The trees were closely packed together and the undergrowth tangled up around the roots. It was difficult for me to carry my heavy rifle and work my way through. There were no paths here. It was said that the Fey didn’t need to cut away the greenery because it would step aside for their passage. I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to fight such an enemy.

But, that was why I was there. I and nine others. We knew the mages had ridden into this forest. Enaid was here. It was home of the Fey. It seemed these two enemies were really one. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t leave Richard with them.

I fought with a vine. It seemed to have a malicious intellect, wrapping itself around my leg and then my rifle. I shot it twice. The green pulp exploded, covering me in a sticky muck. A vine whipped out from a near by branch and struck my wrist. I screamed in pain and dropped my gun. I tugged at the thick bands and began to panic when I realized they were in fact entangling me. The little yellow leaves marched over me with great speed, dragging the heavy cord around me. I didn’t know what to do.

“Help!”

I struggled against the plant and strained to look around me. I couldn’t see the others, but I could hear their rifles and curses.

“Jonathan!”

Austen crashed into me as his rifle roared out a burst of shots. It left a dull buzzing in my ears.

“What is it?”

I tried to turn to see what he was shooting at, but couldn’t.

“John, use the rowan wood.”

He slashed at something with his flint knife and it shrieked piercingly.

I wormed my fingers into my pants pocket and grabbed one of the many small disks carved of rowan. I pulled it out and firmly pressed the wood against the vine. Hissing and bubbling where the rowan had touched it, the plant jerked itself free of me. I fell to the ground. My limbs were numb. They tingled as the blood tried to awake them.

Austen stumbled over me and fell to the ground next to me.

“Fuck!”

He scrambled to get his gun.

A towering spiral of water loomed over us. It stretched out a column of water and snatched Austen up. He wailed as he was whipped through the air.

“This can’t be happening!”

I tried to remember what my father had said about illusions. Something about them not being real.

“See through to what’s beneath.”

I muttered as I retrieved my rifle. The magic felt very real.

“But, it isn’t real. They’re just messing with my head.”

I looked at the animated water and caught a glimpse of a form within. I aimed and fired. The iron bullet penetrated through the water and struck the person beneath. Water splashed down around me in a great wave, knocking me back. I caught hold of a tree and kept myself standing.

Austen was screaming, but I couldn’t see him. I stumbled forward. A Fey lay curled up on the ground, moaning. It was blue and lay face down in the dirt. Its body looked mostly human, but I imaged a twisted face. Dark oily black fluid formed a puddle beneath him. I stepped around him, sure not to touch the black stuff. It was tempting to shoot it again, to make sure it died, but there was a strange satisfaction in seeing that they could be hurt, could suffer.

I followed the sounds of Austen’s cries. I found him leaning against a tree. A thousand tiny insects crawled over him, scratching at his skin. He screamed and struggled, but the creatures enveloped him and pervaded him. His screams were silenced as a swarming rush flooded his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. He clawed at them, but tore only his own flesh. They rushed into him, a great living wave. Then there were none left.

“Austen?”

I knelt next to him, afraid to touch him.

His wide, blank eyes stared up at me and he quietly moaned.

I heard a quiet clicking. I forced myself to calm and listened. It was approaching. A large spider dropped down in front of my face, hanging from a seemingly too fine silken line. I shrieked and scuttled back on my bottom. It swung itself over to me, suspended above my face. I looked up at it, terrified. It flexed its long red legs, brushing the tips against my cheeks. I screamed and tried to squirm away, but there was no where for me to go. It remained in my face a moment, regarding me with a row of empty black eyes. Then it swung farther down and took hold of my chest. It let its web float off and turned itself around so that it was looking at me again. I shuddered despite my attempts to remain still.
Its bulbous abdomen bobbed and swayed. I moved my hand slowly, inching towards the small flint knife at my belt. I tried to remember everything I had been told about the weaknesses of the Fey, but my mind seemed stuck. I wasn’t sure if the flint was the best choice or not, but it was what I could reach. I wrapped my hand around the cold hilt and paused. Did it know what I was doing? Its eyes were arranged in an arch across the front of its face. I imagined that it could see everything.

I brought the knife up and stabbed through the spider. The flint pierced into my skin and I wondered if I had just managed to poison myself. I flung the spider away, loosing hold of the knife. I scrambled to my feet and scanned the undergrowth. There was no sign of the thing.

Catching motion form the corner of my eye, I spun to look. There was nothing there. I took a deep breath and patted my pockets. What did I have left on me? The iron necklace. Putting my fingers to it, I felt comforted by it. My second flint knife was still at my belt. The other one was lost in the under brush and I wasn’t going to look for it. Chances were good that the ferns would grab me. I felt the bulging pocket of rowan disks. Who knew how many of them I had grabbed? I had taken two big handfuls. Too bad I hadn’t taken four. I had an empty pocket. I wasn’t sure what had happened to my rifle, I didn’t remember loosing it.

I needed to find the others. Austen looked like shit. Should I leave him here to get the others? Could I even carry him? He was bigger than me and I never was very strong. I went back over to him and shook his shoulder.

“Austen?”

He gurgled. How serious was that? I wished I’d taken the medic training.

From no where, a blur of motion and a pain in my shoulder. I swayed on my feet, but managed to remain standing. I whirled around in time to see a figure run behind the trees. It was difficult to see, its skin almost the same color as the surrounding foliage. I pulled out my knife and scanned the area. It came at me again and I braced myself. It swung out its arm and I ducked beneath it. The large spider I was fighting before, jumped from the other creature’s shoulder and landed on my chest. Its claws dug into my skin and I howled. My skin itched and stung where it gripped me.

“Angerona, be still.”

A hand reached from behind me and stroked one of the spider’s legs with a long claw.

“Gytha.”

The spider flexed its legs and snapped its pedipalps together. Green pus dripped from the wound in its abdomen.

“It hurt me.”

I couldn’t believe the spider was talking. How was that even physically possible? I stared at its waving pedipalps, trying to see reality. I was hallucinating. A little spider poison twisting up my senses.

“He will suffer for it,” the larger creature, Gytha, said from behind me.

“Please, I—“

A hand clamped over my mouth. I could feel a strong body pressing against my back.

“You came here to kill us.”

The voice was hard. The mouth so close that the lips brushed against my ear.

I struggled to breathe around the force of the hand. My jaw throbbed. The claws cut into my cheek, bringing blood to the surface.

“Why shouldn’t I kill you where you stand?” Gytha asked.

The blue, human looking man staggered out of the woods in front of me. He held one large hand to a ragged wound in his stomach. Oily black fluid seeped through his fingers.

“Let him go, Gytha.”

His voice was weak.

“Indra.”

Gytha let me go.

I took a deep breath. My jaw was stiff and my chest hurt from the effort of fighting to get air through her hand. I was incredibly tired and wished this little nightmare would hurry up and get done with.

“You are luckier than the others,” Gytha said.

“What happened to the others?”

I tried to turn my head, but my neck hurt too much to move it.

“I killed them.”

Gytha laughed and the spider clicked. I shuddered. I had almost forgotten it was there.

“Jonathan,” Indra whispered.

I felt something sharp press against my back, barely drawing blood.

“He likes you,” Gytha said.

I couldn’t even think. How had this blue creature known my name?

“Jonathan.”

Indra began to reach a hand to me, Gytha pushed me forward.

“Well, Jonathan, perhaps the Queen has use for you.”

Gytha stepped out in front of me and at first all I could see was black eyes. Then tones of flesh shifted and I could see clearly.

“Angerona.”

Gytha reached over and plucked the spider from my chest. It filled most of her large hand. It squeaked when she squeezed its abdomen and I couldn’t help thinking of the foolish children’s toys that made similar sounds. I giggled, hysteria rising up in me. Gytha glared at me.

“You have been spared for now, but I will be watching you and will kill you if I see fit.”

Gytha looked at Indra while it said this to me.

It towered over me. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Its arms and chest were well muscled and bare, looking masculine. But, the hips were wide and the thighs heavy, like any human woman’s. It wore only a gauzy fabric that stretched over its stomach and down its legs like web. Its feet were also bare and seemed more like hands, also sporting claws. I decided to think of it as female.

“Come,” She said

I looked at Indra.

“What about Austen?”

I couldn’t let him stay there like that.

Gytha stepped over to where Austen lay. She knelt down beside him and regarded him a moment. Then she ripped his throat out.

“No!”

I sprinted forward, to late. I pushed her away. Blood was every where. I didn’t need a medic course to know Austin was dead. I balled up my hands into fists and forced back the hot tears.

“Why?”

“He was already dead,” Gytha said.

She grabbed my arm and jerked me to my feet. She looked at me a moment then laughed. It was a strange sound: deep for a woman and clipped short.

“This is what we are running from?”

She shook her head.

“Angerona, what danger can he be?”

The spider clicked. Gytha laughed again.

“Enough, Gytha,” Indra said.

He walked past us and knelt next to Austen’s body. Indra lifted Austen up and carried him into the woods. I stared at Indra’s back for a moment, feeling strange emotions towards the terrible creature. He seemed overly gentle with Austen’s body, almost as if he too was grieving his death.

“You have iron,” Gytha said. “Take it off.”

“No.” I wasn’t going to give up what little protection I had left.

She growled at me. She grabbed my shirt and ripped it off, revealing the necklace. She paused a moment, then took hold of the metal. She shrieked, but held it a moment longer. Her flesh bubbled and hissed, steaming up in a foul smoke. Then she snatched her hand away.

“The Queen will have to remove it,” the spider clicked.

She roughly took my arm with her uninjured hand and then everything was in motion. I stumbled behind her as she dragged me along. The undergrowth thinned and the trees parted, making way for our passage. She stopped and I tripped to a halt behind her.

“This is Enaid.”

She gestured towards the surrounding trees.

“This is a village of the Fey.”

At first, I didn’t understand. It seemed that nothing more than trees stood around us. Then I began to pick out the motion of people. Looking closer, I realized the wonder of the place. It was amazing. I had never seen anything like it before nor have I since. It was as if the trees had grown up from the earth in the shape of little huts and towers. The blossoms of spring budded and bloomed even though it was long into fall. The trees wore their coats of color, but they didn’t seem to really believe that winter would touch them there.

I gaped at the beauty before me. All seasons living in harmony, untouched by the usual passage of time and order. I was frightened and confused by the chaos around me. To my right stood a large apple tree heavy with bright red fruit. Next to it, a small figure flopped down in a small drift of snow and rolled in it. To my left a stream looped around the trees. It gushed up and over a flat rock and then across the grass without disturbing its growth.

“That’s impossible,” I said.

I stared at the water’s defiant climb over the rock in horror. Were there no rules here?

Gytha led me into the center of their village where a larger structure sprouted out of the earth in the center of a cleared area. I was reluctant to enter such an unnatural place and hung back. She dug her claws into my shoulders then pushed me. I grunted and shuffled forward. Would she have killed me for refusing? I believed so. I looked back at her face and was surprised to find a smile there.

Inside was an open room filled with lumps and loops of wood that served as chairs for many of the people waiting there. I was overwhelmed by the mixed appearance of them. One man was tall and thin with a swirling of wind pulling at his clothing and hair. Next to him, sat a round and pale woman dressed in white, translucent robes. Her skin glowed softly, illuminating the fabric around her. A small boy scurried around the room with trails of light following after him. He zipped past me and small motes of light floated through the air around me. In the corner was a pulsing shadow with large silver eyes.

“Enough gawking.”

Gytha poked me in the ribs, drawing blood. I grunted. I moved forward and the odd crowd parted before me. They seemed afraid to touch me. I was a germ to them. At the other end of the room was a door and a tree-like creature stepped forward to open it. I paused. The creature beside me had no discernible face. Yet, I felt that it was regarding me with returned curiosity. It brushed my arm with a long leaf-like appendage. It was fuzzy like velvet. I jerked back.

“Hazan,” Gytha said.

The creature looked at my escort, and then backed away. I stepped through the door. This room seemed to have grown from the first. It was oppressively white. A woman sat at the other end of the room in an enormous chair. It was a huge claw cupping her within its palm. She was tall and sat with a straight back. Her long hair was the mixed colors of the fall leaves and tangled over her narrow shoulders. Her eyes were an impossible blue, the color the sky wore shortly after rain had drenched the earth. Her skin was a dark maple and spotted with blues. She was beautiful in her own right, but the amazing wings that hung limply over the edges of the chair made her seem plain. They swirled and undulated with a thousand colors. My eyes refused to accept their stillness within their moving color.

“Come closer.”

I obeyed.

“He has iron.”

She hissed and flicked her forked tongue.

“Gytha, why haven’t you removed his iron?”

“I wasn’t strong enough”

Gytha stared at the floor, as if she admitted a great sin.

The Queen rose and approached me.

“Remove the iron, flint and rowan.”

“No.”

She took the iron necklace in her hand and yanked it from me. I stumbled forward with the force of it. The necklace’s clasp broke and the Queen dropped it as soon as she had it.

“Now the flint and the rowan,” she said.

Her face was hard, but I could see the burns on her hand. It had not been easy for her to take the iron.

“No.”

She took the flint knife and tossed it away. It didn’t seem to hurt her the way the iron had.

“The rowan.”

“No.”

She patted my clothing. When she reached the bulge of my pocket, she tore it open, letting the rowan disks spill to the floor. She looked me over. She seemed tired and unsure of what to make of me. I was taken aback. She sat on her throne and looked at me the way my father had many times. What now? her eyes seemed to ask me.

“Indra has asked me to spare you.”

She pushed a heavy lock of hair from her face.

“You will remain here.”

She leaned forward.

“Perhaps we will learn enough of each other to overcome our differences.”

“For what purpose?”

“Peace. I have grown very tired of this war. It is foolish and pointless. I can remember a time when humans came to us for aid and us to them. Now, the lines of our differences mark out boundaries, regulating this war.”

She sat back.

“I want done with it.”

She waved her thin hand dismissively.

“Then why don’t you surrender to our forces?”

“You would slaughter us. Humans have no tolerance for the Magic.”

I couldn’t argue that. I would have killed all of them there, had I been able. Being out numbered greatly limited my options. I decided I would go along with the queen until I could escape or cause them a great harm. The mission still forefront in my mind. I wondered if Richard was alive here as well and if I could still save him. I couldn’t make myself really believe that. They had slaughtered eight men today and had allowed me to live on a whim; or so it seemed at the time.

“You will live among us.”

She waved her hand.

“Come and go as you please. But, do not leave the grove.”

She pointed.

“Gytha will be with you always. Do not attempt to hurt us or she will kill you.”

I looked at the woman beside me. Her skin was white now, matching the room. Gytha touched my shoulder, gently this time.

“Come.”

She bowed to her Queen and walked around to the back of the throne. I followed. A passage led us outside. The air was cool and crisp, feeling more real than the people around me.

A light blazed against the darkening sky and rain misted over us. A huge crowd had gathered. I looked out over them and each wore the same face of expectant awe. What was this and why was I being forced to participate? Where was Gytha? She seemed to disappear and appear at whim. It really pissed me off.

They danced around me. I stood as still as possible, hoping not to be trampled in the excited crowd. A familiar-looking boy stopped next to me. He took my hand and smiled up at me.

“Are you really human?”

“Yes.”

What a strange question. What else would I be?

“I’ve never seen one before. You’re not as big as I imaged.”

I snorted.

“I’m Dipak. Do humans have names?”

“Yes, we have names.”

“Wow. What’s yours?”

“Jonathan.”

“Come dance with me.”

Jumping up Dipak, pulled on my arm. Bright yellow sparks shot out from his skin and skittered up my arm. I jerked my hand from his. Rubbing my arm, I backed away from the boy.

“Not this time, Dipak.”

The injured blue man from the forest stepped out from the crowd and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Go dance.”

He turned to me and shook his head.

“Dipak hasn’t learned that there are times to keep his sparks to himself.”

He looked at me expectantly.

I just looked at him; he looked wet. His stomach was whole.

“What the?”

I pointed at his intact skin.

“The wound was easy to heal once the iron was removed.”

He smiled at me.

“Don’t worry, my friend, there are no hard feelings.”

Indra was about as tall as I with wild blue hair and large blue eyes. They seemed even larger since they didn’t have any pupils. I looked towards the crowd, uncomfortable with his nakedness. I wasn’t even sure why he wasn’t wearing anything. Looking around, however, I realized that many were either naked or mostly so. These people were too strange to tolerate.

I spent the rest of the night watching them dance; ignoring Indra at my side. And I couldn’t help wondering where Gytha and her spider had gone. Weren’t they supposed to stay with me?