"I'm guessing this we are getting closer to this temple?" Seth asked as the scenery had changed from the once beautiful setting like the Enchanted Forest.
The trees had turned gnarly, no leaves present on their branches, and the wood looking decayed or like bones. Less grass and rather dirty ground. Ivy snaked around many trees or rocks. And there were the cliche hoots of owls once in a while in the darken part of the forest. The only appealing aesthetic were the glowing blue mushrooms that marked the way.
Holden's horn glowed as he was contributing to lighting the way for the others. Hannah also provided help by throwing a few quills on a few trees to mark their way back.
"By the trees that resemble the usual scary designs and environment that remind me of Jeremy's 'improvements'? Yeah, we must be close," says Kayla.
Seth had another question on his mind, "If there really a traitorous elf that guards the library?"
"Well, no one really knows the reasoning," Hannah explained, "There have only been rumors after all."
"So none of you have ever met this elf?" Seth inquired.
"We can't do much," Heaven told him, "While we are part animal now, we have animal instincts and behaviors. We have to find food now. Everyone is really glad that me and Brandon swapped to a more plant based diet. But I digress."
"Plus after hearing these descriptions, the elf is quite scary. I heard they have beady eyes, a hulking body, even eat the flesh of humans and fairies alike!" Holden either exaggerated or said truthfully. It was hard to tell.
Seth shuttered at the claim, "Really?!" he incredulous asked.
"Relax," Kayla reassured the human, "They're are just rumors, plus Holden likes to exaggerate."
"I do not!" the unicorn said.
"You do," the doe retorted.
"Do not!"
"Do!"
"Do not!"
"Do!"
Heaven face palmed at the two fairies bickering while others kept silent before they eventually ended their squabble. Their walk soon ended as they came across a set of large doors with ornate coverings in a large tree. They were made of wood and metal, similar to castle gates. They seemed to be old as moss grew and rust was seen in the metal hinges of the door.
"I take it, this is our destination," Seth guessed before taking out the leaf. He held it out the doors in hope for something to happen. Which it did as the doors began to shimmer with magic. A loud rumble began as the doors swung open, a large creaking noise as the joints opened for what seemed the first time in ages. As soon as the doors opened fully, a staircase that descend beneath the forest floor. Holden, being the one for adventure, walked in first.
"You guys coming or what?" he asked, the Chosen one and fairies following shortly after him. Seth came along shortly, the darkness and stairs leading down did nothing to calm his nerves.
"Come on!" Brooklyn insisted, "You're braver than you think."
"At least one of us thinks so," Seth muttered before descended into the library. While descending, the doors close behind them.
The group continued on their way, Seth thinking to himself. 'Come on, Seth. You can do this! Nothing to be afraid of... except maybe an elf of terrifying proportions. Focus! It's a simple mission: Enter. Get the book. And dip.'
The mission soon got.. complicated.
Turns out the library was enormous. It was in a large underground cavern with wooden pillars supporting it. Columns had torches that illuminated the area and show the way for those lost. And of course, there were plenty stacks of books. Luckily, there was a small pathway for the group to maneuver through. At the end of the pathway was a stone pedestal that looked to be the size for an elf.
"Would you look at these?" Hannah voiced aloud, "There must be dozens of books here!"
"Well, I suppose we should get searching," Heaven suggested, picking up a book before dusting it off.
"Wait, you expected me to search through all of these books?!" Holden emphasized before scoffing, "Yeah, no."
"Well, if you aren't going to help, why are you here?" Kayla deadpanned.
"To see the elf," the human unicorn stated.
Seth just rolled his eyes before picking a book himself. He dusted it off before seeing the title: "Tips on Getting Other Birds To Swoon Over You." He questioned the title before discarding it.
Their search came to end when a booming voice was heard, "Who goes there?!"
All current fairies tensed, going rigid before surveying the area. Seth joined them, now tense himself. They turned to see a shadow behind a large podium.
Holden managed to speak albeit with stuttering, "It's, uh, me... Holden the Magnificent! I'm sure you've heard of me."
"Someone's compensating..." Kayla whispered to which Hannah and Brooklyn to snicker before going rigid at the tone of the voice.
"I've never heard such folly tales of this 'Holden' you speak off! I don't know you... and you really don't wanna know me!"
"Yes, it has been great getting to know you. Welp! We tried. Guess we will never find the book!" Holden said quickly before strolling away. He was stopped when Heaven grabbed his shirt's collar. "Dang it."
"Yeah, you're not off the hook yet," the wolf-fairy snarled to the unicorn fairy.
"It's just... Well, we uh.. need the... uh.. Book of Forest Lore?" Hannah phrased in a question, hoping the elf was kind enough to give them the book.
"THE BOOK OF FOREST LOOOOOOORE?!" the elf roared, slamming his fists on the lectern. The impact caused the fairies and Seth to recoil at the sound.
"We need it for Jeremy!" Brooklyn emphasized before realizing what she said. "Wait! Not like tha-"
"YOU WORK WITH THE DARK ONE?!"
"No! We are fairies!" Heaven said before addressing Seth, "And one human. We came here from the Forest Guardian, Harrison!"
Seth took the liberty of speaking up this time, "He gave us this!" The Chosen One reached for the sigil leaf he was given before holding it out in front of himself.
The elf began to hunch down. He began to walk down the lectern revealing a black bear. Seth soon froze as the bear approached him. It sniffed the leaf before observing the party. It then glowed with a bright magical light before revealing a male in their mid-twenties with pointed ears and red hair. He had loose clothing that resembled foliage. His face broke out into a grin.
"My! Oh my! Guests! Where are my manners? My name is Simon!" the elf said in a gleefully tone. Seth and the fairies just stared at him in a confused fashion, unable to comprehend that the elf is acting nice.
"Wait, you're the 'terrifying' elf?" Hannah said.
"Oh that," Simon dismissed, "Sorry about that. It's just to defend the library from riff-raffs, you know? But don't tell anybody!" The bear elf began searching through the sea of books for something.
"Huh... Not what I was expecting..." Kayla said.
"Ha! I told you guys it was an act," Holden smugly said, rubbing his nose in a smart manner.
"Your pants say otherwise," Brooklyn quipped. Holden immediately looked down to his pants before seeing they were dry and glaring at the squirrel fairy.
"How did an elf like you betray the Enchanted Forest?" Heaven inquired, "You don't seem like the type to betray your kind, let alone jolly."
Simon began to take a solemn tone, "Oh that... I did it to spare my kind from Jeremy's wrath. But he didn't live up to his end of the bargain. He petrified them all into trees. I begged him not to but he did not listen. I worked on freeing them from their petrifaction but no luck. They are probably gone by now... Now I'm the only one here in the library."
Everyone soon began to realize what the elf had done was out of good intentions rather than devious needs. Seth gave a sympathetic pat on the elf's shoulders. "I promise you, we will defeat Jeremy." The fairies gave nods to acknowledge the claim, determined to take the sorcerer down.
Simon smiled at that, "Thank you. That means a lot to me. Oh, I made snacks for guests!" He gestured for the party come and placed stools for each of them. Not wanting to be rude, they all sat as Simon brought them the snacks. "What can I get you? I have tea, scones, cake, cheese, fruits..." the elf listed.
Holden immediately said, "Cake over here!" He eagerly took it and chewed it...
Before spitting it out in disgust. From the taste or dust, it was unclear.
"I made them myself," Simon informed, proud of his baking skills.
"When?" Holden retorted, now scrapping off his tongue from the cake he had tried. Kayla snickered at the unicorn's antics.
"So, tell me! How are things in the forest? How's my buddy Arsalan the First?" Simon asked, ignoring the mythical creature's insult to his baking.
"Retired... got any mints?" Holden said, smacking his lips.
"Really?" the elf said before becoming downcast, "Oh, well, that's all he ever talked about anyway... What about Meghan the Mighty?"
"Old fairies' home," Hannah answered.
"Grant the Third?"
"Bought himself a big wagon and now he's traveling the forest," Brooklyn informed.
The last two responses returned the elf to a dejected state, "Everyone's gone. Just like that... gone."
Simon flopped to the floor, accidentally morphing into his black bear alter ego. "You know what that means? I'm old!" He blew into his claws before getting disgusted with snot on them. "No one needs me!" The bear weeped.
Seth immediately butted in, "We need you! The Forest Guardian says there's a legend about the Magic Crystal. It's written in the Book of Forest Lore!"
Simon spares a glance at the human before noticing the Crystal in his headpiece, soon being enticed by it. "Oh my... Is that?... Yes... YES! It must be!" the bear soon cheered and reverted back to his elven form.
"It sure is," Holden commented.
"May I see the book?" Seth asked the gobsmacked elf.
Shaking from his stupor, Simon immediately responded, "Oh, absolutely! Right away!" The redhead elf ran through the many bookshelves, searching for the Book of Forest Lore. "My filing system is uh... state of the art."
"More like state of the crazy," Brooklyn muttered as she, the fairies and Seth followed the elf through the clusters of books. Simon was currently climbing a ladder to get to a top shelf. Trailing his fingers along the spines, he eventually found what he was looking for.
"A-ha!" The elf descended and made his way over to the travelers. "It looks exactly like this!" he said triumphantly before sheepishly adding, "Only bigger... and red... and of course it's-it's got that special lock," his speech began to have a frantic tone in it, "I could swear I just laid my eyes on it!"
Seth and the fairies all glanced at each other before the human spoke up, "It's okay. We can help."
"We are?" Holden repeated. This resulted in Kayla elbowing him. "I mean we are!"
Several hours later, towers of books had piled up. Neither one of them being the Book of Forest Lore.
Kayla was skimming through a book called "The Wonder of Acorns." She threw the book into a new pile that had been made but missed and hit Holden in the back. The sudden contact caused the unicorn fairy's horn to glow and fire a small burst of magic that made flowers bloom on Hannah's back. The porcupine fairy noticed the daisies on her quills and casted a glare at Holden.
"Wasn't my fault!" Holden defended. Hannah just sighed before Heaven came over, carefully picking out the daisies of the quills.
"If anything, it makes your quills pop," Seth tried to enlighten the situation.
Simon, in his bear form, came crashing down onto the newly formed pile. The black bear wheezed and coughed from the dust, waving his paws to fan the dust away. He then huffed in defeat, "Oh that does it! I give up! Where can that book?!"
"We'll find it Simon. We haven't been looking that long," Seth said.
"Are you kidding? We've been looking all night," Heaven informed as she took the remaining daisies out. She even gestured to a snoozing Brooklyn on a shelf. She seemed to be reading "The Perks of Bushy Tails."
Seth began surprised at the news, "We have?"
Conveniently, there was a window that the human looked out of. And sure enough, the sun was rising, albeit hard to see with the murky fog on this side of the forest. Seth turned to a nearby mirror and felt the magic take its toll again. He morphed back into his swan form and saw the other fairies were also returned to their fauna forms.
Seth inwardly sighed. 'Is this what my life will be forever. Human by night, swan by day? What happens if Jeremy wins and Harrison loses? Am I a swan forever, like the everyone else...' the swan shook his head at the idea.
'No. No. I will find this book. I can't let Jeremy win. Not just for me. But for the sake of the Enchanted Forest. For the mythical creatures. For Harrison. For humanity.'
With a determined glint in his eyes, Seth looked at the others. All ready to find this book.
"Alright, Simon. Which shelf is next. We're going to find that book if it takes all day!" Seth declared.
