Chapter 3
The deeper I ventured into the woods, the darker it got, the trees not allowing any sunlight to reach the earthy ground.
The leaves were rustling and it was getting windier as floating lights wandered around me like little whispers.
I had a feeling that there were creatures hidden among the trees, I could almost hear them whispering around me.
It’s like I had curious companions who did not wish to be seen.
But the faeries told me to be wary of stubborn pixies that might try to lure me off my path.
Suddenly, I felt a soft grip on my dress causing me to turn around, seeing nothing but endless forest around me. And before I could assume that no one had been there except me and the trees, I perceived a voice.
“Come here human child, let us see you.”
I turned my head in the direction of the whispering voices, and at first, I couldn’t really trust my eyes.
There were two shadows that somehow looked like female bodies who nearly blended in with the surrounding forest, their bodies entangled with a trunk and leaves on their head as hair.
Their eyes were emotionless black slits.
“You must have come a long way, human child. What is your aim to visit us?”
Their voices sounded unreal, like an instrument on its own, softer than silk and flowing like water. “I think this must be a dream,” I murmured to myself quietly.
“A dream it can be, my dear. Only a few find the way, some don’t recognize it when they do—some… don’t ever want to…”
What did the tree-women want to tell me? Which ‘way’ were they talking about?
“The faeries sent me,” I stuttered, the words stuck in my throat. It wasn’t every day I saw women resembling trees. “The faeries said you, as deities of nature, are all knowing and are able to help me find my way back home.”
“Oh, we wish we could help you. But opening an entrance to the human world can only be done by very powerful sorcerers like the Witchmaker; we cannot do such a thing. Only within our world are we able to create portals. The real question is: is this truly your wish?” they asked, their voices in synchronous harmony with each other.
Who was the Witchmaker, and why did they think I wanted to stay here? I knew no one, and despite the fact that at home I had to confront Alexander again, wandering through forests for the rest of my life without people like me did not sound ideal.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Everything that happens outside our Enchanted Forest adheres to different rules and norms. So, we really want to know, why do you wish to flee from here?” they inquired. The faeries had warned me that their deities were curious souls who used personal information to enhance their powers.
“We just feel that there is much more to you than you see…”
“I need to go where I belong,” I told them, the urgency showing in my voice.
“The only way to find someone capable of helping you is through a portal to the Lake of the Sirens. Whatever you find there will be your path. Be warned, sirens may be able to help you, but nothing ever comes for free from one of them. It is their power to feed on emotions… especially fear and hope. Do not let them trick you into the water just because you are afraid.”
Disquiet spread through my stomach, but it was my only chance, so I nodded.
The forest deities floated above me, over to a huge tree and extended their arms, speaking words that I had never heard before.
This must be their language. It sounded strange, but otherworldly beautiful.
Both intertwined their hands and continued whispering the unfamiliar words until a flicker ignited in the tree, causing it to split in half.
A glow appeared in the center, transforming the tree into a gate radiating a dull light.
“This is your way, human child. Be quick, the door will close soon.”
Despite my discomfort, I knew I had no other choice, so I stepped through the gate. I felt some sort of energy pulling me, causing me to stumble. Everything around me was enveloped in a warm light. As I steadied myself, I found myself standing in a new realm.
The Lake of the Sirens was enormous, resembling almost a light blue lagoon, surrounded by a profusion of sea flowers.
It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
White sand, shimmering like pearls, surrounded the edges of the water.
From afar, I could make out some shadows dancing and twirling over the lake.
I approached slowly, the shadows morphing into women and men with fish tails in shades of green and blue.
Their long, white-blonde hair was decorated with pearls and water lilies.
The ears of the women were much longer than those of humans, and had the form of beautiful fish scales in many shimmering colors.
One of the women looked in my direction.
Her eyes were a deep white with no iris, which unnerved me and fascinated me all at once.
A haunting tune reached my ears nearby and made me feel so lightheaded that I even forgot why I was here.
The melody felt like a warm embrace, its notes coaxing me further toward the lake.
Oh, how I wished to be one of them. The women began to speak, their voices a fatal charm to my mortal ears.
All at once I became very dizzy, and I just wanted to sleep.
I felt a hand enveloping mine, recognizing delicate little faeries the size of my finger melting away with the water. I began to lose my sense of time and couldn’t seem to remember my reason for visiting the lake. Everything grew dark as I felt the water envelop my entire body.
I was drowning.
This better be the time where I wake up and find out everything was just a dream.
Just as all the oxygen left my lungs, I began to feel a pang in my chest and something—or someone—carried me to the surface. Air filled my lungs and I was finally able to breathe again. But I couldn’t see who it was that saved me.
Suddenly, the water became violently agitated.
The next moment, a huge wave swelled forward, and behind it appeared a serpentine dragon, slender with a long coiling trunk in shimmering colors of white blue, green and purple.
Its blue-silver eyes were studying me with undivided attention.
Above one eye it had a long scar, the iris more silver than blue.
It slowly disappeared under the surface of the flowing lake once more. The sirens had vanished as well.
Before I could decipher what happened here, I plunged into darkness again.
I felt the warmth of something under me, my body still too tired and dizzy to define where I was. However, I got that feeling of being whisked into the air by something. I could open my eyes wide enough to recognize the silver-grey eye with a scar above it.
“Are you… my guardian?” I asked him fuzzily. I thought I heard some kind of snorting in response, but I could have imagined it. My consciousness faded once more.
When I woke up, I found myself laying in a field.
The sky was much darker now, and I could see some stars shimmering in the dusky purple sky.
Strangely, my dress showed no signs that I had been underwater at all.
Looking around, I realized that I was alone; no dragon, no sirens or anyone else who could tell me where to go.
Some meters away from me, I noticed a huge stone wall with an ebony wood door.
I approached it cautiously. Instead of a normal door knob, this one was bronze, in the shape of an emerald.
When I looked closer, I could see etchings of the sun, moon and stars along the sides.
In the middle sat an outline of a large, mythical bird. Was this a phoenix?
I tried to open the door but it was locked. So, I knocked, hoping someone might answer. Another knock… but it was no use. I shivered as a cold breeze enveloped me, the brush of soft feathers behind my back making me shudder. I quickly turned around, but there was nothing there.
I must be losing my mind—that was it. Or maybe I was just dreaming, a long and vivid dream, nothing more. But then I felt a grip on my shoulder that felt way too real for any dream.
Follow the underground my little robin, and don’t question yourself.
It seemed to be the voice of my angel, the only echoes of my past I actually missed.
My mother thought it had been the imagination of an only child, while my neighbors whispered, saying I might be mad.
My grandmother insisted I was kissed by faeries and therefore inherited a blessing from magical lands.
I really wanted to believe in the last option, since the others weren’t ideal.
I went to knock again but a sudden gust of wind blew the door open, so I quickly stepped through.
It was dark… shadow dark.
Only some torches dug into the stone of the wall lit up the long tunnel.
An uneasy presence loomed over me, like I was not alone in here.
However, the possibility of hiding inside this place was very unlikely.
So maybe it just was my mind playing tricks on me.
It wouldn’t be the first time. I still remembered whenever I played in the garden, thinking I saw some lights around me and heard the whispers of the trees.
I dreamt of dragonflies and magical balls.
My mother told me it was only the fancies of a little child who was afraid of growing up.
So, I tried my best to leave my fanciful thoughts behind.
Out of nowhere, the torches started to flicker and black shadows meandered the outlines of the tunnel. Shadows which felt peculiar and ineffable, like they had been part of a deeper darkness.