These Harrowed Woods (unedited)

Chapter 1

The humans didn't belong in this forest. They had an entire kingdom and beyon to navigate, still they insisted on venturing into a place where they weren't welcome. It had been such a quiet day, too.

Lenna crouched behind the branches from her perch, quietly watching the two human men take step after bold step. It didn't seem they had any specific direction in mind despite their determined expressions.

What could they possibly be looking for in this place?

It didn't matter why they came here. If it was a stray animal from their livestock, it could be dealt with later. A lost cow or sheep was easy enough to handle. Humans were another matter entirely. They were always too curious for their own good.

Lenna had to make the two men leave the forest before they got too close to the doorway of the fae courts.

The Veil sat little more than a day's ride away, beyond the forest, over the groves and fields, beneath the Haunted Heights.

It was common knowledge among the courts that the fae and humans had mingled with each other long ago, but it wasn't meant to last forever. No longer tethered to the rest of the continent, a deep magic caused the land to drift away to transform into it's current island form. Of course, having a doorway not only meant that mortals could wander in, but all sorts of creatures could wander out.

Trolls had often emerged, mostly to venture to their preferred terrain in the Carnia Mountains, so a few of the fae outposts made sure the trolls never came across any humans on the single road that cut through the tall peaks.

The wisps were another being that lived in the forest, but they rarely ever interacted with anything or anyone. Their presence did help encourage the humans' superstitions that the forest was haunted, which was technically true. Many tales existed about how the wisps were actually the souls of long-dead fae from an ancient war. Of course, humans had many wars over the years, so it was impossible to know which war had left ghosts.

Any method of scaring humans away was allowed. There was just one rule: don't kill any humans.

Easy enough for Lenna to follow, since she carried no appetite for such a thing. She wonder sometimes if she'd feel different if she had been alive in the early days of the fae, when they were far wilder and new to the world.

"We might as well turn back," one of the men stated. He seemed the most nervous of the pair. "We shouldn't even be this far out. All sorts of nightmares could jump out at any second. Haven't you seen the ghosts that wander the edge of the forest at night? Johan and Percy were chased by one the other day. Makes me shudder just thinking about it."

"We can't just abandon that little girl to wander to her doom, now can we?"

"Perhaps the others have found her already? It's already so late in the day. No sense in staying out here longer than necessary, especially in the dark."

So that was the reason they had come into the forest. A missing child was a serious matter, even if the fae didn't live here. The woods were miles and miles of twists and turns; a child could easily get lost in a matter of seconds.

"Nine people have gone missing," the second man said. "They livestocks have been just as misfortune, if not worse. I lost two cows, myself. We can let a child be added to that fate if there's some sort of beast wandering around."

Lenna frowned, troubled by every new detail. These two would need something more than a simple scare to deter them–one of them, at least.

She reached out with her mind, Renefaire, I've got a little problem with two humans here.

Something serious? I'm a little occupied myself.

They're searching for a missing girl.

So that's what all the fuss is. I wouldn't be surprised if the others are in the middle of something similar. Any ideas?

We can't let them keep poking around. Lenna took in what she could see of the sky. The clouds pushed by faster as the wind picked up. The scent of a coming storm was strong. They're already spooked. Perhaps we can make them chase some ghosts.

Understood. I'll let you know if I find anything on my end.

Lenna would have been left in the usual silence of the forest if not for the bickering between the two men as they debate where to go next.

There was only one way to solve this problem quickly.

The men eventually decided on a direction, and Lenna waited until they were far enough away for her to climb down.

The natural shadows readily embraced her as she followed. She knew the exact direction to lead them, it was just a matter of how. The natural way, of course.

Lenna ran. With some noise and a little bit of glamour to make herself look and sound like a running child, it immediately caught the men's attention. They followed quickly, but she was faster as afae along with her familiarity of the forest. This certainly wasn't the usual way of handling trespassers, but there were no complaints to be had given its effectiveness. Lenna only had to slow down once or twice to make sure the men didn't lose her trail.

Just enough of a chase–a convincing one–was all she needed for them to leave.

"Come on, this way!" one of them shouted–it was difficult to discern which of the two. "We can't be too far behind."

It was amazing how easy it was to use their superstitions to fall for her trick. All it took was a couple of twists and turns to outpace them to give her enough time to leap up into a tree. She smiled to herself, watching the men suddenly stumble out of the forest to find them back in their own lands.

The younger, more nervous man shook his head. "We were chasing ghosts, I tel you!" he exclaimed through panting breaths. "They don't want us in there."

"Don't be ridiculous." Brave words for something wearing a similarly anxious expression. "Look, a storm's almost on us. We won't find anything now if we go back in there. Let's check in at the tavern. Someone must've come up with something."

Lenna didn't allow herself to relax until the humans walked far enough. That was one problem taken care of.

She was almost halfway back to where she'd first found the men when she saw the familiar grin of her best friend standing there waiting for her. "Took you long enough!"

"I had two humans to deal with! It was the quickest method I could use."

Renefaire chuckled. "You and I both know you could've used your shadows to scare them away. You did it last time."

"The last thing I want is to seem predictable. What about you?"

"I just had one human to deal with, but he'd managed to get pretty far into the forest before I caught wind of him."

"Did he see anything we need to worry about?"

Renefaire shook her head. "He didn't get past the waterfall. All it took was a few wild animal noises to spook the man away. I didn't see anything about this missing girl, unfortunately. Where do you think she might've vanished?"

"That's a good question. It would help if we knew exactly where she was last seen, so we could track her."

The rumble of thunder overhead reminded them both of how difficult that attempt would be.

"There is no possible way we'd even be able to find her before the storm hit," Renefaire remarked. "Even if we had our unicorns with us."

"I know," Lenna sighed. She hated the idea of leaving a little girl somewhere out there overnight, even if there wasn't bad weather on the way.

With barely a flick of her hand, shadows curled between her fingers, swirling above her palm until it settled into the form of a bird. It made no sound as it took to the air, dipping momentarily to bounce off of Renefaire's head, before continuing into the trees. With her shadow bird venturing out, there was a possibility it would find something. She hoped.