Little Red's Riding

The Rhyme

A/N- I am so excited to have finished writing the final chapter of this story today. In honor of finishing I will be posting two chapters this week, one today and one tomorrow. So here is Chapter 35! 

It was mid-morning when they made it to the Fey Circle, coming out of the thick forest into a large clearing, that was lush and far greener than anything Dahlia had ever seen in all her life. The hills beyond the clearing were small but steep, and rather rocky, and trees did not grow on them. The hills were the same vibrant color as the meadow that lay before them now, but what drew the young Luna's eyes was not the natural landscape that sprawled out before her as she slowly followed the children who led the way down out of the forest.

The Fey Circle, or Fairy Circle, as Dahlia had now heard several of the children call it, took up nearly all of the meadow floor. It's center was a cluster of rocks that was rather ordinary in appearance. But then the rocks began to spiral out from that cluster, in even, concentric circles. Between the outwardly winding lines of stone there were lines of grass and dirt, and the dirt was a rich reddish orange that hinted at the iron in the soil beneath their feet.

"Do you think we'll see any fairies?" Dahlia whispered to the girls beside her with a small smile, while little Tucker still clung tightly to her hand, his eyes wide as he surveyed the scene before them. The sky above was a bright, blinding blue, with not a single cloud to be seen, although the day was neither too hot nor too cold.

"Oh no." Willa said in a very serious voice. "The Fey haven't been seen in generations. Not since the humans became so bold in these woods. We used to see them at fairs, where they would come and trade with us, often in disguises, but sometimes not. And sometimes we'd even see them in the woods. At least that's what my grandmother's mother told her. But it's been years and years now since they've been out in the open. We only really have the stories and sometimes when the Alpha's meet we hear from someone in another pack who claims to have spotted one. And of course the humans still claim now and then to have found a changeling."

That was something that Dahlia had heard of in her time at the village. While legends of fairies were seen as nothing more than fairytales, which she guessed she should not be surprised to learn were real since werewolves would have easily fallen into the same category in her mind only a month earlier, there were rumors that changelings existed and many people believed that they were real. Which, now that she thought about it, she realized was a bit odd because how could there be changelings, babes who were switched out for Fey children in the night, unless the Fey were more than just stories.

"Everytime we come here though we still have someone go down and call out to the Fey on the other side to come and meet us as they once did. Of course it's been centuries since anyone has actually come through from the other side of the hills when they were called. But it's a tradition. And it's exciting for the little kids." Willa glanced with a smile down at Tucker, who was still holding tightly to Dahlia's hand and Dahlia couldn't help but smile at Willa, who couldn't have been more than 7, calling someone else a "little kid."

"And today it has to be our Luna." Lottie had appeared by her side with a smile, a few stray violets caught up in her long golden hair. "In the old days it was always the Luna who came here and called to the Fey on the other side. The legends say that it was her connection to the Moon Goddess that allowed her voice to carry through between the words, in the space between worlds and the time between times, so that the Fey could hear her and decide whether or not they wanted to reply."

Lottie had said the words in a voice that made Dahlia suspect she had both told the story and heard the story many times.

Hurrying over across the space that separated the two women, Lottie met Dahlia's eyes with a broad smile.