Guardian of the Hills

The Rescue

It was almost dawn when the party arrived near the Dark Woods mushroom ring. Derek was agile and stealthy. He was quick between the trees and thought they were close to finally capturing whoever was responsible for the missing females. He had been leading a tracking party across The Dark Woods in the hope of finding them. Several female elves and Seelie fae had gone missing as of late. At first, it was believed that it had been a wild creature attack, but there was no sign of struggle or blood. They were just gone. Poof. Disappeared.

Derek peeked out from behind the tree he was standing behind and motioned for them all to move forward. In his party was fifteen Seelie fae. Derek had led the party against his parents' wishes. They wanted him to stay home and learn the art of diplomacy, so when it was his time to rule, he would be ready. Derek didn't want to rule the kingdom from a throne. He felt he could better serve his people as the warrior he was born to be. Derek pulled his cowl over his face and darted to the next tree. There was something up ahead. He peeked out and saw twenty feet from where he stood was a girl in a cage hanging from the tree tops. She looked forlorn. She was dressed in some type of silky black gown, and she had dark streaks down her face. Derek motioned for one of his men to move forward. The Seelie soldier nodded and moved quickly to the edge of the tree line. He nodded back at Derek, and he darted through the trees and into the opening. He unsheathed his sword, and in one solid crack against the rope, the cage fell to the ground with an audible crash. Birds flew out, calling in all directions from the tree tops. The girl inside the cage yelled, and Derek went to her and cut the bindings that held the cage closed.

"An bhfuil tú ceart go leor iníon na gealaí?"

Regan was startled. Not by the foreign language, the boy in front of her spoke, but she was literally thrown off guard by his striking beauty. Handsome would have been too dull of a word. His hair was long black and wavy and pulled up halfway in the back. Several strands had fallen loose around his face, and she realized his jawline looked sharp enough to cut through diamonds. His moss green eyes almost glowed they were so bright.

He repeated himself. Regan shook herself and reached out to him. She didn't understand a word he said, but in her heart, she knew he was there to help.

"I speak English," said Regan.

"You're human?" asked Derek.

"Are you not?" asked Regan, half c*****g her eyebrow.

"No. I'm Seelie Fae," he responded. Regan looked around at the others who were now moving from the trees. She was taken aback as she realized all of the young fae were just as beautiful as this one.

"I need to get home. I don't know what happened. I heard bells, and then I felt dizzy, and I saw the mushroom ring. I saw something like a mirage, and I reached out to touch it. The cage slammed shut and threw me in the air. I've been in it all night. She could see the sun peeking through the trees as it rose.

"That noise was the portal. It's closed now. It won't reopen until the moon comes up. Come with me. I will take you somewhere safe." She nodded, and he held her hand and walked her toward the trees.

Regan was silent. She had a million thoughts whizzing through her head at once. Could they really be fae? She knew what fae were. She had read plenty of literature, mythology, and folklore. She looked over at the handsome boy and realized his ears were slightly pointed. It was subtle. It was also enough to confirm his claim. How could fae be real?

"Where are you taking me?" she asked. Derek turned to her.

"Do you think you can trust me?" he said.

"I don't even know your name. For all I know you might be taking me to become your virgin sacrifice." Derek's eyebrows shot up. This one is feisty.

"There is much power in a name," said Derek.

Regan remembered from the folklore stories she had read to never give your name to a fae. She decided to be diplomatic. Perhaps a nickname would suffice.

"My name is Skeeter. I really hope your not going to eat me." Derrick laughed. His laughter was such a wonderful sound to Regan's ears.

"I'm Derek. I'm taking you to my safe place. She smiled at him and walked carefully through the woods. She had realized several paces back that the ground was moss and that walking on her bare feet was quite easy. They walked for a time in silence. Regan was soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the woods. It was a peaceful type of place that made her feel calm even after having spent a night in a cage and finding out her boyfriend was a cheating bastard. They reached an area that was starting to hill up. There were some rocks and edges. Derek told his soldiers to go ahead and speak no word to anyone about finding a human girl on this side of the portal. They did as they were told and all went in their seperate directions. He walked a few feet and went in between two large stones on the side of the hill. Regan followed and realized quickly it was another portal. She was inside a room inside the hill itself. Candle light illuminated the quaint little living area. In one corner was a bed and a curtain devider, on the other side was a kitchen area. In the middle of the room sat a table. Derek poured water from a pitcher into a cup and handed it to Regan. She gulped it down. It tasted sweet. Sweeter than any water she had ever drank in her life.

"Behind that curtain, you will find a wash basin. I have some extra clothes in the trunk at the bottom of the bed. That will give you some privacy and let you get cleaned up. Then maybe perhaps we can have a bite to eat and talk about some things."

"Thank you," said Regan. Derek nodded and went to the kitchen and started to heat water in a kettle on the stove. She opened the trunk and found that there were several garments. Some were men's clothing and some were women's. She found a nice pair of soft brown pants she was sure would fit her and a pretty green linen blouse with cut out shoulders and sleeves. It laced up in the front. She used the water and washed her face and other parts and dried with the cloth hanging next to the basin. Once she was dressed and felt a little more decent, she pulled the curtain back and walked to the table. Derek handed her a bowl of some type of mash that looked like oatmeal. She could smell spices and apples in it as well.

"Thank you again," she said.

Derek sat down opposite her with his own bowl. He looked up at her and now that she was cleaned up he realized she was quite pretty. Her chocolate brown eyes danced with stars in the candle light.

"So tell me, how did you end up on our side of the portal stranded in a cage?" he asked.

"I had a really bad night all the way around. The short version goes like this. I went to a dance and found out my boyfriend was cheating on me and got another girl pregnant, so I took off running and ended up where you found me."

Derek put his spoon down and reached across the table. Regan put her hand in his. It was warm. She smiled a little and he smiled back at her.

"I'm very sorry that happened to you. Tonight I will take you through the portal so that you may find your way home."

"My dad must be so worried," she said.

"I will get you home," he said. He didn't know why but as soon as the words left his lips he felt an ache inside of him. How could this girl have affected him so quickly?

She smiled at him again and picked her spoon back up. Derek couldn't help but stare at her for some reason. His heart had raced when he first saw her, but he thought it was the excitement of finding her ok and unharmed. Now that she sat in front of him he realized his heart was still fluttering at times. Especially when she smiled at him. In two hundred years no one had ever made his heart race like that. It was unnearving.