Page 43 of A Little Highland Magic

“Aye. Now more than ever I long to return to the one place where I was ever truly happy.”

Heat prickled Aria’s neck as they started their descent. The trip down the ridge and over the jagged rocks was blessedly free of incident despite the lack of light. They had only one small candle and the eerie blue glow that emanated from above to guide them. Aria wondered about the source of the blue glow. There was no source of the light like the sun in the human realm. Did it somehow relate to the moon cycles of earth? For all realms were a part of the world, just occupying different space.

On the valley floor, the air was cooler now, but still warm. Aria turned her face into the hot breeze that rippled over this land as a familiar sensation came to her. She sensed danger. She searched the area but saw nothing except the shadows. “Let us keep going,” she urged. “We’ll be safer if we keep moving until Gille recognises where we are.”

Aria took a deep breath and forced her curled fists to relax. As they went, she surveyed the area around them. The landscape was desolate, frightening, yet was also unique and beautiful in its own way. “How did you survive here for so long?” Aria asked her half-sister.

“Once you learn the ways of the dark, and know who and what to avoid, the shadow realm is liveable. The trees, though stark, produce fruit, the shrubs berries, and there are plenty of fish in the waters, as well as birds and critters to eat.”

“None of which we shall eat,” Graeme reminded them. “Or we will be trapped here indefinitely.”

Aria knew the risks. They could do nothing to endanger their return to those cursed in the human realm. “What about beasts?” she asked as they continued walking towards a tall spire.

“There are many from the Unseelie Court who choose to live in this realm. They have no oversight from the Seelie Court and can do as they please.”

“Are they a danger to us?” Graeme asked with a frown.

“It is best if we stay on our path and avoid any conflict. The less you know about the dangers here, the safer you both are.”

Aria wanted to argue that point, but Gille stopped suddenly, searching the area. “I recognise this place.” A smile came to her lips. “We are close to where Mother and I used to seek refuge. Come.” She waved them forward. “’Tis just around the bend.”

As they hurried across the rugged terrain, a sound came to them—a low rumble that grew steadily louder. It almost sounded like footfalls pounding on the rocky soil. “Gille?” Aria asked with sudden apprehension just as a low growl sounded above the ominous thunder. A shiver sluiced down Aria’s spine. “What is that sound?”

Gille darted a glance behind, then started to run. “It means we must hurry. The wulvers have noticed our arrival.”

“Wulvers? If they are anything like wolves, we had better heed her warming.” Graeme touched the hilt of his sword as he raced over dead tree stumps and boulders that should have slowed them down but did nothing to impede their progress.

Fear had an amazing effect on one’s abilities, Aria mused as her heart thundered in her chest. “I have heard stories about the wulvers. They have legs like men, but the heads of wolves, and are covered in short brown hair.”

Gille, Graeme, and Aria raced around a bend as the howling and footfalls grew closer. “I thought they were docile?” Aria’s breath stuttered in and out of her lungs.

“Not in the shadow realm.” Gille’s breathless reply spurred them forward.

The soft sounds of a waterfall came to Aria’s ears as they came out the other side of the bend.

“Head for the water,” Gille shouted. “We will be safe behind the waterfall. There is a cave there. The wulvers will be distracted by the scent of fish.”

Or they would be trapped with nowhere to go. Aria hesitated at the water’s edge, but Graeme pulled her into the pool of water, forcing her to continue, trap or not.

They waded through the waist-deep pool and then as they neared the cascading rush of the falling water, Graeme indicated with his hands that they should dive under the spillway. Aria held her breath and plunged under the falls to enter the cave beyond. The pool on the other side was deep, and they had to swim to the edge of the cave.

Two urns on the walls lit the cave that appeared empty except for two pallets tucked towards the back wall. As they dragged themselves out of the water, an odd sensation raced down Aria’s spine. Graeme must have felt it too because he pulled his sword, searching the area.

Through the waterfall, they could see the bodies of wulvers, standing erect, their snouts tipped upwards as they howled in unison. Was it frustration or anger she heard in their cries?

Aria’s heartbeat slowed its frantic thudding when the wulvers acted as Gille had promised. They did not try to follow the three of them through the water and instead bent over like their wolf-halves, lunging at the water, and drawing back with fish in their mouths.

Graeme sheathed his sword as he took four angry steps towards Gille, towering over her. “Ignorance of danger is not how I like to proceed,” he whispered fiercely. “What else are you not telling us? What other dangers should we prepare ourselves to encounter? Running and hiding is not a strategy I want to repeat.” Only the square ridge of his jaw betrayed the control it took to keep his anger in check.

Gille paled. “I meant no harm, truly. There are many things in this realm that are terrifying. Bogies, goblins, trolls, hobgoblins, brownies, giant cyclops, gnomes, and Bodach with his shimmering red eyes who oversees everyone and everything that happens here.”

“And you know how to avoid these creatures?” Graeme said through gritted teeth.

Gille’s silence was answer enough.

Aria searched her half-sister’s expression for some small sign of regret or remorse. Instead, only a fairy’s typical mischievousness danced in her eyes.

Before Graeme could reply, Aria stepped between the two of them, her expression sombre. “This is no time for fairy games. Please do not withhold important information about impending danger or lead us astray. We need you to fight your fairy nature if we are to succeed.”

Gille looked mutinous for a lone moment, but then she slowly nodded. “It is difficult. You know how hard it is to deny that part of yourself.”

“I do,” Aria said as she thought about her own journey—all that she had been through over the years. Her soul had been divided at one point in her life—half fae, half human—but she had resisted the fae side with training, diligence, and her own strength of will. “You must fight for what you want, Gille. If you choose freedom from this place, then let go of the desire to play tricks and deceive and learn to love and nurture instead. Your nurturing side is as strong as your connection to the trees. Use it to your advantage.”

“Will you help me?” Gille asked, with remorse finally filling her eyes.

The tension inside Aria eased. “Aye. I will be beside you the entire way, for I truly want all of us to be successful in this endeavour.” Aria had barely finished the words when a tall, slender shadow detached itself from the darkness at the back of the cave, gradually coming closer. Aria gasped and reached for an arrow from her quiver and set it against her bow with her next heartbeat. “Who is there? Show yourself.”

A figure cloaked in black stepped into the light. Slowly a pair of hands came up to pull back the hood of the cloak. Heart racing, Aria kept her arrow trained on the figure as first a head of silver hair, then a pale face lined with age emerged. The woman lifted her gaze to Aria’s. Blue-green eyes, the colour of the deepest oceans, stared back at her. Aria knew those eyes. Had known them since she was a child. And the tangy scent of the ocean folded about her in a warm embrace.

“Mother?” Aria’s voice caught and she felt a sheen of moisture come to her eyes.

Pearl smiled. “Aria! Gille! My daughters. I cannot believe you are here.” The pleasure in her tone slipped into fear. “Why are you here?”

“We thought you were taken prisoner by Oberon and being tortured?” Aria’s gaze settled on Gille. Had her half-sister lied to them?

“This is my torture,” Pearl said, turning to stare at Graeme, then Gille. The flames from the urns glittered in Pearl’s eyes. “Gille and I have been trapped behind this waterfall for years with the wulvers guarding us, preventing our escape. And now you all are here to join in that fate.”