The Princess & the Dragon

Chapter 12: Dark Forest

There's a place far North where dark magic lives. A place of darkness where death and evil are born. Sitting in my room, looking out the window I can see the tip of it. A black area of the world where even the birds don't dare to fly over- only the crows.

A ball of light flies in between the tree trunks, up and over the streams and around rocks. I look closer and notice something dark is chasing after it. With a tight turn the light moves and bends itself under a bridge. The dark thing stops, floats in the sky then moves closer to the light. When it gets closer the light comes out and starts to fly in the sky. The dark thing chases it until it has it pinned against the trunk of a tree. I hold my hand over my mouth as the light dims and disappears.

I stand up, run to my door and sprint down the hall in a hurry. Whatever is out there is hurting the light. Down the east hall I pass Parker's bedroom door and breath out when I see it closed. I'd hate for him to see me sneaking out and try to stop me from going outside. I know it's dangerous but the light, whatever it is made up of needs my help.

I'm greeted by the warm summer night air. The bottom of my dress moves in the breeze of the wind. Now that I'm out in the yard of the castle I realize I'm quite far from the forest. I start to run and regret not bringing a candle with me. It's dark and I can barely see a foot in front of me.

I reach the edge of the forest and move in between the trunks of the trees. A few feet in I see the dim glow of the light. It's still far ahead so I continue forward. Under my feet the branches snap and the rustle of leaves move with me. I'm afraid I'm making too much noise, and the dark thing will see me. Just ahead I see the light go brighter. I'm closer now and keep moving forward.

I'm stopped by a tree and it's long branches. I push them to the side and make my way through but it's slowing me down and I fear I'm running out of time. The light needs me.

The dark thing moves quickly behind me. I stop and hold in my breath. Oh no, it knows I'm here. I bend down and hide under a bush. Looking ahead I see the light is on the ground it goes dim and then bright again on repeat. It's hurt. The dark thing, whatever it is has hurt it. I stand back up and move closer to the light.

As I get closer I realize it's not light at all but the glow of a group of fairies. I fall down, my knees press into the fresh soil beneath the tree. I lay my hand out with my palm up and watch the fairies try to stand up. There's an older one, the leader, with white snow colored hair. He's dressed in green leaves that form overalls as clothes. There's a beautiful one with yellow hair and a headband made of daisies around her head. She's wearing flower petals as a dress. When she sees me she gasps out. Her voice so small sounds like bells.

"Oh please, I'm here to help you." I tell her and she drops her hands on her waist. "I saw that thing hurt you. What can I do?"

Thunder rumbles in the distance and I turn my head to see if the dark thing is close by. I'm not sure how you help fairies, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure they are safe and sound. A petite one, the size of a child flies up and lands on my shoulder. She matches the older one with the yellow hair. Instead of daises she's wearing a rose petal like a hat.

"Hello." I say to her, and she smiles. "I'm Stellana from the castle. What is your name?"

Her voice even smaller twinkles out her mouth. I hear a faint sound.

"Flora," She nods her head multiple times. "Hello Flora, are you hurt?"

There's a loud rumble coming from a few yards away. I turn my head in a panic. The fairies fly up and go in between trees until they are just a distant glow. I stand up. Afraid of what will happen next I move slowly in the direction of the fairies. Another rumble has me running afraid for my life. I want to scream but can't find my voice. I stop abruptly as I see the dark forest ahead. Everything is brittle and dead. Fog layers the ground and I hear the sound of people screaming. This is it, the dark forest. Even from up in my room it looked scary now being face to face with it I feel the fear increase. I go to step back and feel a cold almost like ice brush along my back.