Doelan had never felt so miserable in his life, stuck in that dark, cold cave. Liri was gone. He hadn’t really been with him in the real world. Doelan’s eyes had pierced the illusion, only to find that Liri wasn’t there. He was alone, running as fast as he could. When he had the strength that is.
There were other things that got to him. The animal skins he was wearing didn’t fit properly, and irritated his skin. His stomach was grumbling, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten. Of course he realized that anything he remembered eating was probably part of the illusion. He shuddered to think of what the goblins really fed him. His feet were the coldest part of him, touching the stone floor. Even with no light source he could somehow still see, but all he saw was more cave, and nothing else.
He hadn’t seen any goblins since he first broke through the illusion. He had lost them, but a lack of goblins probably just meant that these caves were really big.
He might never get out.
Eventually he lost the strength to run. With no goblins around he just walked through the cave, randomly picking directions when there was a fork in the tunnel. He didn’t know where he was going, all he knew is that he wanted to get out of the cave.
He didn’t know how long he had been down there. Days? Weeks? Months? No, it couldn’t be that long. He had no food and no water, and he knew it was true with his rumbling stomach and parched throat. He would never have of lasted that long anyway.
It still felt like forever.
His feet seemed heavier with each step, and he was losing hope. He felt like curling up and dying right then and there. What could he do? Except, he heard sloshing. He ran ahead, turned a corner and…he froze…his heart pounding…there were goblins!
They hadn’t seen him. They were drinking from some sort of subterranean lake in a wide cavern. Doelan had to force himself to move. These were no illusions. They were real.
He backed away around the corner and hid against the wall. He realized he had been holding his breath, and his heart was beating so fast he felt he might faint. He breathed as quietly as he could. He would have run, but with water so near…He was so thirsty.
Then he heard buzzing. Loud, terrifying buzzing…that slowly got quieter…and then disappeared. Doelan stayed still for a few moments, and then inched forward. He peered into the cavern. There were no goblins, just water.
He slowly crawled forward towards the water. Then he stopped by the edge and cupped his hands, taking a drink. It tasted horrible, but it was water. He drank, then rested.
He thought. Liri was gone. His people were gone. No…that was wrong. He was the one that was gone. His people were still where they were, in the illusion. He might never see Liri again. But no. He had found water. It wasn’t much, and he was still afraid, but it was something. He drank as much as he could bear, but since he couldn’t carry any with him he went on.
He walked through more tunnels, and more still. He started getting thirsty again, but he had more time…though how much time he couldn’t tell. He kept going and going, and saw nothing but bare rock, but he kept hope that he would find something, anything.
Later, as he walked through the cave, looking at the earth around him, he wondered if Liri was still in the illusion, or if he was doing the same thing, wandering about these caves with little hope. He stopped, and almost cried right then and there, but no…he couldn’t break down now. He shook himself and kept going. He had to get out. He had to…he…
It was strange that the shriek could remind him of crickets, and yet chill his bones at the same time. He turned around, his heart pounding instantly! They were far off, but he wasn’t going to waste time. He picked up speed.
The shrieking came again, faster this time. Doelan picked up more speed, his breathing getting faster. Then, when the shrieking was loudest and Doelan was convinced they were coming directly for him, he broke out into a run!
He ran for his life.
He got to the end of the tunnel, only to find more tunnels. He started picking directions randomly, searching frantically for escape. The shrieking behind him got louder and louder, and eventually he could hear buzzing.
The goblins were getting closer!
Where’s the way out?! He asked himself as he ran. How do I get out?!
He nearly screamed when he saw it, a bright light at the end of the tunnel. He had found the way out! The joy lasted a split second when he remembered he was being chased. He ran towards the light. It was far off, but if he could just get there…
He heard the shrieking and the buzzing, louder than ever this time. He looked but he still could not see them. He was beginning to feel wind, as if from a thousand wings beating at once.
He kept running, that bright light getting closer and closer. He was almost there!
And then he looked back.
He could see them, the goblins. They were coming for him. He didn’t want to see them. He didn’t want to see those skinny, yet muscular builds, or their big round bald heads. He didn’t want to look at their two slits for a nose, their thin lipless mouths, their dragonfly eyes and wings, or the swords that hung from their loin cloths. Yet here they came, ready to kill him!
He ran, getting closer and closer to the exit, and the goblins flew, getting closer and closer to him. He was almost there. Just a little further. He thought. Just a little further. Just a little…
And then he tripped.
He fell face first on the stone, and felt a pain in his ankle. He tried to get up, but the moment he put pressure on his ankle he cried out in pain and fell back. He had sprained it. He turned around he crawled backwards. The goblins were almost on top of him! One raised his sword to strike! Doelan covered his eyes!
And then nothing happened.
Doelan could still hear the angry shrieks, but they weren’t attacking. He felt himself shaking and sweating, and his heart pounded in his chest. Slowly he looked, and saw something strange. The goblins were stopped, as if held back by an invisible force, but that wasn’t what was strange. In front of the goblins, floating, were pink leaves, also held up by some invisible hands. The goblins couldn’t pass the leaves. Doelan didn’t know why, but they couldn’t pass those leaves.
Doelan stood as best he could, not putting weight on his ankle. He started limping towards the exit. He turned back, thankful, and then saw the goblins with a torch!
They reached the torch out and began burning the leaves one by one. Doelan limped as fast as he could. The Goblins got more torches, and burned more leaves. Doelan was almost to the exit, almost to that bright light!
When the last of the leaves burned the goblins came on! Doelan limped as fast as he could! He was right on the threshold of the light! The goblins were almost upon him and then…
They cowered!
He had reached the light! The bright blinding sunlight that the goblins feared. He was safe, but he didn’t stop. He limped on and on until he was out into the sun and then…He fell down on the ground, remembering nothing afterwards.
…
“We’re out! We’re out! It’s the real world! Liri we did it!”
Then he noticed was that Liri was not there. Panic started to settle in. This wasn’t right. They were supposed to escape together.
“Liri? Liri? Liri?!”
Doelan awoke to a strange sensation, as if he was suspended in the air. No, there was something under him, but it swung back and forth gently. It felt smooth, whatever it was. He opened his eyes. Above him was a bright blue sky, and below that were trees, unlike any he had ever seen. They had pink leaves, like the leaves that had held the goblins back.
The goblins. It came rushing back to him, and he wished he could forget.
He realized he was in a hammock. It was white, and it shimmered in the sunlight. Silk, that’s what it was made of. He was in a silk hammock in a forest clearing with strange trees that were too dense for him to fit through and had silver apples. He could literally see his face in those apples, resting with the pink leaves of the trees.
He wanted to cry. Where was he? Who had put him in this hammock? Where was Liri?
He almost did cry.
Then he heard a buzzing, but not like goblins. It was quieter, like a real insect. That still made him a little uncomfortable, until a tiny man flew into view.
Doelan wiped his tears away and looked at him. It was an old man in a cloak with insect wings coming from his back. He had a grey beard, a solemn expression, and a small gem tipped stick in his hand. He was small enough to stand in Doelan’s palm. He flew over and stood on a nearby branch.
“Hello,” said the small figure. “My name is Tulbor.”
“Doelan,” he said with frailty. “Where am I?”
“Filia Forest. The home of the fairies. Us.”
“Was it you that saved me? Sent those leaves? And…” he realized something. Hi ankle didn’t hurt. “Did you heal my ankle?”
“Yes, that was all us. We used our wands.”
He lifted the gen tipped stick in his hand, which Doelan supposed was the want, and pointed it at a tree. A leaf fell from the tree and hovered in front of Doelan.
“The trees of this forest,” said Tulbor, “are enchanted to repel evil. It makes a good protection.”
“Oh,” said Doelan, who was still getting over the fact that he had never heard of fairies before; or Filia Forest. Where was he? And where was everyone he had ever known?
“You seem distracted,” said Tulbor. “Let me ask you, what are you?”
“A gisler,” said Doelan.
“Hmm, yes. That is a…complication.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve never heard of fairies before. Have you?”
“Never.”
“That is because we do not exist in the world you are familiar with.”
“The world I’m familiar with is…” he hesitated. He still didn’t want to think about it. “An illusion. The goblins made it to trap me. I don’t know for certain if anything I remember is real.”
“I’m sure it is,” said Tulbor. “While I’m certain this illusion you speak of has false elements in order to be deceiving it must have real world elements in it to be convincing. This illusion is probably a copy of the real thing.”
I knew it! Thought Doelan, feeling sliver of hope. I just need to find gislers in the real Halhor! It must be pretty far away since I’ve never heard of fairies, but if I can find them, maybe they can help me…
“But you cannot go to the places you are familiar with here in the real world.”
“What? Why?”
“Listen very carefully. This will be very difficult to explain, and you may not understand it. The world you are familiar with is one of many. These worlds are connected only by magic. You could travel as far as you liked and never find another world. The only way to reach other worlds is to open a doorway through enchantment. You, Doelan are from a world where there are gislers. In that world you would recognize a great deal. Civilizations, histories, and other species. In this world, there are no other gislers, and you will recognize next to nothing. Do you understand?”
No. He didn’t understand.
“How do I know any of this is real? How do I know that there are other worlds? Beside my own?”
“You are a gisler. You will remain a fifteen year old boy for a very long time. Perhaps magic spells can grant this, but the world you remember is the only one where people are born that way. There are no such people here.”
“How do you know about gislers?”
“We have many secrets that we protect. How we know such things is one of them. I cannot tell you more than that.”
“But what about enchantments to reach these other worlds? Surely you must have some!”
“Though we know about them we have never had use for them. The only enchantments we know of that pass through these worlds belong to the goblins, and I doubt you are ready to face them again. I’m sorry.”
This couldn’t be happening. A world without gislers?! He was different enough when there were gislers. Now he was without his friend or creatures like him.
He was truly alone.
…
Lir? Liri?! Where are you!? Liri!
Doelan woke up in the hammock on his third day in Filia forest. He wasn’t crying anymore, but that didn’t mean he felt better. At least he wasn’t hungry anymore. The silver apples in the trees melted into a honey in his mouth and quelled his growling stomach. Now he wasn’t hungry and miserable.
Just miserable.
The worst part was not that he was alone. He had been used to that once. It was that he couldn’t save anyone else. He felt powerless. Simply powerless.
The next moment Tulbor flew into the clearing, buzzing over Doelan.
He said, “It is time for you to leave.”
“Now?” asked Doelan.
“Now.”
Doelan got out of the silk hammock slowly. It wasn’t as if he wanted to stay there, he just wasn’t certain what he wanted. And there was something else he wasn’t sure of.
“Where will I go?” he asked when he stood up.
“There is a man that you will meet outside this forest. He sells magical trinkets. Trifles really. We’ve determined that he should be a suitable guardian for you. He doesn’t know about us, or you yet, so you will have to explain, but it should be safe to tell him your story.”
Doelan didn’t know what to make of this. He stood there, confused, as Tulbor raised his wand. The trees next to Doelan started moving away from each other, making a grinding sound in the dirt. When they were done they revealed a path. Doelan followed Tulbor down it, and behind him the trees started closing. All around him were more fairies, climbing in and out of trees, even fairy children. Pixies. That’s what the children were called, or so Tulbor had said a day ago. He thought in passing that they were adorable, but it wasn’t enough to make him feel better.
“I’m sorry you cannot stay here,” said Tulbor. “But as I said we fairies keep many important secrets. We cannot let outsiders in. Your circumstances were fairly extreme, but I must warn you, the chances of someone else getting into our forest are very unlikely, and as for someone getting in twice…start with unlikely and see where that takes you.”
Doelan followed sadly. They reached the edge of the forest. The trees parted to show a wide field, and a very surprised older bearded man who was halfway through his hair greying. He was pushing a cart, or had been. Doelan saw him and thought he looked nice enough, but didn’t know what to think.
“There is where we part ways,” said Tulbor. “Farewell.”
The fairy turned back and the trees closed behind Doelan, perhaps forever.
“Well,” said the old man. “How extraordinary. Filia forest opens up, and a young boy walks out. I’ve never seen an outsider in there. How did you get in?”
“That’s a long story,” said Doelan. He wasn’t sure, but he had no one to turn to except this man. So, as difficult as it was, he told his story.
…
Liri! Doelan heard his own voice inside his head. Liri! Where are you?! Liri! He saw the faint images of a cave and him standing in those horrible animal skins, when suddenly he was pulled from his thoughts.
“Are you alright boy?”
Doelan looked with surprise at the man in front of him. Doelan was sitting with his back against a normal, brown and green tree that was right outside Filia Forest. No fairies could be seen at the moment, and despite the pink it was somehow ominous; you just knew there were secrets in there. Doelan has a glimpse of the inside, something many from that world would pay dearly for, and yet he didn’t care.
He was too sad.
“I’m fine sir,” he said.
“You may call me Gafal,” the old man replied warmly. “And you don’t look fine.”
Doelan sighed. “I told you my story.”
“Yes you did,” he said with pity. “And I can understand how you would still be upset, but this is a different kind of upset isn’t it? What’s changed?”
Doelan didn’t answer immediately. In fact, he hardly answered at all, but rather asked a question of his own. “Why do you care?”
“Well, if the fairies told you truthfully, I am an appropriate person to take care of you. I don’t know about you, but taking care of someone who escaped from the goblin caves sounds like a big job, and I wouldn’t mind living up to that. Besides, helping someone in need is just good manners.” Gafal smiled and Doelan, as sad as he was, couldn’t help but smile back.
“Alright,” was Doelan’s reply, his smile passing. “Alright. I escaped from the goblins and their illusion, but it doesn’t feel like much of an accomplishment.”
“Accepting everything you knew as false was in of itself a remarkable thing to do.”
“I know, but...I couldn’t convince anyone else of that, and I lost my only friend who did know it. Add the fact that I barely escaped the goblins with my life and wouldn’t have without the fairy’s help...I just feel so...so...”
“Powerless?” offered Gafal.
“Yes.”
There was a pause, Doelan looked away from the old man and said, “I don’t want to just leave my people down there. I don’t want to leave Liri there either. I just don’t want to leave things as they are when they’re so bad.”
“There isn’t much you can do about it.”
“That’s just it. That’s my problem.”
Doelan saw Gafal from the corner of his eye, and the old man had a thoughtful expression. Gafal was also rubbing his chin, and Doelan wondered what he could possibly say that would make him feel better.
“Feeling you can do nothing,” said Gafal, “is a hard thing to deal with. I will admit. However, I think the only thing you can do right now is wait until you actually can do something about it.”
What?” Doelan looked at Gafal. “You mean do nothing?” He was a little angry.
“Think about it for a second. I don’t like the idea of the goblins using them either. That won’t bode well for anyone, but at least for now they are not in any immediate danger, being in the illusion and all. You just need to wait until you are ready to do something about it, and perhaps until you have help. Some problems cannot be dealt with until you grow up.”
“I don’t grow up.”
Gafal gave a sly grin. “Not in body maybe, but in mind you learn more and become wiser. You do grow up, you just don’t know it, and when you’re ready, I’ll wager the goblins won’t know what hit them.”
At the mention of the goblins a shudder passed through Doelan, but only briefly. The truth was, he didn’t like the idea of waiting, but this man, this Gafal, seemed confident about him. Somehow, after a moment, he did feel better. Maybe he this man was right.
He looked timidly up and Gafal. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, and I hope I can continue to help you through this as long as you stay with me. Now, I believe we’ve stayed here long enough.” He walked around Doelan and behind the tree to a sort of peddler’s cart, filled with various odds and ends and decorated with a simple star. “Coming?”
Doelan stood up. “Coming.”
Doelan followed, but carried nothing, for he had nothing to take with him.
However, as he took one last look at the forest, he still hoped that someday he might just do it, and go back for what he left behind.
From a distance a figure watched him leave, a beautiful woman in a red dress with jet black hair. She had watched him with her mind while he was in the illusion, and grinned in satisfaction. You wanted to leave my illusion Doelan. You escaped my goblins, but now you are alone. Again. Just try to come back. Unless you see reason, the cost will be your life!
“But your version of reason is purely…superficial, isn’t it?” said another woman’s voice.
“Ah yes,” said the woman turning. “Queen of the Twyla! I thought I sensed you watching him.”
But she turned away instantly from the figure behind her, “Ugh! Why do you appear in that form!”
From behind her the other woman said, “You know I put myself on equal ground with those I speak with. This is what you really look like. The form you have here is another illusion. A mere thought you have projected to watch this boy.”
“Liar!” the woman in red shrieked. “I am as beautiful as I ever was! Take this form away!”
“Fine.”
The woman in red looked back. Now she saw an equally beautiful woman with red hair, green eyes, and a dress fit for a princess.
“There,” said the woman in red spitefully. “That’s better isn’t it?”
“I much prefer beauty of the heart.”
“The heart is ugly. The only hope for that is to hide it under fair skin.”
“That’s not what I mean. Take Doelan for instance. He doesn’t really feel a connection to the people he lived with, except one, and it is because of that one that he feels as strong a connection to them as he does. That’s heart.”
“Hmp. Useless. Like that underground prison you have for me. It won’t hold forever.”
The queen of the Twyla just grinned. “Perhaps not. You do have your servants, like the goblins. Creatures who follow you blindly. But for me, I rely on agents with a good heart and strong will.” She looked at Doelan, walking away. “One of them is more powerful than a hundred of your creatures.”
“You really think that boy could stop me? Why don’t you do it?”
“I fell for the trap of doing everything for mortals before. It won’t happen again. The best way is not to do everything for them, or to enslave them against their will, but empower them to fight their own battles.”
The woman in red smiled mysteriously. “That’s still a hard road for mortals isn’t it? You’re making things easier for me.”
“Then I have the advantage, for the right way is never the easy way. That boy will return, and he will have my help. You want all worlds to rule? We’ll make sure you only get the one we put you in. A dark, dank, cold cave of a world. It’s the perfect fit for you. It matches your heart.”
Then she disappeared, leaving the other woman scoffing.
“We will see,” and then she disappeared.
Little did Doelan know, as he walked off, that he was in the middle of something greater than he could imagine. All he knew was that he had a job to do. Get stronger and come back for his people. He looked back to Filia Forest in the distance. There were many ways to enter the goblin caves in his world, so why not this one? There must be other caves. He shuddered to think of it, but he vowed.
He would return.
To be Continued
In The Ageless One: Book One, Fate of Worlds
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