IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy

Axel

Two days later, I found myself walking towards Dire Mountain’s annual Fae Festival, dressed in an immaculate, dark-navy suit with golden cufflinks the same colour as my hair.

After everything that had happened, Locke’s father, King Gaute, had granted us permission to enter the mystical confines of Lighthaven. The Fae Kingdom of Light and Lightning, hidden deep within the rocky mountain ranges surrounding Dire Mountain. According to the king, it was the safest place for the festival to commence, since it had only a single entrance to the outside world, after which one had to walk a little over a mile down a long, seemingly endless cave passage, which was carved out of the mountain itself by High Fae over hundreds of years ago.

The stony passage was wide enough for three people to walk side by side and high enough for even the tallest of fae to walk through without having to bend even an inch.

All along the walls, there were clear glass-covered globes embedded into the cold dark stone, inhabited by tiny, glowing fae creatures named Will ’O the Whisps. They were ghost-like entities emanating light. Some of them burned brighter than others, but the abundance of them gave the passage a soft, luminescent gleam bright enough to guide us on our way, deeper and deeper into the mountains, right into the heart of Lighthaven.

The little ghost-like fairies had no identifiable body nor face, but I couldn’t help feeling like they were watching us as we walked past. According to Gabrielle, Locke merely referred to them as Willow’s. She also said that when they were kids, they used to run around the passage throwing all kinds of things at the globes, hoping to scare one of the fairies. Apparently, Gabrielle had a deep connection with Locke’s grandmother, who had regarded her as one of them. Fae and family. Since she and Locke were practically the same age, she had spent a lot of time with him growing up, learning their ways, playing and sometimes even training with Locke and his brothers. Locke and his younger brother had received slightly different training from that of his two older brothers, and was well on his way to becoming a great warrior. Or like Gabrielle explained it, a royal guardian. Protector of the realm if you will.

He was the third-born son of King Gaute, making him third in line for the throne, which also meant that he would probably never be granted the opportunity of wearing his father’s crown. Instead, he had been groomed into a fierce warrior. A force to be reckoned with, standing between anyone who would dare to come near his family or threaten their kingdom.

I didn’t particularly like the idea of Gabrielle spending so much time alone with Locke growing up, but from the sound of things, they considered her more as part of the family than a feasible suitor for any of the four princes.

It was not an everyday occurrence for wolves to be invited into Lighthaven and most pack members had never even set foot inside the mountains, let alone Lighthaven itself. Jarryd and the rest of the gang were talking boisterously as we made our way down the passage, their voices rumbling into the deep and echoing off the bare surfaces.

Beast and Molly already had drinks in their hands while Jarryd and a bunch of the others carried crates of beer, whiskey and rum. By the looks of things, it was going to turn into quite some party.

It was strange to see my warriors out in such finery, all of them dressed in suits, polished shoes, white collars and even Beast had been decorated with tiny shimmering rhinestones hooked onto his eyebrow ring and lip ring, compliments of his happy-hippy mate. Molly herself wore a very frilly brightly coloured floral dress, a whole cheer squad’s worth of bangles around her wrists and had a matching rhinestone necklace around her neck. To top her outfit off, she had crafted a makeshift flower wreath of a crown using wildflowers she had picked around the pack, dried twigs and an entire string of yellow fairy lights.

The tiny lights atop her head didn’t appear strange at all, in fact, it actually quite suited her bubbly personality and seemed appropriate for the occasion. Well, at least from a guy’s perspective. What better to wear to a fairy festival than fairy lights? Not that I knew much about fashion.

We had left the packhouse together as a group after going through the watch-duty schedule for a third and final time. Warriors would be taking turns in keeping watch at the entrance of the cave throughout the night, while John stayed at Dire Mountain. The order for John to stay behind and guard the empty buildings was given by Alpha Blake himself, no doubt as part of the Beta’s punishment.

There was a festiveness in the air I hadn’t experienced for a very long time. Everyone was making jokes, laughing without a care in the world and teasing each other playfully. Their laughter and happiness were infectious and as we approached the great opening, I watched the group of wolves around me and couldn’t help but smile. A comfortable warmth spread through me, a feeling of acceptance and belonging. In short. I felt home.

As we neared the mouth of the great opening, loud lively music and chatter floated into the cave, along with pleasant, welcoming bright light and the aroma of food. Smells of all sorts prickled my nose the closer we got. Different assortments of cuisine, both strange and familiar, alcohol, women, foreign scents of creatures I had yet to be introduced to and HER.

I took a deep breath in through my nose and filtered all the other smells out until only hers remained. Sweet and alluring.

Lighthaven was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was like stepping into another world. Although Gabrielle’s painting was very accurate in its depictions, it didn’t do the Kingdom of Light and Lightning justice in its magnificent splendour.

The inside was spacious and to my surprise filled with fresh air. Trees, plants and beautiful gardens were scattered everywhere in between the flawless stone fae houses. Green luminescent lamps were located above the lush gardens, emanating fluorescent light from its source and concentrating it onto the leaves. A form of artificial or maybe magical light energy, necessary for photosynthesis since sunlight would never otherwise reach this place.

Gazing up into the sky, large orbs of light floated high up, close to the rocky ceiling, illuminating the entire inside of the space, which was so vast, I couldn’t even see the ends of it. A colossal forgotten city, buried deep within the earth.

The ceiling itself was painted to look like the sky outside. Here, where we stood at the mouth of the opening, it was painted a pale blue, with clouds of various shapes and sizes. How strange it was to be looking up and finding myself standing under a sunny sky in broad daylight at this time of the day. The clouds looked so real that for a moment I had to squint to make sure there was actually a ceiling and not just a hole in the roof.

As we made our way deeper into the fae city, the ceiling gradually changed. In the beginning, it had started with bright daylight, we were currently walking underneath dusk and making our way towards midnight.

A young High Fae female was escorting us to the festival grounds. Her features were sharp and attractive. She had long golden-brown hair which fell in soft curls over her back and shoulders, with pointy ears peeking out from underneath. Her silky dress flowed around her as she walked and gestured to things all around us, explaining their significance and generally just welcoming us into their hidden city.

When we finally reached the festival, it was already in full swing. High fae and wolves were everywhere. Some were dancing, some lounging around in chairs gathered into small groups, chatting lively and laughing. The fae king and queen, crowned in all their splendour, sat at a magnificent table elevated on a stage slightly above the crowd with Alpha Blake and Luna Enola accompanying them.

Wine and other strong liquors were in abundance. The black painted ceiling was decorated with thousands of tiny lights pulsing to the beat of the music. Children were running around, chasing each other, playing and shouting with joy.

I had no words to describe the wonder of everything around me. In the middle of the festival, there was a large bonfire emanating light and warmth, but it was not fire like we knew it in our world. It was a fire made of magic. It burned in all shades of browns and blues but didn’t generate any smoke.

My feet seemed to be moving on their own, until I found myself standing next to it, staring into the magical flames and holding my hands out to feel its warmth lick my skin.