Chapter 1 - Late night visits
I woke up, looking around expectantly. I had heard a loud crack and it disrupted my sleep. I angrily got up and went to the tiny kitchen to see my old friend, Phillip, in the doorway looking disheveled by the rain pouring outside.
Phillip was my childhood best friend until he moved away. He taught me everything I knew. We went through everything together so that when he left, I felt like my world was gone. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that we would always stay friends. We even gave each other matching rings to prove it when we were eight. They both read, "To my bestest friend"
I quickly forgot my anger from the thunder and ran to hug him, feeling like my childhood self again.
"Humph… good to see you too, Jade," he chuckled while getting the wind knocked out of him by my hug.
I pulled away from him, feigning a glare, and asked, "Weren't you supposed to be here a week ago? What happened?"
"Well, I was on schedule until I ran into a new path I haven't seen. Needless to say, I got lost, but after going in circles for a day, I found my way again. But enough about me, how are you?" he asked without missing a beat.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Farm work, helping my father, nothing new," I said casually while leading him in more to the warmth of our wood stove.
"No trouble? Come on, where's my usual exciting friend? No adventures in the forest? No setting the neighbor's animals free? You're no fun," he said with a mischievous grin on his face.
"No. I've matured. I'm not that little girl you remember anymore. I am seventeen, I need to be more serious," I said evenly, pride flowing through me.
"Oh, too bad. I wanted to have a tour of the forest by someone who knew it, but I guess I'll just wander aimlessly," he signed loudly, turning away from me.
"Oh no, you don't!" I called after him. "It's raining out and you're soaked through! You need to dry off and wait until the storm clears." I oddly sounded like my mother when she would reprimand me when I was little.
"You know I was kidding!" he exclaimed cheerfully turning back around with his grin plastered to his face again.
"And besides," I continued, "we haven't talked since I was fourteen and you moved away. What have you been up to lately?" I questioned, eagerness evident in my voice.
"Well, I recently went to a gathering for King Adam. It was very intriguing. Have you heard of him?" he asked politely.
Anger got the best of me as I answered, "Heard of him! He's the culprit of the forests being torn down for new paths! He's the one who has been hunting the centaurs and treating them like deer! He's the one who has caught the goblins and pixies, acting like they're pets! How can you say that it was 'intriguing'?"
He looked quite taken aback from my outburst but recovered quickly. "Well, if you look at all the negatives, then, yes I'm sure he's a bad person. But, he also is making traveling easier, and putting the creatures where they belong. You can't honestly say that you believe that magical creatures should be treated as equals?" he countered with a smile still on his face. But even with his smile and statement he didn't sound convinced himself.
But I didn't give time to think on that part. I couldn't believe him. How could he say that?
"Are you joking? All he does is negative things. Also, yes, I do believe they should be treated as equals. Why shouldn't they?" I shot back, my voice rising dangerously.
"They are magical creatures, emphasis on the word creatures. They can't think or feel, they are animals," he put simply, his smile now gone from his pale face and his blue eyes.
"Do you even remember seeing or being close to a centaur or any magical creature for that matter? If you were still the person who I remember, I'm sure you would have a different opinion. I'm going back to bed," I ended angrily, stomping up the wooden stairs to my room.
How dare he. Did he not remember anything of centaurs' wisdom or the pixies' resourcefulness? Creatures, he's more the creature right now. I lied in bed, my mind repeating his words again and again until finally I fell into subconscious.