1.1.1 Sorry I took so long. I have no excuses. I am just lazy. Well chapter
six if *finally* here. It takes a kinda weird turn but hey, I like faeries.
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1.1.2
1.1.3 Chapter 6
Tanya picked her way along the track. Instinctively avoiding twigs and dry leaves. She fitted an arrow to her bow and clicked it silently into the notch. The deer grazed in the clearing, its dappled coat camouflaging it to all but the sharpest eyes. It looked up at a slight sound. It's eyes widening in fear, about to leap away. It stood for a frightful moment, listening so intently that it would hear if Tanya attempted to draw her bow. After a tense minute the deer returned to its grazing. Tanya moved to a better position and drew her bow as quietly as she could. Just as she was about to loose the arrow a twig snapped and the deer fled. Tanya cursed violently and started looking for the cursed creature who had made the noise. She trotted off to the left where the sound had come from and ran headlong into a tall, black clad man. She stumbled backwards before regaining her balance. She looked down at the ground in embarrassment for a second and then remembering her status she looked up at his face.
"Watch where you're going. You ruined my hunt. The deer was frightened away by all your noises." The man didn't fall into submission as she had expected but instead stared at her through icy eyes.
"I think it was you who ran into me girl and how was I to know you were hunting?" He pushed past her to continue on his way.
"How dare you! You should offer to share your food and fire for ruining my hunt. This is not how you treat your betters!" The man whirled menacingly at her last remark.
"You are not my better, girl! If I had food or a fire or even water then even then I might not share them with you but as it is I have neither anyway and I am in dire need of doctor." He gave her one last hateful look and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Tanya may have been offended and developed a dislike for this man but she was not so uncompassionate as to leave him wandering without any means of survival. "You may share my fire since you have nothing and I can direct you to where ever it is you wish to go as you are obviously lost." The darkly robed man turned back to her.
"Do you know where a doctor is?" His voice lacked the bite it had had previously.
"What's a doctor?" The man stared at her incredulously.
Tai slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a clearing. She sat up, feeling quite awake. She could remember foggily how she had got here through the elf-gate but she felt no emotions over it. The fact that all those students in the library could have been slaughtered didn't worry her in the slightest. Even the memory of Elsie's death didn't evoke a reaction from her. She wondered over it for a while and then dismissed those thoughts from her mind.
Tai stood and looked around. She was in a tangled wood. Tall oaks and beaches towered above her and the sunlight fell in dappled pools of light on the dead leaves covering the ground. She looked around for Brian, Gemma and Snape or anyone else who had made it through the gate. There was no one around. She started walking down a track when there was a shout behind her. She whirled around but there was no one there. She shrugged and decided she must have imagined it. She started down the path again and again some one shouted. She whirled around. This time she heard muffled giggles in a nearby bush. She walked over to it and pushed aside the branches. Three tiny figures stared up at her in surprise. One of them got over its shock and leapt into the air to hover in front of Tai's face on fragile wings. Tai stared at the beautiful creature in shock.
"I am in Faerieland." She whispered to herself.
"The correct term is Sidhenoore," the tiny faerie squeaked "and where else could you be? The land of mortals?" She laughed in a shill but beautiful voice. Tai didn't care to tell this creature that that was where she was from. She shook off her shock and thought to use this opportunity.
"Have you seen a man walk by? He's wearing a black cloak and he has black hair." Tai couldn't think of anything else particularly defining about Snape bar his icy eyes. "And there is also a boy about my height with dark- brown hair and a girl with long light-brown hair."
"What payment would we get for these services you ask of us?" Another faerie squeaked.
"I'm asking for directions, not a service." These faeries were incredible! Would they give nothing away for mere niceness?
"Alright." Said the first faerie, resignedly. "We will grant you this favour. But only because we are very nice." The third faerie flew up to talk to Tai.
"We did not see the boy or the girl but the tall man went that way." She pointed down the path Tai was going to take anyway before the faeries had distracted her. She sighed and thanked them politely.
"I wouldn't trust them if I were you." Said a voice behind Tai. Tai whirled around to see who had spoken. A woman lurked in the shadow of a beach smiling secretly at Tai. The faeries turned from their beautiful forms to ugly and deformed creatures that made Tai recoil in disgust.
"You iss liaring Queine! We iss not tricksy faeriesss! We iss good. We iss kind. We iss giving the fire haired girl directionss!" They flitted about angrily. The woman chuckled evilly and snatched on one out of the air, holding its wings between her fingers. The faerie kicked and flailed futilely.
"You should know better that to call me a liar." She said, her voice low and dangerous. The faerie snarl and bit at the air. The woman moved from under the trees but the sunlight didn't touch her face. Instead the blue- darkness seemed to cling to her. Tai's neck prickled apprehensively. She was of a mind to flee but she sensed that that was not a good idea. The dark woman lifted the faerie to eyelevel and blew on it. An icy wind picked up the creature and flung it through the woods. The others were quick to follow. The woman's face twisted into an evil smile and she watched them flee for a moment before she turned back to Tai. She attempted a kind smile but cruel intent lurked in her eyes. "I do not know where your companion is but I can offer you food and shelter in my domain." Tai stumbled backward a step.
"No. No I am fine. I have to find my friends." She walked backwards a few more steps.
"Surely you would not refuse hospitality from a queine?" she said sweetly. "What is your name sweet girl?" Tai was unwilling to give away her name.
"What is yours?" She couldn't think of a reason not to answer this woman so she decided to delay her.
"You obviously are not well educated if you know not who I am. I am known by many names. I am Nicnivin, Aelf Queine of the Unseelie. I am Queen of the Dark. I am Berchta and I am Queen of the Estantigua. But most call me Morwen, Daughter of the Dark. Now answer my question. What is your name?" She fixed her dark blue eyes with Tai's.
"I won't tell you." Morwens' eyes flashed in anger. She stepped closer.
"Girl, you would not do well to be unfriendly to me." She lowered until she was almost in a crouch, as if she were about to spring. "Tell me your name." She growled.
"No." Tai said in a voice much stronger than she felt. Morwen snarled and lunged. Tai ducked and swung out a leg to trip her. Morwen avoided it agilely and twisted around in the air.
"You are lucky, girl, that it is daytime." She hissed. "If you had met me in the darkness of night then this would probably be your end." She moved into the shadows and was gone. Tai breathed a shaky sigh of relief, wondering why Morwen had disappeared instead of killing her or something. Perhaps the light made her weak. Tai sat on a fallen log. She looked around, unsure of what to do or where to go. Then buried her face in her hands in resignation. Where were the others? They could be on the other side of this world for all she new. What had she gotten herself into? Why had she even created the Elf-gate? She supposed it had saved her and a few other peoples lives but from what she'd encountered in this forest she wondered if she'd just prolonged their lives. Were the others even alive? Was she the only one who had made it to this side of the gate? Those faeries had said they'd seen Snape but they could have been lying. Tears trickled down her face. She had wanted to come here so much and now that she was here all she wanted was to go home.
"Excusing me miss?" Tai's head shot up and she scrambled backwards along the log. A lean, slightly green tinged creature, who looked not unlike the descriptions of pixies she had heard was standing on the end of the log, bowing his head.
"Leave me alone." She said miserably.
"Oh, I is sorry miss but I cannot. I is under orders to help you." He looked at Tai expectantly.
"Orders from who?" she asked suspiciously.
"Orders from the Pisky King." He said importantly.
"Are you a pixie?"
"No, miss. Is no such thing as a pixie. I is a pisky. I is here to help you. My name is Ell. What would you like helping of?" He smiled loyally at her.
"Well, I really need to find my friends. I don't know if they got through the gate or not. They might be stuck." They might even be dead. She didn't let herself believe her last thought. She could hope a little couldn't she? The pisky nodded.
"What do they looks like?" Tai described them and Ell leaped off the log and beckoned her. "Hold hand." He stretched out an overlarge hand with long spindly fingers. Tai nearly took it but withdrew before she touched him.
"How do I know I can trust you?" She said, suddenly suspicious. Ell looked slightly surprised.
"I have given you my name. You don't know much Sidhe (shee) law does you." Tai shook her head. "You never tell a Sidhe Folke your name or you is under its spell and a Sidhe Folke would never give you its real name unless it was to serve you. And I is to serve you under order from the Pisky King." Tai stared at Ell suspiciously.
"How do I know that you speak the truth or that you have given me your true name?"
"A Sidhe Folke cannot lie. Is not possible. Some are tricksy or deceiving but none is never lying." Tai stared at him a moment longer and Ell stared back innocently. She sighed. There wasn't really a choice. She was lost in the middle of a faerie wood in gods knows where with no food or water or any survival skills. She would have to trust the pisky. Ell, seeing the resolve in her eyes held out his hand again and received Tai's. Expecting him to lead her somewhere Tai's heart jolted when the scenery around her suddenly disappeared and she floated in a cold, black void. She felt cold to the bone and shivered. She tried to grab the piskies hand tighter but realised she couldn't feel her hand or any other part of her body. Then just as suddenly as they had disappeared, they reappeared in a grove. A clear stream flowed to the left, bubbling softly and strange trees with deep honey-coloured branches towered above. Their pear shaped leaves of every shade of green dappled the silver grass growing in a carpet over the forest floor. Tai stood speechless from the beauty of it. Then she spotted a figure lying unconscious in the grass.
* * *
I know this is a kinda crap end to the chapter but if I don't finish it here I'll never finish it. I wrote most of this chapter and then took so long to write the rest of it that I had to read it through so I could remember what happened.
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1.1.2
1.1.3 Chapter 6
Tanya picked her way along the track. Instinctively avoiding twigs and dry leaves. She fitted an arrow to her bow and clicked it silently into the notch. The deer grazed in the clearing, its dappled coat camouflaging it to all but the sharpest eyes. It looked up at a slight sound. It's eyes widening in fear, about to leap away. It stood for a frightful moment, listening so intently that it would hear if Tanya attempted to draw her bow. After a tense minute the deer returned to its grazing. Tanya moved to a better position and drew her bow as quietly as she could. Just as she was about to loose the arrow a twig snapped and the deer fled. Tanya cursed violently and started looking for the cursed creature who had made the noise. She trotted off to the left where the sound had come from and ran headlong into a tall, black clad man. She stumbled backwards before regaining her balance. She looked down at the ground in embarrassment for a second and then remembering her status she looked up at his face.
"Watch where you're going. You ruined my hunt. The deer was frightened away by all your noises." The man didn't fall into submission as she had expected but instead stared at her through icy eyes.
"I think it was you who ran into me girl and how was I to know you were hunting?" He pushed past her to continue on his way.
"How dare you! You should offer to share your food and fire for ruining my hunt. This is not how you treat your betters!" The man whirled menacingly at her last remark.
"You are not my better, girl! If I had food or a fire or even water then even then I might not share them with you but as it is I have neither anyway and I am in dire need of doctor." He gave her one last hateful look and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Tanya may have been offended and developed a dislike for this man but she was not so uncompassionate as to leave him wandering without any means of survival. "You may share my fire since you have nothing and I can direct you to where ever it is you wish to go as you are obviously lost." The darkly robed man turned back to her.
"Do you know where a doctor is?" His voice lacked the bite it had had previously.
"What's a doctor?" The man stared at her incredulously.
Tai slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a clearing. She sat up, feeling quite awake. She could remember foggily how she had got here through the elf-gate but she felt no emotions over it. The fact that all those students in the library could have been slaughtered didn't worry her in the slightest. Even the memory of Elsie's death didn't evoke a reaction from her. She wondered over it for a while and then dismissed those thoughts from her mind.
Tai stood and looked around. She was in a tangled wood. Tall oaks and beaches towered above her and the sunlight fell in dappled pools of light on the dead leaves covering the ground. She looked around for Brian, Gemma and Snape or anyone else who had made it through the gate. There was no one around. She started walking down a track when there was a shout behind her. She whirled around but there was no one there. She shrugged and decided she must have imagined it. She started down the path again and again some one shouted. She whirled around. This time she heard muffled giggles in a nearby bush. She walked over to it and pushed aside the branches. Three tiny figures stared up at her in surprise. One of them got over its shock and leapt into the air to hover in front of Tai's face on fragile wings. Tai stared at the beautiful creature in shock.
"I am in Faerieland." She whispered to herself.
"The correct term is Sidhenoore," the tiny faerie squeaked "and where else could you be? The land of mortals?" She laughed in a shill but beautiful voice. Tai didn't care to tell this creature that that was where she was from. She shook off her shock and thought to use this opportunity.
"Have you seen a man walk by? He's wearing a black cloak and he has black hair." Tai couldn't think of anything else particularly defining about Snape bar his icy eyes. "And there is also a boy about my height with dark- brown hair and a girl with long light-brown hair."
"What payment would we get for these services you ask of us?" Another faerie squeaked.
"I'm asking for directions, not a service." These faeries were incredible! Would they give nothing away for mere niceness?
"Alright." Said the first faerie, resignedly. "We will grant you this favour. But only because we are very nice." The third faerie flew up to talk to Tai.
"We did not see the boy or the girl but the tall man went that way." She pointed down the path Tai was going to take anyway before the faeries had distracted her. She sighed and thanked them politely.
"I wouldn't trust them if I were you." Said a voice behind Tai. Tai whirled around to see who had spoken. A woman lurked in the shadow of a beach smiling secretly at Tai. The faeries turned from their beautiful forms to ugly and deformed creatures that made Tai recoil in disgust.
"You iss liaring Queine! We iss not tricksy faeriesss! We iss good. We iss kind. We iss giving the fire haired girl directionss!" They flitted about angrily. The woman chuckled evilly and snatched on one out of the air, holding its wings between her fingers. The faerie kicked and flailed futilely.
"You should know better that to call me a liar." She said, her voice low and dangerous. The faerie snarl and bit at the air. The woman moved from under the trees but the sunlight didn't touch her face. Instead the blue- darkness seemed to cling to her. Tai's neck prickled apprehensively. She was of a mind to flee but she sensed that that was not a good idea. The dark woman lifted the faerie to eyelevel and blew on it. An icy wind picked up the creature and flung it through the woods. The others were quick to follow. The woman's face twisted into an evil smile and she watched them flee for a moment before she turned back to Tai. She attempted a kind smile but cruel intent lurked in her eyes. "I do not know where your companion is but I can offer you food and shelter in my domain." Tai stumbled backward a step.
"No. No I am fine. I have to find my friends." She walked backwards a few more steps.
"Surely you would not refuse hospitality from a queine?" she said sweetly. "What is your name sweet girl?" Tai was unwilling to give away her name.
"What is yours?" She couldn't think of a reason not to answer this woman so she decided to delay her.
"You obviously are not well educated if you know not who I am. I am known by many names. I am Nicnivin, Aelf Queine of the Unseelie. I am Queen of the Dark. I am Berchta and I am Queen of the Estantigua. But most call me Morwen, Daughter of the Dark. Now answer my question. What is your name?" She fixed her dark blue eyes with Tai's.
"I won't tell you." Morwens' eyes flashed in anger. She stepped closer.
"Girl, you would not do well to be unfriendly to me." She lowered until she was almost in a crouch, as if she were about to spring. "Tell me your name." She growled.
"No." Tai said in a voice much stronger than she felt. Morwen snarled and lunged. Tai ducked and swung out a leg to trip her. Morwen avoided it agilely and twisted around in the air.
"You are lucky, girl, that it is daytime." She hissed. "If you had met me in the darkness of night then this would probably be your end." She moved into the shadows and was gone. Tai breathed a shaky sigh of relief, wondering why Morwen had disappeared instead of killing her or something. Perhaps the light made her weak. Tai sat on a fallen log. She looked around, unsure of what to do or where to go. Then buried her face in her hands in resignation. Where were the others? They could be on the other side of this world for all she new. What had she gotten herself into? Why had she even created the Elf-gate? She supposed it had saved her and a few other peoples lives but from what she'd encountered in this forest she wondered if she'd just prolonged their lives. Were the others even alive? Was she the only one who had made it to this side of the gate? Those faeries had said they'd seen Snape but they could have been lying. Tears trickled down her face. She had wanted to come here so much and now that she was here all she wanted was to go home.
"Excusing me miss?" Tai's head shot up and she scrambled backwards along the log. A lean, slightly green tinged creature, who looked not unlike the descriptions of pixies she had heard was standing on the end of the log, bowing his head.
"Leave me alone." She said miserably.
"Oh, I is sorry miss but I cannot. I is under orders to help you." He looked at Tai expectantly.
"Orders from who?" she asked suspiciously.
"Orders from the Pisky King." He said importantly.
"Are you a pixie?"
"No, miss. Is no such thing as a pixie. I is a pisky. I is here to help you. My name is Ell. What would you like helping of?" He smiled loyally at her.
"Well, I really need to find my friends. I don't know if they got through the gate or not. They might be stuck." They might even be dead. She didn't let herself believe her last thought. She could hope a little couldn't she? The pisky nodded.
"What do they looks like?" Tai described them and Ell leaped off the log and beckoned her. "Hold hand." He stretched out an overlarge hand with long spindly fingers. Tai nearly took it but withdrew before she touched him.
"How do I know I can trust you?" She said, suddenly suspicious. Ell looked slightly surprised.
"I have given you my name. You don't know much Sidhe (shee) law does you." Tai shook her head. "You never tell a Sidhe Folke your name or you is under its spell and a Sidhe Folke would never give you its real name unless it was to serve you. And I is to serve you under order from the Pisky King." Tai stared at Ell suspiciously.
"How do I know that you speak the truth or that you have given me your true name?"
"A Sidhe Folke cannot lie. Is not possible. Some are tricksy or deceiving but none is never lying." Tai stared at him a moment longer and Ell stared back innocently. She sighed. There wasn't really a choice. She was lost in the middle of a faerie wood in gods knows where with no food or water or any survival skills. She would have to trust the pisky. Ell, seeing the resolve in her eyes held out his hand again and received Tai's. Expecting him to lead her somewhere Tai's heart jolted when the scenery around her suddenly disappeared and she floated in a cold, black void. She felt cold to the bone and shivered. She tried to grab the piskies hand tighter but realised she couldn't feel her hand or any other part of her body. Then just as suddenly as they had disappeared, they reappeared in a grove. A clear stream flowed to the left, bubbling softly and strange trees with deep honey-coloured branches towered above. Their pear shaped leaves of every shade of green dappled the silver grass growing in a carpet over the forest floor. Tai stood speechless from the beauty of it. Then she spotted a figure lying unconscious in the grass.
* * *
I know this is a kinda crap end to the chapter but if I don't finish it here I'll never finish it. I wrote most of this chapter and then took so long to write the rest of it that I had to read it through so I could remember what happened.