Shadows of the Woods

Chapter 4

I winced when I heard a sudden thudding sound, and the argument abruptly stopped. I looked around in bewilderment. Had Eisha actually struck whoever was guarding Apollo and I??

She had. I watched as she galloped into view, looking triumphant as she massaged her knuckles. I wanted to groan and laugh at the same time - she really was something else.

"Eisha!" I called out. Her eyes snapped up and met mine.

"Goddess!" She began to climb my tree. Across from me, Apollo had opened his eyes and leaned forward again. His face was bemused, and his eyes watched Eisha's ascent carefully. He'd obviously pieced together what had happened, probably faster than I had. Someone would realize what would happen soon, and Eisha would be in trouble.

"Goddess." Eisha's tiger paws gripped the slim branch in front of me effortlessly. Her striking grey eyes were urgent. "Time is of the essence. You and your muse must leave immediately and alert the magical world."

"I know, I know." I stood up and pressed my hands against the crystal forlornly. "But we can't get out, Eisha! We're trapped - "

"No, you are not." Eisha replied firmly. "You are now a young elf, Goddess. Young elves have the strength of a hundred klaae."

"Yes!" I looked around Eisha, startled, at Apollo's outburst. He looked excited. "How did I not think of this?"

"What do you mean?" I turned back to Eisha. "I wasn't born an elf, Eisha. I was a human!"

"Yes, but you were reborn as an elf." Her gaze almost burned a hole in me. "Elves are the strongest at the beginning of their lives. You have only been an elf for a few months; therefore, your strength is still at its peak."

I gawked at her, but she clearly wasn't having any of my nonsense.

"Quickly." She was impatient now. "Strike the crystal. And once you do, you must hurry, the breaking will be heard in every corner of the forest, and that scum Simon will come running."

"Eisha - "

"Strike it!" She bellowed, and I saw a flash of her former, fierce self.

I screwed my eyes shut and brought my fist down on the crystal with as much strength as I could muster. There was a deafening shattering noise, and I gasped as I suddenly dropped, tiny shards of crystal raining around me like snow.

Before I could fall through the branches, a pair of strong arms caught me. I looked up at Eisha's triumphant face.

"You must go now, Goddess."

With both hands, she hefted me up. Something suddenly occurred to me.

"Wait, wait, wait!" My hands fluttered toward Eisha. She paused and looked at me with a raised brow. "What was his name? The witch, what was his name, Eisha?"

Her face crumpled, and I saw how much she had loved him. "Malius." Her voice said quietly. "His name was Malius."

"Oh, Eisha." I sighed.

Before she could say another word, a wailing horn began to go off.

"Eisha!" Apollo called out sharply.

I watched as her face grew hard again. Ignoring the alarm, she shifted around the branch, still holding me, so that she was facing Apollo's crystal chamber.

"Tuck your limbs in, especially your head." She instructed me.

"What?!" I yelped, but she had already thrown me.

I sailed across the divide like a football, the ground racing past below me, and I hastily pulled my arms and legs in like she had told me. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for impact. Eisha had literally just thrown me, and I still couldn't believe how ridiculous she was. It was my shoulder that struck Apollo's chamber, and the crystal immediately exploded.