Elizabeth of the Lily

Of Blood and Bone and the Intangible Essence

Immediately upon entering the cave, She felt despair like a heavy weight begin to try and drag her down. Peter had stopped just down the path and with an encouraging wink, he tossed her the key. It glowed with an inner blue light in the cave that was not in evidence without and had she dropped it, it would have  fallen into the depths of the Dulldrums and been lost forever.Lizzy caught the key as deftly as a professional baseball player. She glared at him. "Good Catch!" was her only reward for his careless action.  

"Good Luck Princess" he whispered and crinkled his nose at her. 

"Any last tips?" 

Peter's garrulous face shifted to solemnity as he replied,"If the weight of the Dulldrums starts to drag you too much, remember you're Princess Elizabeth of the Lily, fierce as a tiger. You are the rightful sovereign of these dungeons and they must bend to your will." 

Lizzy didn't know what to make of the advice. Would this horrible place really bend to her will? Turning, she focused on her next task. Finding Tinker Bell. 

The Dulldrums were black as night, and seemingly empty. As Lizzy's eyes adjusted, she ponderously made her way deep into the cave. It was like outer space in it's empty silence and she had just begun to think that this was all a hoax when she pulled up short, almost running her nose into a faintly glowing set of bars. They also glowed blue, but not as vibrantly or as powerfully as the key she held. 

She squited her eyes, hoping to penetrate the darkness. The form of the prisoner came into focus before her eyes. It was rather like, she thought to herself, turning up the light dimmer in a room. The sight itself was horrible to behold, the prisoner was twisting and writing in agony. He was of average height and had the same golden glow about him as Lizzy, denoting his Fae blood, but he looked carved from a tree with flowing white hair. His clothing and wings were of autumn leaves, mostly oak, and he appeared to be submerged in the floor of his cell, like Tantalus in the Greek Myth, unable to free himself. His mouth was open in a scream as if the essence of the floor were eating him alive. 

She had to turn her face away, so horrible was the scene. If she had been able to look closer, she might have seen that indeed the floor was eating away his essence, soul was being sucked slowly from his body. She looked at the door of his cell. Above the keyhole was a placard with the prisoner's name and crime, "Glastrig the Wood Faerie, found guilty of consorting with Peter Pan, and treasonous acts against the crown."  She reached out her hand to the door of his cell to see if she could set him free. No one deserved to suffer as he did. As her fingers just about touched the door, his eerie orange eyes met and held hers. 

"No Princess"  a voice as loud as a shout rang in her mind. It was ragged and strained but audible. Lizzy froze and waited. She was not disappointed as she heard the voice again say, "If you touch it without the key, you will get caught. arrg!!!" The words were broken off by a scream of pain as he sank a fraction lower into the floor, His face twisting with the agony. The communication cost him dearly. Lizzy whispered back at the faerie, "I cannot just leave you here to die!"

"You must and you will. If you try, I will surrender all together and my soul will be fodder for the Crocodile clock. You have to get whom you have come for, and it is not I. "

"Peter said the Dulldrums would bend to my will? Doesn't that mean I can set you free?"

"All things will eventually bend to your rightful authoirty and doubtless you could open this door, but Simwe locked me in here and without a key, you would only alert him to your presence . That is how these things work. You do not have much time, NOW GO!"

The effort of this communication cost him another bout of pain and loss of body. The intensity of his orange stare and his stubborn words cracked at Lizzy like a whip. She flew on with anger and growing determination. Tears were streaming down her face as she went. These tears were of anger and pity for the poor dying Faeries trapped here in this Erebus. 

 She encountered seven more wretched souls as she tried to find Tinker Bell's cell. Each was in various stages of their fight with the Dulldrums. The worst was a tiny Faerie. All she could see of her was her eyes and hair. Even as she looked that disappeared with a sickening pop.

With each passing prisoner she found it harder and harder to stay air born. The horror of this dungeon was taking its own toll on her.  Finally she found a cell designated by a placard denoting it as Tinker Bell's. Dreading what she should find, Lizzy looked in. The tiny tinker Faerie was neck and head out of the horrible floor. Her mouth was open screaming her defiance though no audible sound could  be heard. 

Lizzy fit the key into the lock, and the door swung open. Immedaitely Tink's anguish was able to be heard. The door clanged loudly and got Tink's attention. Lizzy saw the savage madness in Tink's eyes. No one could survive months of this torture and not lose some of themselves in the process. Tink's screaming did not stop. 

Unsure of what to do next, Lizzy reached toward Tink. Tink, who was like a wild animal in her madness lashed and bit at Lizzy's hand. As she did, Tink sank lower into the bog of despair, which was her floor and Lizzy jerked her hand away. Lizzy knew that leaving Tink behind was not an option. Even crazed as she was, she was Peter's best friend and she, Lizzy, was the only one with the power to save her. Lizzy swallowed, and with unaccustomed cruelty, she grabbed Tink by the hair and began to lift with all her might. 

Instead of screaming with pain, Tinker Bell was stunned into silence by the expedient and different physical pain. With an enormous squelch, tiny TinkerBell was released from the floor. That was the first time Lizzy got a good look at what had happened to her. Like Hunt before her, TinkerBell was translucent and blue everywhere the ground had had hold of her. Lizzy saw the little Faerie go limp in a faint. She guiltily breathed a sigh of relief. At least the half mad Faerie wouldn't be trying to bite her the entire way out of the Dulldrums.