"What in the world was that?"
Willow, Tallulah, and Puck had dismounted the wagon a little ways back when the farmer had stopped to rest. Tallulah configured that they were not very far from her brother's shop, claiming the scraggily tree-line was beginning to look familiar. So, without much protest, they had jumped from their ride and began the rest of their journey on foot. The sirens had blared not long after that, and the two sprites exchanged a frantic look.
"That's the prison break sirens. They know we've escaped." Puck declared.
"It's okay, it's okay! We're almost there! My brother is just beyond that hill!" Tallulah assured them by pointing ahead about three hundred feet. They made their way over in no time at all, and it was when they finally approached the house when something felt completely off. The door was shut and locked, with no lights on inside. Something Tallulah knew was completely rare of her brother to do. Puck and Willow stood patiently off in the distance as the female sprite searched every nook and cranny of the outside of the place. She finally threw her hands out in defeat, giving an exasperated sigh.
"It doesn't make sense. He should be here." Tallulah cried in distress. A sudden rustle from their right made them all turn their attention to the source. Out from behind a group of bushes walked four trolls, all dressed in cloaks and weapons of various sizes and types. The last to come into view was someone very familiar to Willow. She narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
"…..Briar?" She mumbled. The male troll shoved himself to his feet, brushing his cloak off and giving a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Uh….hey, Willow. Um…..we're here to-!" He began to explain, but Shale jumped in front of him excitedly.
"We're here to rescue you!" He informed her. Willow's eyes widened in surprise as she looked between the three trolls that accompanied Briar, her eyes landing on the tallest of them all. He was looking at her in a way that made her want to blush profusely. He strutted forward, a devilish look in his eye.
"Say, you got a sister?" Colt asked her, arching his brow in interest and leaning against the fence. Briar felt a flare of jealousy and was about to tell him to leave her alone, but Willow shoved herself away and frowned.
"Um, it's very nice of you all to come here but…..I've already got a rescue team." She said, gesturing to the two sprites who had, up until this point, been silently analyzing the group of trolls.
"Yeah. She's with us, ya lousy purebloods! Scram!" Tallulah defended, waving a dismissive hand in their direction.
"Hey, we're only trying to help, lady!" Tez argued, furrowing his brows in anger. However, Briar shoved himself between the two groups and looked to the Princess.
"Willow, your parents. They're waiting for you at the edge of the city." He informed her. She gasped softly, covering her mouth for a moment as she tried to register what had just passed his lips.
"My parents?" She whispered before looking him dead in the eye. Briar watched as her surprise slowly turned to skepticism. Once again narrowing her eyes and giving a frown, she spoke. "You're lying."
"No, I'm not. I brought them here so you could all go home together." Briar argued, feeling that pang of hurt in his chest at her disbelief in his words. She put a hand on her hips, giving a roll of her eyes before speaking again.
"Oh, right. And what's in it for you, huh? Another trinket?" She jabbed bitterly. He took a few steps towards her, his eyes cast gently on her small form. She truly was almost completely half his size. The very top of her head (excluding the peak of blackish-blue hair) came to just past his shoulder.
"Please, Willow. You have to believe me." He said, trying to keep his composure so he did not appear weak to her in his pleading.
"Ha! As if I'll ever make that mistake again!" She snapped, her pink eyes continuing to seethe into his brown ones as he blinked back tears.
Okay, that one stung. Far worse than any other fate he could have imagined for them. He could only stare at her in disbelief. He didn't know what to do or what to say. It seemed that in all ways possible, he had completely crushed her trust. Perhaps for all time.
"Miss Princess, if I may." Colt took a step forward, making both Willow and Briar look to him in surprise. The very tall troll sighed. "I know you have no desire to really trust any of us, and that's totally understandable. But…do you really think Briar would get us all together if he was lying? I mean, sure. He did lie to you, took you hundreds of miles away from home and is basically the cause of everything recent to happen to you."
"Colt." Briar pleaded through the side of his mouth, giving him a glare. He held up a hand to signal he wasn't finished, then continued.
"But Briar…..he's like family to us. He's gotten us through a lot of stuff, and we know that once he sets his heart on something, he puts everything he's got into it." The troll looked to Briar, who was looking on his friend with slight surprise at his alarmingly wise words. Willow too, it seemed, had softened slightly in her demeanor at his words. Colt locked eyes with her again, his green eyes quite determined. "And right now, he has his heart set on getting you home. So, you can trust that that's what we're going to do."
The troll Princess glanced between them all, taking a few extra glances at Briar with her arms tightly crossed across her chest. She sighed, allowing her shoulders to slump a little.
"We'll see." Her skeptic answer was not the worst one they were expecting, so it was with that that the entire group, including Tallulah and Puck, started to follow the Huntsmen back the way of which they came. It seemed as if an entire world stretched out beneath their feet as row upon row of shacks and run-down buildings lined the countryside before them.
Briar had taken a silent care to press himself close to Willow's side without seeming too overbearing, his hand hovering away from his body in case he had to snatch for his sword. The crash of something behind them made them all snap to look. The same trolls dressed in earthen colored uniforms were making a straight beeline towards them, their spears primed and ready. Willow gasped.
"The Royal Guard! RUN!" Tez screamed, and the group took off running at breakneck speed.
"This way!" Briar called, directing them towards a canal that stretched far beyond possible jumping distance. A large, scraggily tree sat on the other side, its creaking branches spreading and stretching over the canal before stopping in the dead center. Hanging from the farthest branch hung a thick rope, frayed at the end but long enough to use for swinging. Unfortunately, it too was out of arm's reach, and they were running out of time.
"We'll never get across!" Shale cried. Willow looked to the rope for a moment, squinting her eyes in though before extending out an arm to stop them from moving any closer.
"Hold on." She yelled to the group, and they watched as she whipped her hair about for a moment, causing it to extend far beyond what was physically possible and loop around the rope with ease. She pulled it to her effortlessly, releasing her grip on the coarse material before giving them a triumphant smile. However, it faltered immediately at the sight of everyone's baffled expressions. Save for Briar, who smiled at her slightly.
"What?" She asked, giving a shrug.
"I thought the hair thing was a myth." Tallulah muttered, pointing to her own hair for emphasis.
"Nope. Very much real. Now come on! Are we all just gonna stand here and wait for those clowns to catch up to us?" She encouraged before turning to the Huntsmen. "No offense."
"None taken. The Royal Guard is a bunch of tightwads." Colt immediately assured her, taking hold of the rope and swinging across. He threw it back over, and this process went on repeat until everyone was across and once again barreling through the streets.
"Ugh, we'll never make it to the edge of the city without being caught now!" Briar complained as he saw more Royal Guardsmen join the already existing group that was right on them.
"There has to be some place we can hide!" Willow cried with impatience ringing from her tone. Everyone began racking their brains, but a small gasp amidst their group made them turn to the source.
"There is!" Shale yelled excitedly.
"Well, ya better direct us there fast, because those guardsmen look pretty ticked!" Tallulah encouraged the young troll, giving the pack a backwards worried look at how malicious of a force they looked to be. They moved with quiet precision, and feet were in time as they ran in a tight formation.
"Alright, ya'll! Follow me!" Shale instructed, taking a sharp left and causing the rest of them to scramble to a stop and sprint to catch up.
Over and under many obstacles they went, trying to keep sights locked on the white hair of their guide. Before too long, they found themselves amidst an array of piping, like ones you would find in an abandoned shipyard. Steam poured from manholes like white clouds in heavy bursts, releasing into the air and disappearing within moments. It was here that Shale slowed considerably, which raised high alarm in everyone else.
"Uh, Shale? Might I remind you that the Royal Guard is right on our tail?" Tez pointed out.
"Awh, quit your worrying! They'll never follow us into here. The spacing is too narrow." Shale informed them. As they continued to move in odd angles and directions to avoid running into the dripping, rusting coils of metal all around them, they found it to be true. Unless one was dressed and built as they were, there was no getting through in a timely or useful manner.
"Sooooo where exactly are we?" Willow asked, her eyes permanently turned upwards as she observed every spot she could.
"Nowhere of consequence." Shale answered, lifting on a particular manhole that opened up into an underground walkway of sorts, a ladder lining the side wall for their convenience.
"A bunker!" Willow cried excitedly, recognizing the layout immediately.
"Yes. Only the finest one in all of homeland! My entire family spent years building it. Convinced that there was going to be an eventual war between the sprites and purebloods." Shale gave them a small history lesson before looking to them all expectantly.
"Well, in ya go!" He ordered in a cheerful manner.
"Wait a minute, how deep does this thing go?" Tallulah asked, staring down into it skeptically. However, her answer did not come as the entire group slowly made their way down. Once hitting the bottom, they came across an illustrious storage room that was painted and decorated almost like a standard living room, with shelf after shelf of food and necessities lining the far wall.
"Wow. Pretty nice for a bunker." Puck commented as he looked around in surprise.
"You got that right! There's everything we could possibly need!" Shale conferred.
"Except a way to the outskirts of the city." Willow replied with reluctance. A slightly awkward air fell over the group as Shale frowned.
"Yeah….." He drew out the word for a long moment before Tez let out a loud groan, giving his back a nice stretch.
"Well, I dunno about any of you, but I'm gonna catch some shuteye." He said, slipping his cloak off and setting himself down on a crate nearby. Willow's eyes widened in alarm, and she looked around for a moment.
"Hold on, we're going to stay here for the night?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah. Duh. What, do you think we're really going to try and make it out of town with those Royal Guardsmen on us? They may be tightwads, but they're ruthless at their job. Trust me, Princess, we're better off where we're at until we can break away in the wee hours of the morning. It'll be the least likely time for guardsmen to be out." Colt replied in a matter-of-fact manner, and she sighed.
"But my parents…."
"Are waiting for you patiently and will be there in the morning." Briar finished her sentence for her, and she suddenly became aware of how close he was, even in the reasonably spacious room. "I gave them my crystal ball, just in case they wanted to check on us."
"But this spell….I don't know how long I have…." She argued in despair.
"You got it when you made your deal with Deveraux, right?" Briar asked. She nodded, and he returned the gesture as confirmation. "That particular life-draining spell takes a week to complete, so you still have at least two days to get back home. It'll be a piece of cake, but we can't dilly dally getting you to the edge of the city tomorrow. Once we do, you're home free. You can leave all of this behind." He explained, trying for once to sound optimistic. Willow watched him talk silently, her eyebrow arched slightly in thought at his words. When he did not receive a response from her, he gave a defeated sigh, turning away and taking up a spot on the opposite side of the room.
Sleepiness had begun to take its toll on the Princess as well, and she laid down on a rug nearby only to watch her vision completely fade out in a matter of minutes.
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It was a few hours later before Willow stirred from her nap. To her surprise, she found that all the Huntsmen were awake and settled in different areas throughout the room. Each one had different sets of tools and cleaning products set out as they tinkered and polished away at their respective equipment.
"I see that Sleeping Beauty has awakened." The Princess jumped at the sound of Colt's voice, the tallest troll giving her an amused smirk. She relaxed.
"Uhm….yeah. What…what's all this?" She asked, gesturing to the array of items spread around him.
"It's part of our daily upkeep. We have to sharpen and clean our weapons on a daily basis. You never know when Deveraux's going to make a surprise inspection." He explained. She took a look around again, then pursed her lips for a moment before speaking again.
"I see you guys all have different ones….how do you determine who gets what?"
"You choose it, just like you do with everything else as part of being a Huntsman. We all chose our weapons the day we signed up." Colt explained to her before his face fell. "That is….most of us got to."
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, completely confused. Colt glanced off to his right, and Willow did as well to realize he was looking at the very troll who had gotten her into her predicament.
"Briar…..he was ordered to become a Huntsman." Colt informed her, and she furrowed her brow for a moment.
"….ordered?" Willow parroted on a whisper, and Colt slowly nodded. The Princess could see Briar out of the corner of her eye continuing to sharpen his sword.
"Nobody knows why. He refuses to talk about it. Whenever we bring it up, he always changes the subject or moves on to something different to avoid any more questions. He was the only one in our entire class that was forced to be there." Colt looked over to him for a moment with Willow following his gaze. "Ah, but that doesn't mean he didn't earn his keep. He was stubborn, rude at times. It took forever for us to get him to talk to us about anything." Colt locked eyes with her for a moment. "But he was strong, determined. He defeated the reigning champion of the Huntsmen tournament with that sword in his hand. I've never seen a more driven soul."
Willow tore her gaze away from him to watch Briar again for a moment. His shoulder-blade muscles rippled underneath his tunic as he worked his way down the length of the blade, the left side of his face alit from the lantern setting on that side. He had rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, putting emphasis on some pleasantly defined biceps and forearms for a troll. She blinked rapidly to get the accumulating thoughts out of her head.
"Well, Princess, it's been nice talking to you, but I should probably hit the sack. We're gonna need all the energy we can get tomorrow." With that, Colt turned from her, but she barely took notice as she continued to keep a steady gaze on the young troll just mere feet away from her. She got to her feet, making her way over silently. Upon coming into Briar's field of vision, she saw him shift his gaze slightly to look at her feet, but otherwise did not lift them any further to meet her face.
"You've been working on that sword for a while now…..is it even close to being done?" She asked, trying to sound humble and curious rather than condescending. It seemed to work as he replied to her calmly after setting down one tool and picking up another.
"Mostly. A true swordsman never finishes sharpening his sword. Keeps him in check. Gives him something to take care of when he's not on a mission." Briar spoke like a true textbook, and Willow sat down across from him cautiously. He did not look up at her, a rather stained rag in his fist as he began to polish the metal. Something burned deep within her core, something that always seemed to grow whenever she looked at him. With an urging mind, she finally decided to address something that had been on in her thoughts since she arrived at homeland.
"So, everything you told me back in that field….you said it wasn't all a lie. Which parts were non-fiction?" She asked. Willow observed the pain flash across his eyes before he spoke, slow and soft.
"I really was eight years old when I started training to be a Huntsman. I was dragged around the countryside with every other kid learning things that no child should learn at that age." He explained. She could tell she had hit a soft spot, and chose to shift the subject to avoid him shutting her out.
"So, how old are you now?" Willow asked, genuinely curious as she realized she had never truly found out. It was then that Briar's eyes flicked to hers for a moment, and he chuckled. A sound she was not expecting to hear but welcome nonetheless.
"How old do you think I am?" He asked as he placed his sword down for a moment to offer up all of his attention to her. A silent gesture that did not go unnoticed by the Princess.
Ugh, don't play that game with me. Willow thought but did not say.
"I have no clue. But judging by the fact that you were eight when you started training, and you mentioned before that you've been a Huntsman for at least ten years, that would make you-!" She faded off as Briar genuinely laughed at her. It was startling to Willow how lovely it sounded. Yet another discovery she had made about him that was pleasant. But with feverish determination, she once again shooed the impending emotions away.
"Alright, math genius, I'll save you the trouble." He said, giving a small pause before looking down to pick up the rag and wipe the oil from his hands. "I'm twenty-three." Willow's face fell.
"Oh." She mumbled, lowering her gaze to the floor. That earned her another chuckle from him.
"You sound disappointed." He pointed out accusingly but with an air of playfulness. She felt a small heat rise to her cheekbones in embarrassment.
"Not disappointed…just….surprised. You're older than I thought you were." She blurted out before she could stop it, and he looked up in confusion.
"Why's that such a surprise? You're what, twenty-one?" He asked, giving her a nonchalant once-over. Willow blushed a little heavier, her eyes darting to the floor once more as she clasped her hands together tightly.
"I'm nineteen." She informed him. She watched his own face fall in surprise slightly, but quickly recover to his previous expression of curiosity.
"Wow, really? So, you haven't even hit the big two-o yet?" He prodded.
"Nope." Willow conferred before he looked away for a moment.
"Wow." He whispered. Willow giggled, making him look up at her again with a hint of wonder in his eyes.
"Now who sounds disappointed?" She jabbed.
"I'm not, I just assumed you were older because you act like it….not that that's a bad thing, I just wish I had half the brains that you do." He rambled, making the goofy prospect of her current mood fall away to genuine interest in his words. Sensing her watchful gaze, he cleared his throat loudly and kept his eyes darting every which way to avoid her pink orbs.
"So, uh, when's your birthday?" He
"I just had it not too long ago….October 7th." She answered, bringing her knees up to her chest to hug them close.
"Hm. Good day. Mine's April 18th." He said with a bit of pep in his tone, as if he was excited to tell her when he had come into the world. However, she only nodded sweetly.
"Hm."
There was a long pause between the two of them, and Willow suddenly felt the weight of their situation begin to bear down on her once more. She felt herself begin to droop in body and spirit, and she rested her cheek on her left knee and looked away from Briar.
"If things keep going the way they are, I have a feeling that that was the last birthday I'll ever celebrate." She mumbled, hoping her tone was low enough for him not to hear. Unfortunately, she was not the only one gifted with sharp hearing.
"Stop that right now." Briar's posture had straightened and his eyebrows were furrowed in a sudden flare of anger at her words. This startled Willow, her eyes locking with his.
"Stop what?" She whimpered.
"Talking like that. We're getting you home tomorrow, okay? If it's the last thing we ever do." He declared firmly. She could only watch him for a moment, seeing something else flicker behind his agitated look. Before she could stop herself, she was inching closer to him with her eyes searching his face. This sent Briar into a frenzy and his anger fell away. He could only focus on the slight change in warmth as she neared him. Finally, she took the liberty to speak.
"Why did you come back?" She whispered, her voice tender and confused with a tone light as air. Briar just stared at her, his words lodging like an immovable lump in his throat. "You had everything you wanted. It was over and done with for you. Why come back?" His head cleared for a moment and he stared into her soul, reaching deep within himself for the words he had wanted to say for a while now.
"Because nobody deserves this." He whispered. His declaration was mysterious and quite dark in nature, and Willow wanted so desperately to understand why he was so closed off. He became more and more of a puzzle the more she knew him, and it intrigued her. She wanted to dig further, to understand his psychology. What had happened to him?
"Briar…" She mumbled, reaching out to touch his face. His eyes flew open and his heart was racking against his chest to anticipate her next move, but all of it fell away in a sudden cry from her throat. She retracted her hand in a flash, tilting her chin downwards into her chest in pain. She let her arm give out beneath her, and in a flash Briar was holding her in his arms.
"What happened?" Tallulah asked, awake and running over to them.
"The spell. It's growing." Briar informed her as they all watched Willow's teal skin begin to fade in vibrancy. A few strands of her remaining blue bangs began to fade into black as well, making Willow shudder in distress.
"Hold on, girly. Just hold still." Tallulah begged, taking out the vial again. Unfortunately, the contents were beginning to dwindle drastically.
"A topical antidote? Is that all you could get?" Briar asked frantically, looking down on Willow in worry as she rested her head in his lap. His hands were resting on her shoulders gently, and her eyelids drooped considerably as they fought to look up at him.
"Not much you can do from a prison cell, pretty boy." Tallulah snapped. The nickname threw him off, but he said nothing in return as she quickly applied some more to the Princess' skin, the other Huntsmen and Puck looking on in worry. To everyone's delight, Willow came to again. However, her color did not improve and she was still fighting to keep her eyes open.
"Come on, Princess. We aren't wasting anymore time down here." She declared, grabbing the Princess' hand and beginning to pull her to her feet.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you crazy? It's only half past ten!" Shale cried.
"Willow needs to get home. And she's not doing that so long as she's standing around here!" The sprite hollered impatiently.
"The Royal Guards are still crawling around out there! If you go out there, you put everyone's lives on the line!" Briar scolded.
"Better than waiting for them to assemble enough forces to take us down without so much as a blink of an eye!" Tallulah argued, her hand still wrapped around Willow's wrist.
"Come on, guys. Let's be reasonable about this." Colt pleaded for a moment.
"Are you trying to help or not?" Willow asked, growing impatient as well. They all looked between one another, completely at a loss on what to do.
"We're either in this together or we're not. I'm going to see my parents. End of discussion." Willow continued before hoisting herself up onto the ladder that led up to the trap door. Tallulah gave all of them one last hard look before following her with Puck not too far behind. Briar looked to his fellow Huntsmen before giving a long sigh.
"I have a bad feeling about this." He said, grabbing a hold of the closest rung and climbing up after them.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
They all were huddled around the crystal, watching intently as the scenes of the last few hours played across them.
"Oh my god, what's happening to her?" Poppy fussed as Branch and her laid eyes on their daughter for the first time in a while. She was making her way through the streets with Briar, a group of purebloods, and two very tiny beings with wings, something they had never seen before.
"I'm no expert, but it looks as if someone's put a spell on her." Sage replied.
"But why? For what purpose?" Canella asked, almost as frantic as Branch and Poppy.
"I don't know." Sage insisted.
"Oh, we should have never stayed here. We need to go! She needs us!"
"No! No, Your Majesty, we have to stay here like my brother asked. We'd just be getting in the way." Aloe pleaded.
"Because nobody deserves this."
"What does he mean?" Poppy asked Aloe, who was watching her brother speak with a deep frown on her face.
"There's….a lot about this world that you don't know about, Your Highness. Secrets….deadly secrets….things that would make the toughest troll cower in fear..." Aloe said in a foreboding manner. It quite unnerved the group of trolls as they watched the two purebloods exchange a look. However, Branch was keeping a steady eye on the crystal, where he watched Willow and Briar interact very closely.
"Wow, she really is pretty." Aloe commented softly as she too returned her attention to the scene unfolding before them. Branch and Poppy both looked up at her at this, their expressions flattered but curious as to why she put it in such a way. She chuckled nervously, realizing she was once again putting her foot in her mouth on her brother's behalf. Before she could utter a coverup statement, a commotion made them all look again and they watched as Willow's color continued to fade as the small winged woman applied something to her face.
"Oh no." Aloe mumbled.
"What? What is it?" Verne asked. She frowned.
"Like Sage said, we're no experts. But the topical use of an antidote is used on only one type of spell…." Aloe explained before Sage added on quietly. "….life-draining."
"We're either in this together or we're not. I'm going to see my parents. End of discussion."
The two monarchs watched their daughter firmly make her declaration and begin climbing to the surface.
"Come on. We'll meet her halfway." Poppy declared before taking off from their hiding spot.
"Wait, Your Majesty!" Aloe cried after her. Branch, Verne, and Canella all followed her out into the open.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As she emerged from the trap door, Willow put both hands on either side of the opening to push herself up the rest of the way. Once standing again, she turned around to start helping Tallulah pull herself up.
"Come on, guys. I think the coast is clear." Willow said confidently without looking up.
"I'm afraid you're very wrong, my dear."
She gasped, looking up into the beady eyes of Deveraux and Igor, surrounded by at least thirty Royal Guardsmen. The moonlight was bright and cast ominous shadows all around them, and every had frozen in place as dread began filling the air.
No. Willow thought, feeling her heart shatter all over again as her conjured hope of seeing her parents again were once again cast into the dirt.
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So yet another cliffhanger! I do so hate and love myself for doing this to ya'll, but I just can't resist! Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Much love to all of you! See you in the next chapter!
Sincerely,
Heartforhumanity845