The Faerie Slayer

Kades Pov

The sun had gone down, I’d rested for a bit, and then the sun had returned. I suspected if I was going mad, or if it could be true that the sun in the land of the folk seemed to rise much quicker then back home. The sound of Elie’s wings hadn’t faded into the background noise of the silent forest. They buzzed like bees and I constantly fought the urge to swat her away. I knew I had to keep her on my side, and I had to trust that if Aubrette held faith in her, then I would have to learn to work with that. Elie would be a crucial part to my plan. If everything went the way it was supposed to, id get back to the castle in five days time for the crowning. Elie would spike the drinks with dapperling mushrooms and whilst the guards are distracted, I would rescue Aubrette and my mothers killer from the prison cells. The nearest body of water was just a mile from the castle. I’d have Elie summon a portal to deliver us back to earth and after that, I would just have to figure it out. One thing for sure was that I was useless here, I could not even shift. Sugar and salt were illegal here, trafficked underground by faerie poison dealers. It was impossible to equip myself with anything.

We strode through the thick winding trees and stumbled across Rootmen who lazily scattered themselves from one side to the other. When my stomach began to grumble is when I realized that I had not given much thought to what I would eat. Elie peeked at me.

“Hungry?”

I reached for what resembled a strawberry loosely hanging out of one of the branches. It had white skin and pricked the skin on my index so deeply that I began to bleed.

“Don’t eat that!” Elie shouted.

I dropped the fruit and wiped the blood on my suit,” why?”

“It’s Satan Spawn. It will knock you out for days.”

She whacked it out of the way and glared at the tree that homed the strange fruit,” they think it’s funny to dangle it in your face. Even the trees here are evil.”

“I need to eat something, soon.”

“Eat this,” she grabbed a handful of purple berries from a nearby bush,” you might feel a little...weird for a little while, but it’s the only fruit here that will not cause you harm.”

I took the berries from her tiny hands and debated how much I trusted her. I figured that if the little pixie wanted to harm me, she would have done it a while back.

She reached for a small orange bird that landed on her forearm and stared into its eyes.

“I’m going to summon this bird to send a message to Aubrette,” she grabbed a leaf and began to write something using a branch and the dark liquid from the berries as ink,” then I’ll have him return and we can grill him for dinner.”

I watched as the tiny bird disappeared into the sky with the leaf tightly clung to its beak and wondered if it had understood its fate.

I felt the rocks under my feet begin to fall into the abyss and clung onto the nearby branch to keep myself from falling.

The branch yanked itself out of my grip and I stumbled forward onto what seemed to be a wooden causeway. Elie floated above the bridge and peeked underneath.

“That’s the beginning of Kelpie River,” she said, her voice muffled by the sound of crushing tides,” it goes way down. Don’t look, you might vomit.”

I could not help it. I glanced out from above the cliff and underneath where the rocks that lined the side of the forest went down for almost half a mile before ending with the dark violent river.

“Why is the water red?”

Elie shrugged,” I don’t know. Could be all the dapperling mushrooms deposits.”

“If we’re at the river already, can’t we get the mushrooms here?”

“The gnomes dump the fresh batch at the end of the river, over there, they’re still fresh mushrooms. What’s left here is just the deposits, it won’t get you very far with poison.”

I couldn’t help another peek and swallowed. The shakey bridge was attached by what looked like rope. It connected the two sides but the other was too far away, hidden by gloomy clouds that I could not see the end. I could not even begin to try to predict how long it was.

“You first,” the spirit joked. I placed a foot on the first piece of wood. The entire thing began to stir. I clung to the sides made of rope in an attempt to balance. When the bridge was still again, I took a second and a third.

I suddenly realized that I was thankful that Elie was not only miniature but she could fly. I wasn’t sure that this bridge could handle another pound.

I took my steps carefully and slowly. For what seemed like half an hour, I stumbled my way through thick red fog that clouded from the river below. I did not dare a peek below, I was sure I would either vomit or pass out.

The worst part was not seeing the end, every step forward did not feel as if I was any closer because I could not see the land.

Until finally, my feet thudded against something more solid and steady, I leaped forward and gripped soil and rock.

I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes to reveal the sight of trees again and breathed out a sigh of relief. Elie floated above me and did a little cheer.

“We did it!” She chorused,” I really thought you might die.”

“That was terrible,” I mumbled and sat up. Sweat poured down my face and body stimulated by the nerves and the rivers hot steam. I envisioned a cold bath and wished I could speed up time.

It felt hotter here, much hotter then when we were on the other side. I realized that the dark water from the river had soaked a few nearby plants. The water was close which meant that the bridge had been slowly going downhill without us noticing.

I sat up and marched towards the shore.

“Don’t let your feet touch the water,” said Elie.

“Why?”

She shrugged,” everything in those waters is bad news.”

The sudden sound of something nearby alerted us to our surroundings. Just a few meters away was a white long haired mane sipping from the river. I caught sight of its front feet but the back legs were buried in the water.

“You have wild horses here?” I mumbled to Elie, suddenly picturing an idea. I’m sure that on the horse, I’d be able to make it a lot faster to the end of Kelpie River.

“Shhh!” Elie hissed,” that’s not a horse, that’s a Kelpie!”

“Like the water demon?”

“Shut up before it hears you,” the little spirit seemed to be in a deep thought,” I could swear I have seen it before.”

The Kelpie strutted out of the water and I finally caught sight of the short thick fish tail it had in place of legs.

“It’s like half fish half horse?”

“Half horse half Asrai I think,” replied Elie and nudged at my arm,” let’s go.”

“Wait.”

I stared in fascination as it shook the water off its fur and swatted its tail against the surface of the water. It was truly one of the most intriguing moment of my life until it looked up to meet my eyes.

“Where are you two headed?” The creature asked in a deep but casual voice. I did not know what I had expected for it to sound like, but I was not expecting this.

“We’re going to the end of Kelpie River.”

“You’re going poison hunting?” it seemed to grin.

“Something like that.”

“Stop talking to it!” Elie hissed.

“I hate spirits,” the Kelpie grumbled.

“Freak,” Elie responded.

“Well listen, if you’re making your way down using Chips Woods it may take a couple more days then you bargained for. The gnomes dug up a trail that’s been blocked off by Rootmen and some Trolls living in the woods. You’ll have to go all the way around.”

“What do you mean it’s been blocked off?” I responded with increasing panic and rage in my tone,” I have to get there in two days.”

“There’s no way in hell you’re making it to the end of Kelpie River in two days. Not if you don’t wanna risk getting crushed by those damn Rootmen everywhere. They’re doing some sorta protest against the gnomes. Said they don’t want them around messing with their soil anymore.”

“How come I haven’t heard about this?” Elie said.

“Well, it might come as a shock to ya sweety but you don’t know everything about everything.”

Elie huffed.

“I don’t have time to waste,” I said to the Kelpie,” I had a deadline, I have to get there quicker then a few days.”

“Yeah I hear ya. Wanna get there before the mushrooms start to melt. I’m headed that way myself but I’m cutting through the water,” he said,” if you want, you can get on top of me. It’s more then half the time that way, will getcha there in half a day.”

“Alright, let’s do it,” I said at the same time that Elie screeched,” you can’t trust him!”

“What other choice do we have?” I snapped in the face of the tiny creature.

“Fine, but if anything happens, I’ve been instructed to save you first.”

I raised my eyebrows,” Aubrette told you to do that?”

She nodded.

“And how would you do that?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Are y’all coming or what?” Said the Kelpie.

I hurried on top of the horse and lost my balance for a second while it toyed with the water using its tail.

With Elie on my shoulder and the sweat pouring like rainfall down my back, we began to make our way above the steamy waters.