Finding Fire -Book 1 of the Finding the Element Series

Chapter Two

“Where are we going?” Cal said for maybe the hundredth time in the past hour. The trees were in a sad state of grey, rot and bare portions turning their insides black.

The sky was a steel grey with a white moon that added shadows to the quiet woods. We had rode for hours, seemingly going in circles.

How did I get myself into this mess? What did I do wrong to deserve this?

The floor had a mixed color palette. Grey and Brown danced across mounds of torn up dirt and colorless vines that twisted up trees that stretched into the heavens.The first sign of color in this place.

“Shut up!” The knight behind me yelled at Cal.

Cal sat hunched over in front of a knight with a heavy sword in his hilt. The knights rode silently for the whole ride except for Cal who couldn’t keep his mouth shut. The moon created an eerie glow to the woods. I had to control my breathing so it didn't become to heavy, sparking worry in Cal who constantly turned around to check on me. Out of the corner of my eye a spark of yellow peaked in the tree tops and disappeared behind a bush.

The knights yelled something out and the yellow object appeared again, this time beside me.

“Give us light,” one of the knights growled at the thing. The circular object glowed brighter, as bright as the sun. I had to blink my eyes to not become blind. When I looked back I could see a little person inside the ball of light. A tiny human the size of my hand danced around the in the center.

My breath caught at the sight of it.

The little faery like girl held up the ball with her tiny hands and feet. Her hands were bright neon orange from the heat of the ball. I strained to see her face. She was the color of a tangerine. Her hair was a long trail of thread thin black strands. Her nose was as sharp as a knife, and her ears were perfectly pointed.

A bright glow formed when she came closer. Its heat stung my arm as she flew past to the front of the convoy.

“What is that?” I murmured under my breath, not really expecting anyone to answer.

“Sunbeams,” the knight behind me said stiffly. His breath rasped through his metal helmet and echoed. “They are light faery.”

“Faery?”

“Yes, fairies, have you not heard of them?” His voice had begun to get more impatient and weary.

“I have, they’re just not real.”

“Well one’s in front of you is it not.”

The ball of light led us through thick patches of vines and thorns. They scratched my skin and clung on to my hair. I yelped every time a thorn would scrape my face and I would feel blood trail down.

When the sunbeam got out of sight the knight yelled at it to come back and the light would come soaring back, stopping always a couple inches from my face. It burned; the sunbeam had to be pumping at least 400 degrees worth of heat. It made my skin glow with heat and my hair seemingly take fire.

We passed through an overhang of ivy and black moss. It dripped with sweet smelling dew that stuck to my body like perfume. It smelled like honey and felt like a blanket spreading across my skin.

It was sticky like sap but it added a warm feeling.

“Sleep suckles…” the knight said holding my waist tighter.

“Which are?” Cal said dramatizing his voice. The knight moved his head to look at Cal. They stared at each other; more like glaring.They stayed that way for a full minute before the knight turned back to the bushes above us.