Unfinished Story

Walking through field after field of long waving grasses, she knew there was more to it than what met the eye. The soft fronds rippled and billowed in the breeze, looking like the surface of the sea, silver-green waves under a greying sky. Turning , she stopped and glanced back at the way she’d just come, her path through the grasses had been almost completely swallowed back up. There was only the faintest outline marring the otherwise perfect landscape. The field seemed alive, as if the grasses were breathing. Suddenly she noticed the birds had stopped singing. For a second, it was eerily quiet. The breeze picked up rapidly, and the trees rustled restlessly, as heavy grey clouds gathered in the distance. She started to walk again, but in a different direction this time. It was here, she could feel it, it was almost calling to her. Pushing through the waving stems, she cut a path again, but this time, when she glanced back behind her, there was no trace of her ever having been there. On and on she walked, steadily drawing nearer and nearer. She could feel its call, its pulse, beating through the earth to her, guiding her. She never knew how far, or for how long she walked, but eventually, long after the sky had grown dark, and the wind had started to blow a little colder, she knew she was close. She could taste it, metallic and heavy and sweet, like blood. The beat got stronger and stronger, until soon she wasn’t sure if it was coming from her or the earth beneath her. The grass seemed to be getting taller, until she realised that it was she that was getting lower, on a very slight, gentle slope, she was walking into the earth, absorbed into it. Swallowed up into black nothingness. She was here.

It wasn’t so much that she opened her eyes, she wasn’t even sure if they were closed or not, it was more of a type of regaining consciousness, but a consciousness she hadn’t ever known before, but yet was familiar. Lights, so subtle and dim at first the she didn’t even notice them, slowly and steadily growing brighter and lighter, more and more colours seeping into her vision. Colours she’d never seen before, hadn’t even known existed. She couldn’t even begin to name half of them. There was no fear. She knew this place, some far off, distant memory echoed in her mind. She kept walking, aware of beings, lurking in the shadowy corners, huge luminescent eyes, and oversize, grinning mouths would come briefly into focus before melting away into shadow again, so she wasn’t even sure if they had ever really been there.

The slope ended, and she found herself standing at the edge of an enormous cliff, thousands of feet of a sheer drop not five inches from her toes. Her heart leapt into her mouth, and she backed up quickly, and turning, she ran as far as she could farther inland on the cliff. Out of breath, she sat down heavily on a large rock that was rooted deep in the middle of the meadow. It was only when she’d caught her breath and was staring at the rock she sat upon, trying to realise what was different about it did she realise she hadn’t noticed her surroundings yet at all. The important thing had been to get here. Looking around, the brilliant, unnameable colours that she’d seen at first were not so plentiful, but the air itself seemed to breathe colour into and around everything. If she concentrated on seeing it, the breeze itself was pure colour. Gusts of the palest pink, the calmest blue, the most vibrant green whirled and curled around everything, rushing over the cliffs and out to sea. Orange sea, purple rocks, green sky, nothing was normal, and yet she had the distinct sense that this was how things were supposed to be. This was what was right. She became aware of something nearby, not so much watching as observing her, and it wasn’t until she let her gaze rest on any object for more than a few seconds did she realise that there were things everywhere. Hidden in the grasses at her feet, she saw, or thought she saw, a beautiful, wild-eyed face, its long hair almost becoming part of the grass itself, then it was gone. Crouching in the hollows of the few large trees that dotted the cliffside, she glimpsed long-limbed sprites, grinning creatures with tangled hair, bare skins and grasping fingers. The tiniest bright-eyed faeries peeped from behind leaves, and clung like little spider-monkeys to the stems and petals of the hundreds of flowers sprinkled around
Twisting her body on the rock, she turned to look at what lay behind her, and jumped as, not four foot from where she sat, stood a tall, long-haired lady, watching her. She wore a shimmering amethyst robe, which fell in folds to her feet, with long pointed sleeves. It was belted at the waist by a gold sash, knotted carefully at one hip so its ends hung almost trailing on the ground. On her feet she wore the lightest sandals made of spun spiders silk. Her shining dark hair hung down her back. But it was her face which commanded attention. She had a flawless beauty, the faint lines in her face merely giving her more dignity. Her eyes were a soft grey, and in them one could see all the ages through which she’d lived, the entire history of the universe was reflected in those steady eyes. The breeze caught her hair, streaked delicately with grey, whipped and coiled it about her face.

Extending her hand to the now frightened girl on the rock, she smiled slightly. Beckoning her forward, the lady turned and began to walk away. Hesitating only a second, the girl slid off the rock and followed her. ‘I am Aeaea’, the lady began to speak, her voice sounding like wind and rain, summer and winter. ‘It was me who brought you here, and I shall explain why. You have always known that there was something else, haven’t you? When you felt the wind blow the trees and run its fingers through the long grass, you felt there was something missing, something hidden just barely below the surface of what you could see and hear and feel. You searched for some way to make it known to you. You cried tears of frustration because you couldn’t. Do you know why you felt and knew these things?’ she glanced down at the girl, who just mutely shook her head. ‘Do you know why you are fascinated by the moonlight? Do you know why you often wake at night sure that some-one’s watching you? Why you are so terrified of the blackness of the dark?’

By now they had stopped at a stream cutting through the meadow, the lady gazed at it a moment, before turning to the girl and continuing. ‘This is where you belong. Your father was the river god, Danus and your mother was a wood-nymph named Nimheia. You were born in a glen not far from here. Your name is Aicha, and you were heiress to all your father held. But nothing is ever easy. You see, there were two great rivers in these parts, one was the Danian, that was your father’s river and he ruled all the land it ran through, but the other one is the Briesian. Briesus is the other river god, and he rules over the lands that his river runs through. This was how it had been since the beginning of time. Everything co-existed in harmony for millennia after millennia.’ She stopped speaking, seeing the tears fill up in the girls eyes. ‘But that’s enough for now. I must go and see to something. I’ll be back shortly. Stay here, don’t move.’ And with a swish of her skirts, she was gone. The girl was left staring at the stream. She sat down by the bank and watched the clear water trip and spill over pebbles and rocks. She saw a pair of eyes watching her, barely visible on the opposite bank. The creatures long hair was drifting with the current, and nothing but its muddy coloured eyes were above water. She wrestled with all that she’d just been told. It made so much sense, but yet her mind refused to accept it. Aicha. Yes, it felt right. That was her name. But, everything else. No. It wasn’t right. Her parents were living above. She’d just left them to go for a walk. She’d walked out of her home, down her street, and on until she came to her favourite place for walking and thinking. How could she belong here when she had memories of her whole life, with her parents, her friends, her first bike, her first day of school, her third birthday. She was leaving. She needed to go, get out. Getting to her feet, she almost screamed in fright when she came eye to eye with Aeaea. Babbling, she backed away. By merely raising her hand, Aeaea stopped her in her tracks. ‘Sit’ she commanded. And the girl sat. ‘I know what you’re thinking, and I realise you have questions. This is a shock. But its not as big a shock as you’re thinking. You always knew that something wasn’t right with your world, you knew that one day you’d discover why you felt that way.’

Aeaea looked directly at the pair of eyes in the stream, and in a flash, they vanished. ‘I will start by explaining to you how you came to live in the other world, and why. Because I see that until you accept who you are, you cannot understand or accept any other thing I tell you. You are Aicha. You are the daughter of one of the most powerful gods of this realm. When you were a very young baby, it was imperative that you were removed from our world. There was a great danger, a risk to you and to us all if you stayed. It broke your mothers heart. She fought and pleaded for you to stay, or for her to be sent away with you. But she could not go, and you could not stay. There are very great powers here, and your father is among the greatest. You were secretly smuggled out of our world, and another life was created for you in the other world. A home, parents, they were arranged for you.

‘How?’ -the girl spoke for the first time.

‘There was a young couple, not married long, whom we selected for you. We simply wove you into their reality. When they woke up one morning, you were there, and they thought nothing of it because, to them, you were theirs. They had memories of your birth, of seeing you for the first time, of everything. They just didn’t know they had been put there by your true fathers powers. Injected into their subconscious while they slept, all these things were made a reality for them. If they picked up an item of baby clothing, they had a memory of buying it, dressing you in it previously. They had a name for you, a family for you. Meanwhile, your true parents kept an eye on you. Your mother would spend hours at your crib while you slept, her heart breaking because she could not touch you. Your father had someone follow you everywhere. Have you ever had the feeling you were being watched, even when no-one was around? You were never alone. It was the job of these guardians to keep you safe. If a car missed you by a fraction of an inch, it was only because your guardian had kept it from hitting you. But nothing could erase your heritage completely, nor was it intended to. You were always meant to return one day. That is the reason you could sense the undercurrent of our world, whirling just below your own which drove you to distraction.’

After Aeaea had finished speaking, they both sat in silence for a very long time. She waited patiently for Aicha to struggle through the turbulence of her thoughts. Eventually, Aicha looked up, her cheeks wet from tears. ‘ I can never return to my home, my parents again?’. Gently, Aeaea shook her head. ‘No child, you cannot ever return. And even if you did, they would not know you. For as soon as you left that world, you were removed from their lives and minds, just as you were woven in. I do not mean to be harsh, but they do not miss you because to them, you never existed.’

Wiping her eyes, Aicha nodded. Again she saw the bright eyes hidden among the water-lilies, the hair floating about them like seaweed. Looking at the sky, Aeaea motioned for her to get up. ‘We must press on, it will be dark soon, and you are hungry and tired.’ They walked over many fields and hills, stepping over smaller brooks, and jumping over larger streams. Everywhere Aicha saw beings. Small brightly coloured pixies, seeming aflame, they shone so brilliantly, peeked out from behind rocks and flowers. Odd, ugly toad-like things dragged themselves out of the streams and watched the two pass with huge, sluggish eyes. Winged, miniscule creatures flitted around them, made out of electricity, or so it appeared to Aicha, they were nothing but forms sculpted from sparking light. And then, there were huge, silent forms, hulking in the shadows.
It was growing dark, the night sky was indigo blue, not a cloud in sight, and the stars sparkled like chips of diamond, clearer than Aicha had ever seen them before.

It was only after jumping two more streams and walking almost another mile and a half did Aicha see, to her exhausted body’s utter relief, the light of a lamp twinkling not far off at the base of what she saw was a large mountain. As they drew nearer, she saw it was not a lamp but a flame, in an alcove hollowed out of the mountainside. A pure white flame, flecked with blue every now and then when it flickered in the breeze. It wasn’t standing alone, but was in the centre of a small pool, which was surrounded by a low wall of rough white marble. The strangest plant Aicha had ever seen was growing out of the cracks in the marble, it was almost like ivy, except the leaves were pale pink, and at the base of each one, was a small dark purple bud, which opened and closed slowly. Aicha could swear she heard a humming, buzzing noise from inside them, but didn’t dare check. The flame sent a dancing light skipping over everything, shadows and light fought playfully against each other, bouncing off the craggy mountainside and stretching far out into the darkened fields from where Aicha had just come.

Leaning over the marble wall, she looked into the pond and, expecting it to be quite shallow she was surprised when she found she could see no bottom to it at all. It was as black as night and as smooth as glass, despite the hundreds of pinprick-sized shimmering specks that frequently rose almost to the surface, only to fade and dissolve into the blackness again. It was only now that it dawned on her that she could feel no heat at all from the flame. In fact, despite its size and intensity, she was quite cold even standing as near to it was she was. She turned to ask Aeaea why this was, but found that she was alone. Looking round confusedly, she could see no-one. Tears welled up in her tired eyes as she realised she didn’t know where she was, how she’d gotten there or how to get back. She slumped down against the low marble wall, curled her knees up to her chest, laid her head on them and began to sob loudly. She was so tired, her stomach growled in hunger, and now she was abandoned beside a flame that wouldn’t keep her warm, with no food, and no-one to show her what to do next.

A noise made her look up suddenly, her cheeks shining from tears and her eyes swollen and red. Standing up she could see no-one, then, on the other side of the flame, she saw something move. Too frightened to run she stood rooted to the spot. It began to walk slowly around the pool until it was standing a few feet from her, half hidden in flickering shadow. From what she could make out, it was almost a type of lion. Two enormous velvety paws scuffed the earth, the flame’s light was caught in two sparkling green eyes, a great shaggy mane surrounded its cat-like face. Suddenly Aicha noticed there was some-one astride this creature. A small man slid down from its back, clinging onto its fur till his feet were safely on the ground. He was no more than four foot high, and a most unusual colour. He was light green, with random stripes and markings of blue. He had a small round nose, a wide mouth, and jet black eyes. Dressed in a white tunic and boots, he removed his little cap and bowed low before Aicha. She saw the top of his untidy head for a second until he straightened up again.
‘I am Olinach. Forgive me for startling you, my lady. I am to accompany you from this point onwards.’
‘Where is Aeaea?’ Aicha cried, half relieved to see another person, and half afraid of what this thing was. She’d never seen such an ugly little man before in her life. ‘Aeaea had to leave, she must go back the way you came and ensure that no-one had followed you. There are still spies in these parts, and it would be far too tragic to have you taken from us as soon as you have arrived. Please miss, my lady, come now with me.’

She hesitated, but realised that it was either go with this odd little creature, or stay here alone, and she didn’t like the sound of spies very much either. She stepped forward, but suddenly remembered the lion thing and jumped quickly back. ‘He wont hurt you miss.’ said the little man, ‘ he’s as tame as myself and strong to boot. He’ll protect us now should we need it. Come on, climb up’ saying this he led the creature fully into the light. Aicha gasped, and backed up further until she was pressed up against the wall of the alcove. Indeed it was very much like a lion, it had the enormous paws, cat-like face and great mane of a lion, but its eyes were like two huge saucers in its face, great emerald green eyes it had, above a big black nose, and a great mouth clamped firmly in a muzzle. From each shoulder there sprung a huge black leathery wing, at least five foot long, and ending in a small claw. Its fur was pure silver, apart from its ebony mane and a tail which swished constantly.
‘Why is he muzzled if he’s so tame?’ she asked, trembling in the gaze of those all-seeing eyes. ‘ Smart question, my lady,’ Olinach replied, inclining his head slightly, ‘his roar is so powerful and so deafening, that if one should hear it and be an enemy of the Great Danus, it will strike them dead on the spot.’
‘But we are not enemies of the Great Danus’ she answered, feeling a little lost as she wasn’t entirely sure what was going on in this strange land at all. ‘Why must he be muzzled?’
‘If you please my lady, I wasn’t finished,’ he continued, ‘yes, his roar is the death knell to any that mean harm to the Great Danus true enough, but also, these parts are far from the palaces of the Great Danus, and there are many here who are simply too weak to withstand this almighty roar, it could kill thousands in this place alone. Wood-nymphs, Sprites, Salamanders, Orichees, Slyphs, and even the fairly robust Turgets to name a few, would all fall prey its deadly power.’

Aicha shrugged inwardly, what choice do I have? she thought, and stepped slowly closer to the great beast. Olinach, with surprising strength considering his size, helped her hoist herself up onto the broad back of silver fur. ‘Hold on tight now my lady’ he said as he easily clambered up beside her. Aicha took two handfuls of heavy fur, and found it was very deep and soft. She buried her cold hands into it as far as she could and held on tightly. Olinach made an ugly sound in the back of his throat and suddenly they were off. Aicha could feel the great velvety paws of the beast thudding along the ground, and the cold black night rushing against her face. A cracking noise, like sails being whipped about by a wind, began and grew louder and faster. Something brushed against her leg and she screamed. ‘Hush my lady now’ Olinach called back to her, ‘he’s just preparing to take off. It’s faster and less dangerous for us tonight.’ She realised it was those huge black wings flapping back and forth. Almost immediately they were in the air. The heavy thudding of the paws was replaced by the smooth swishing of wings. The cold rush of air bit at her face and arms, and she crouched lower into the warm fur.
The creatures back was so big that three could have comfortably fitted beside her without fear of falling off. They were very high now. She could see the stars clearly, they seemed so close she could nearly touch them. Her eyes were heavy, she tried hard to keep them open, but she couldn’t. ‘I’ll just lay my head down here for a minute out of the wind, and rest my eyes,’ she thought to herself, and sank her exhausted head into the deep fur. She thought she could hear music, and tried to tell Olinach that the stars were singing, but she fell asleep before she could open her mouth. Glancing behind him, Olinach saw the sleeping girl, and chuckled softly to himself. ‘Now things will finally change,’ he thought, ‘now we’ll see. We’ll see indeed. I hope she’s worth the trouble’. And making that ugly noise in the back of his throat again, he spurred on the lion-creature. ’Come on now Sable,’ he called quietly, ‘we have to get her to the Caverns Of Oealpha as quickly as possible’.