Guardian of the Hills

The Tunnel

After our breakfast, Derek took me out of the hillside cottage, and we walked to the stream. It was so beautiful it almost looked like a painting.

"Tell me about this world," I said. " I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this. Where I'm from, your kind are more of a myth than anything. Obviously you know about our kind more than we know about yours."

"When fae are young we are taken to your Earthly realm and we are taught about your ways somewhat. We learn how to stay out of sight. There are fae walking all over your side as we speak, and you never know it."

"But you seem shocked. I was on your side of the portal. Humans never come here?"

"Every now and then, one accidently finds us like you did. We usually find ways to get them back through before they know they were really here, and then we close the portal in that area for a little while to make sure they don't accidently find it again."

As he was speaking, I could not help but stare at the magnificent color of those moss green eyes. Not very many boys had caught my attention over the years. Derek was by far the most beautiful person I had ever encountered in my life. His long dark eyelashes curled on the ends. When he smirked a half smile, I noticed his lips were full and quite breathtaking. I had to look away.

"I will say this. When you leave here, we have ways of erasing your memory of ever being here." That got my attention.

"What if I don't want my memory erased?" I quirked.

"I won't have a choice, I'm afraid. Fae law prevents me from letting you go back without it." That made me a little sad. Now that I had accidently found this place, I didn't want to forget it.

"Well, since I won't remember anyway, tell me as much as you can about this place." He smiled.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

I twiddled with my fingers.

"Of all of the questions I could ask you, I want to know what happens in a place like this when your person cheats on you? For example, if they're married, do you have divorces. Do you fight?"

He looked off in the distance like he was remembering something and kind of frowned.

"We just go our separate ways."

"Well, where I'm from, you're kind of stuck around those people until you leave. I have two months left before I can leave. So when I get back, I'm going to have to face that cheating piece of s**t and his new baby mama. I literally see both of them at school every single day."

"That's a hard predicament to be in for sure," he said as he laid his hand on my shoulder. The butterflies jumped in my stomach.

What is the deal with him. Why does he have me in such knots?

He was close enough to me now that I could smell him. He smelled of moss, earth, leaves, and the spices from breakfast. He smelled amazing. Suddenly, I felt that warmth that always accumulated in the pit of my abdomen when Dade kissed me passionately. I looked up at him, and he was staring at me. Our eyes locked, and for several very fast heartbeats, I was lost. I was in an abyss, and I felt like I was melting completely into him. I took a deep breath and turned away. He turned away as well. My heart was still racing. What was that? Attraction? Arousel? Whatever it was, it was intense.

"Who's clothes are these?" I asked, deciding to break the tension.

"Just stuff I've picked up over the years," he said.

"How old are you?" I asked. With that question, he chuckled.

"Two hundred and ten," he answered with a grin. I froze. He looked my age. maybe a year or two older.

"I guess you know I'm not that old?" I said. "I'm eighteen." He just nodded.

"I guessed it was something like that." Before I had a chance to recount, a fae came down the hill to the stream toward us. He looked like he was in quite a hurry. He was blonde with a half up man bun. His eyes were also a very bright shade of green.

"Skeeter, this is Aine. He was part of the group that was with me this morning."

"I'm glad to see you are ok," said Aine.

"I bring news. One of the scouts found a hidden hill house. He suspects at least one of the females are inside. There was the smell of blood." Derek's composure changed in a blink. His pupils dilated, and I saw the beautiful creature in front of me change to a ravenous beast in the blink of an eye. He looked down right, murderous. I stepped back instinctively.

He must have seen me flinch, and he took a breath and his face relaxed.

"Gather the group and meet me back here. We need to find them," said Derek.

Silence can be eye-opening. When there is silence between people, a person can almost hear the other person's thoughts if they pay attention. An hour had gone by, and neither one of us had said a word. I had made up my mind within seconds of hearing the news that they had a lead on the missing females. Derek finally looked up at me and said, "Don't even think about going with us."

"I'm not thinking about anything. My mind is already made up. Exactly how are you going to stop me? Tie me up?" He smirked at me. There was that fire igniting in my abdomen again. Thoughts of Derek tying my wrists up with rigging knots swam briefly through my head. I blushed. I had to look away again.

Once Aine arrived with the rest of the group, we set out. It took us a couple of hours to make our way through the woods to the hidden house hole on the side of one of the hills. The scent of blood was so thick even I could smell it.

"Stay as close to me as you can, but if this turns into a fight or I go down, you run. Don't look back just go," Derek whispered to me. I nodded. He pulled a small knife out from his boot and handed it to me.

"This is only in a last case situation," he whispered. I took the knife and nodded again.

We crept single file up to the entrance. Derek raised his hand and then made the signal to move and we all rushed into the space between the stones.

It was instantaneous chaos. Inside was exactly what a person would expect walking into the side of a hill. The entrance was dark and rocky and smelled of mold and mildew. There was torchlight lining the edge of the walls. It wasn't a house at all. It was a tunnel. In the tunnel, we were greeted with violence. I pinned myself to the wall as the Seelie fae ran past me. Swords clanged against each other. At first, I was confused at the madness unfolding in front of me. I could not tell who was who. The adversaries were fae as well. I stood still but found myself searching in the chaos for any sign of Derek. He had gone deeper into the tunnel, and I could hear shouts and more clangs of steel on steel. There were bodies on the floor of the tunnel, and I found myself gripping the knife so hard that my nails were digging into my hand. Suddenly, I was seen by one of the fae that had attacked us. He rushed toward me, and as he was about to land his blow to my neck, I threw the knife as hard as I could, and it impaled him in the chest. He stopped before the swing of his blade and looked down at the small pig sticker sticking from his chest. He looked at me and made a sound somewhere between a hiss and a feral growl. At that exact moment, his head fell from his shoulders, and blood sprayed me all over my face. His body hit the ground, and his head rolled to my feet. I looked up from the severed head and saw Derek standing in front of me, covered in blood and still brandishing his sword. He came over to me and gently placed a bloody hand on my cheek. I looked into his eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked me. Once again, I nodded to him. He nodded back. "Come on," he said and reached and grabbed my hand. My mind was still reeling at what all had just happened, but my feet followed suit. He led me down the tunnel. I could see all the bodies around me, but I could not process exactly what I was looking at. I was in shock. We came to the end of the tunnel, and I immediately snapped out of my haze. There were more bodies. These were different bodies. They were female. Two of them. Blood was pooled around them and covered the floor. They had been torn to pieces. I looked over at Derek as he kneeled next to one of the bodies.

"They were elven," he said.

"What would make your kind do this?" I asked softly.

"The other fae were Unseelie. They are very dark. Even then, I've never seen them do anything like this."

"Bring out all the bodies," he said to one of his men. "We will build a pyre for the Unseelie and wrap the elven dead and send them to Elderwood. Explain what we have found here. I need to report this and update the court of this crime."

He turned and looked at me.

"Change of plans. It looks like you're going to be brought to the royal court after all. It's time to meet Queen Taneisha and King Pigwiggen, otherwise known as my parents.