  She must have been talking on the telephone.

 

“Yes doctor, worse than it has ever been.  First it was pain in the stomach but has now has moved to aches all over—There is a fever now, too—No, I do not think she knows—I understand—I will—Thank you, doctor.  Have a nice evening as well.  Goodbye.”

 

Anna walked around the corner and into the room, finding her mother at the chair by the phone.  “Hi mama.  Who was that?”  She could see the same look in her mother’s eye as the one from the bookstore just the day before.  Perspiration shined off her face.

 

“It…it was your aunt.”  She changed the subject, hoping Anna would not press the phone conversation.  “You slept nearly all day.  My, you must have been tired.”

 

Anna answered back, but was thinking back to the night with the faun.  “Yes, I was.”

 

“I do not have much of an appetite but would you like me to fix you something?”

 

“Yes, please.”

 

As Anna ate her dinner, her mother sat at the table and watched her.  Anna loved these quite moments where saying nothing at all said everything you needed to say.  They looked into each other’s eyes, smiling.  She loved her mother.  She did not know what she would ever do without her.

 

After dinner, Anna went up to bed, her mother again tucking her in.  She hummed the same lullaby quietly to Anna.  Slowly, Anna drifted off to sleep.  Her mother kissed her on the forehead.  “I will love you…always.”  Her mother walked to the door and turned to once again look at her daughter sleep peacefully.  Closing the door, she left Anna to her dreams.

 

———

 

That night, Anna did not lie awake in bed listening to the old house moaning and creaking.  She restfully slept unlike she ever had before.  But the home did not.  It groaned more than ever and new sounds began to emerge in the darkness.  The house scratched and clawed at the silence it disturbed.  Unbeknown to Anna, the night grew darker than in had ever been.  The shadows crept inward toward her bed, little by little blocking the moon light that poured in through her window.  A figured appeared, black and featureless against the moon light.  Slowly it moved over to Anna and stood over her.  It whispered softly.

 

“Anna.”

 

She did not stir.

 

“Anna.”  The figure reached out, its hand exposed to the light.  This time Anna woke, her eyes coming to the looming figure.  She tried to scream but its hand was instantly over her mouth.  “Do not be afraid, Anna.”  The figure let go of her and moved fully into the light.  The faun!

 

“You frightened me very much!  Why would you do such a thing?!”

 

The faun seemed nervous.  His words were still carefully chosen but there was haste in his voice.  “I am sorry, my dear.  Time grows short.  You must come with me quickly.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“There is no time to explain.  You must come with me now!”

 

“Does this have to do with my name?”

 

“Shhh…they are listening.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Them.”

 

Suddenly the house shouted out with all its might, creaking and moaning like it never had before.  Anna screamed as a shadow moved across the room and by the window.  The faun covered over her, protecting her from harm.

 

“We must leave now!”

 

Anna jumped toward her door.  “My mother!”

 

The faun, grabbing her by the arm, stopped Anna in her tracks.  “Child, you would never make it.  Come with me quickly.”  The faun ran to the window, nearly dragging Anna behind him.  She looked over her shoulder at the light shining through the crack beneath her door.  The candle light still burned on, but in an instant, flickered and was gone.

 

“Mother!”  Anna collapsed to the floor of her room, tears rolled down her cheek.

 

The faun scooped her up in his arms and jumped out the open window.  He leaped from the roof and dashed across the garden with swiftness that Anna never knew possible.  As they reached the edge of the woods, the faun stopped and put Anna down.  He looked down at the watch on his wrist, its face that of the clock in his cottage.

 

“It should be growing to morning.  They have changed it!”

 

“Who is ‘they’?  What have they changed?”

 

“They are not letting the sun rise.  We must hurry!”

 

They both dashed into the woods, jumping over rocks and fallen trees.  Anna could see images flashing through the leaves beside her.  They were being chased, but by what, Anna did not know.  She felt that she could her whispers faintly as they ran seemingly in the direction of the faun’s home.  Then, through the whispers, bellowed a loud howl and snarl.  The faun skidded to a halt in front of Anna and she crashed into the back of him.  As she got up and tried to go around him, he pushed her back behind himself, shielding her from something.  She peeked around his side, seeing nothing but the flickering of his candles a short distance away.  They were in the small opening around his house.

 

“Why did we st—”

 

Then Anna saw it, the reason they had stopped their flight through the woods.  There in front of them and blocking the house was the largest wolf she had ever seen.  It stood as tall as Anna, its bristled black fur shining in the moonlight.  It had a hunched back but in no way did the creature look weak or feeble.  Its yellow green starred back, piercing through them.  It continued to snarl and growl at them, tense, ready to strike at any moment.

 

“Stay behind me!”  The faun frantically searched in the leather bag he carried but all the while kept his eyes fixed on the wolf in front of them.  Finally, he pulled out some sort of wooden object.  Anna did not know what it was until he started playing it.  It was a pan flute.  He played a peculiar tune, unknown to Anna but evidently the faun had known it for years.  The song flowed out of the small wooden pipes and into the air.  Unexpectedly, the wolf stopped growling and looked toward the east.  Anna looked, too, but saw nothing.  She looked up at the faun to see his reaction.  His eyes were on the east horizon, squinted as if waiting for something.  Was there something?  Yes!  Just above the skyline a small film of light that grew with every thump of their beating hearts.  Up into the sky rose the sun.  The wolf leapt out of the clearing and into the trees and was gone in an instant.  Anna whirled around to see what was chasing them.  She saw dark figures dash across the ground in the rising light and jump into the shrinking shadows.  Then they vanished, as if into thin air.  As the last ray of sunshine poured onto the ground, Anna saw one of the figures race to a shadow only for it to disappear.  It fell to the ground, steaming and smoking in the sunlight.  It slowly melted away, leaving behind only a black, wool cloak.

 

“Are we safe?”

 

“Yes, for now.  Come, let us go into my home.  I have much to tell you.”

 

They went into his cottage and sat in their respective chairs in front of the fireplace.  The faun lit up his pipe and they sat for a moment, recuperating from the events that just had passed.  It was Anna who broke the silence.

 

“What were those creatures chasing us?”

 

The faun took a puff of his pipe and looked down at Anna.  “A very long time ago, many years before the Time of the Star, before the Age of Shadows, there was The Before Time.  During this time the earth was filled with many creatures living together in peace.  There were no humans.  A wise king ruled over them.  He lived high in the fog of the mountains, watching and guiding the creatures through their lives.  He never led them into darkness, into hate.  But the world would soon know what hate was.  A certain creature let darkness grow in their heart.  The darkness led to hatred and soon they disrupted the peace that filled the earth.  The creatures climbed high into the mountains and up through the fog.  There they took the king’s knife and stabbed him through the heart.  As he lay on the floor of the royal chamber, his life slowly fading away, he banished the creatures into the shadows so that they never would be able to enjoy the light of the world.  Even in his dying moment, the king fought to save the earth.  The creatures had succeeded in their hate but fled to the shadows so as to not be burned by the sun.  There they stayed for a score of years, but all the while plotting more hate.  One day they covered the world over with a dark cloud so that the whole earth was a shadow.  They were free again.  Without a king, the other creatures were not able to defend themselves.  Some where mislead and became followers of the dark creatures.  Others escaped into hiding, away from the evil that grew in the world.  The rest of the creatures were trapped in the Realm of the Underground.  There they wait to be rescued, even today.”

 

Anna stared at the fire for a moment, wondering whether to believe what she had just heard.  “What were the dark creatures?”

 

“No one knows for sure.  They have been in the darkness for too long.  Their face has not been seen for thousands of years.  They hide beneath their cloaks, ashamed of what they have become.  Today, though, they are known as the People of the Dark.”

 

“Is that what was chasing us?”

 

“Yes.  They live in the shadows all around, in the woods, in towns, and even in your home.  It is they that make the houses creak at night.”

 

“What were they going to do with us?”

 

“The People of the Dark have kept the past secret for so many years.  Every so often, some one would get too close to the truth, they would figure out too much, and they were murdered.”

 

“They were going to murder us?!”

 

“I am afraid so.  They have figured out that you are The Guardian.  If they can kill you, then they can once again cover the earth in darkness.  Just as time is growing short for the creatures of old, so to the time is growing short for the People of the Dark.  Their numbers grow few.”

 

“And what about the giant wolf?”

 

“What you saw was not a wolf.  It was the Jaka, a disciple of the People of the Dark, the only one of its kind.”

 

“Does it hate light, too, just like the People of the Dark?”

 

“Just as the People of the Dark, it too can be burned by the sun, but neither hate light.  The People of the Dark love the light, however they are banished from it and thus have built up much hate in their hearts.”

 

“Did you go into hiding all those years ago, away from the hate and darkness?”

 

“Yes.  There are few of us left though, those who went into hiding.  Time grows short for the creatures, soon they will be lost forever.”

 

“What of humans?”

 

“Ah, yes, the second part of the story.  The humans were not on the earth during The Before Time or during the Age of Shadows.  They came to earth from the stars; it was they who began the Time of the Star.  When they came they brought light and goodness back to the earth.  They sent the People of the Dark back to the shadows.  They also brought with them new creatures, the ones that you know of today.  The humans were to free the creatures of old from their prison but the People of the Dark erased the memory of the creatures and even themselves from the minds of the humans.  If humans were to remember, they would destroy the People of the Dark.”

 

“Why can you do nothing?”

 

“Only humans have the power to save the creatures for they are not from The Before Time.  And from the humans, it is only the Guardian that can free them.”

 

“Am I to free the creatures?”

 

“It can only be you.”

 

“How am I to free them?”

 

“You are to use the key to unlock the secret.”

“But I have no key.  I do not understand.”

 

“At a later time, when it is right, you will understand.”

 

Anna sat for a long time, pondering over this bizarre creature and the story he told.  The faun sat silent, waiting on Anna.

 

“Why should I free them?”

 

The faun took his pipe out of his mouth, a confused look on his face.  He had clearly not expected Anna to say that.  “And why would you not want to free them.  They have been unjustly imprisoned!”  His voice was growing stern.  “It is your responsibility to free them.  You must!”  He was standing over Anna with anger in his eyes.  But as she stared into his eyes, they grew soft again, even turning sad.  “My family is there, trapped with little hope left.  You are that hope.  If you do not save them, they will be gone forever.  Please Anna, I beg of you.”

 

She looked at the faun and put a hand kindly on his cheek, he was at eye level for he had fallen to his knees.  “I will do what I must.”

 

“Thank you, child.”

 

“What is it I must do, then?”

 

“You must travel to a place where not even the sun can shed light, to the place of The Dead Tree.  It stands at the center of a labyrinth which is said to be unnavigable.  Next to the tree is The Well of Truth.  At the bottom you will find The Light of the Great Fairy.  Only if you believe will you reach the bottom.  Use the light to guide your way through the tree.  Find your way to its core.  There you will discover a knife stabbed into the heart of the tree, the very knife that was used to kill The King.  Once you have removed the knife, the tree will live again.  Return to the surface and at the highest branch of the tree will grow a key, the key to this very box.”  He gestures to the box above the fireplace.  “Climb up and take the key.  It is most important that you keep The Light of the Great Fairy with you, for it will keep away the guardian of The Dead Tree—”

 

“Who is the guardian?”

 

“The Jaka.  The light will keep it away from you and will allow The Eagle to find you so as to bring you back to me.  Bring also with you the knife and the key.  It is with these relics you will bring an end to The People of the Dark and a beginning of a new life for the creatures of old.”

 

“Will I travel alone?”

 

“Do you mean will I come with you?  No.”

 

“Why can you not come with me?”

 

“It is very complicated, dear.  I will provide whatever aid I can to you before you leave but I cannot be of any further assistance once you are gone.  Though I cannot accompany you, I will send my fairies along to guide you through your journey.”  The two white butterflies flew down and landed in the arm of Anna’s chair.

 

“Fairies?  But these are butterflies.”

 

“So humans call them.  But they are truly fairies.  They are the only creature that has remained in plain sight of the humans.”

 

“And what will you do?”

 

“I am The Keeper of the Secret and so I must remain with it.  I will sit and wait for your return.”

 

“And if I do not return?”

 

“All hope will be lost.”

 

In the course of the day, Anna learned more than she ever could have about the past earth and its creatures.  The faun explained to her what she may come across and warned her of many dangers.  She would witness things she never thought possible, see things that no human had ever seen.  Along the way, she would be protected by the light of the fairies from the People of the Dark.  However, she was to make haste in her journey for they would soon not fear the fairies anymore.  It was a dangerous path, one with little help, little safety, and little certainty.

 

That night Anna was restless, her mind filled with what she learned.  Her whole life had changed in a matter of days and she was about to venture into a world that she never knew existed.  What lay ahead?  What should she expect?  What would she find?

 

Anna shuddered beneath the covers of the faun’s massive oak bed with every creak of the little old cottage.  “Faun...”

 

The faun sat in his armchair, slowly puffing away in the low, flickering light from the fire.  “Yes, child?”

 

“What you said about The People of the Dark…is it true?”

 

“Why would I tell you anything but the truth?”

 

“I am afraid.  They will be following me.”

 

“Yes, that is true.”

 

“Are they watching me now?”

 

“From the trees.”

 

Anna lied back down, motionless in the dark, listening to each splintering creak.  She again sat up.  “Faun…”

 

“Yes, Anna.”

 

“You said that they are the reason that homes creak in the night.”

 

“Fear not for this place is older than I and has earned its right to talk.  Sleep, child.  You will need the rest.  Tonight, here, you are safer than you ever have been before.  I will watch over you.”

 

Anna lied back down onto the soft bed.  She pulled the thick quilt up to her chin and drifted off into sleep.

Reviews

[Tiffany]

I love this chapter and the ones before it. So wonderfull and strange and magical. You got talent

[Mavis Bard]

This is a well-developed chapter. The intensity of the Jaka chasing Faun and Anna is very strong. My own personal taste would be to rephrase 'Anna lied on the couch,' and/or 'Anna lied back down', especially the latter, because of her exhaustion overtaking her at the end of the chapter.

The only real thing I had beef with was Mother. Where did she go? What happened to her? If I was Anna I would be deeply grieved (even after the event, especially afterwards), having time to think about it; more so with the powerful moments of Anna's strongly intensified unconditional love for Mother in this chapter. And Faun only happened to mentioned his family being imprisoned; nothing about Anna's mother. Even if it doesn't get explained in this chapter I think it should be addressed. Aside from that, very good chapter.