Day 9 Continued
There was darkness in the cavern. One couldn’t even see moonlight filtering through the small carved window high upon the wall. The ceiling was so high that one could barely see the top. When Willow was in this cavern, she had the eerie feeling that she was really small in this vast universe of darkness. She took a moment to take in her surroundings when she felt sharp, cold, biting ice. She also felt the impression that someone was behind her. Chills rose up in her spine. The presence felt familiar, too familiar. She turned her head to look to see Sherwood unconscious on the ground with Aelius looming above him.
“I told you that you would regret not hearing me out.” Aelius said coldly. Ice gripped her heart and made her chest feel tight as Aelius’s icy eyes peered into hers.
She jolted awake, hyperventilating up a storm. She was shaking like one of the elderly in her city. She tugged hard on the grass beneath her to keep her faculties. Aelius isn’t here now. He’s in Scene City. He’s away from you. He can’t hurt you anymore. Calm yourself, Willow. It’s ok. It was just a dream. Despite her consolations, she knew that she had these vivid dreams for a reason. She knew that Aelius would be coming for her. The thought didn’t fill her with any comfort by any means.
Sherwood put his calm, comforting hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, Willow?” He asked worriedly.
“Yeah, it was just a dream.” She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger.
“I take it that this one is leaving you shaken up but in a different way than the previous one.” Sherwood said knowingly.
“You have an insane amount of perception where I am concerned.” Willow said.
“I don’t even know where it’s coming from.” He said with his eyes looking at her questioningly.
“I don’t know either.” One thing that her dream of Aelius reminded her was that she can’t trust her heart. She had set her heart on Aelius for years and he always let her down. Who knows? Sherwood could be the same way. Sherwood was much different. He was much more humble, but she decided that she was going to be careful. She vowed as such when that snake, Maevy, took Aelius.
Aelius was stupid and blind to not see what Willow saw in Maevy. She remembered how he yielded to her affections with a silly grin on his face and still looked back at Willow. He should’ve looked and see the difference in the two, but he couldn’t see others like Willow could. He is a Moon Elf anyway. All Moon Elves were caught up in pride. Willow was the only exception because she isolated herself. She broke the cycle of Moon Elf pride so therefore, she could see the real intentions in others for a majority of the time.
She remembered how she felt when Aelius had the audacity to even try to make her come back to him. He acted as if he was irresistible, and that Willow would yield to his enticings without saying a word. He misjudged her. She had an iron will when it came to her heart. She built up those iron walls when Aelius fell prey to Maevy. Aelius deserved every word Willow said to him and more. She wished that she could’ve said what she really wanted to say to somehow make him feel the pain he caused her. If he felt the pain she felt, then he would drop dead in an instant.
“Are you sure that you are ok?” Sherwood asked. There was no laughter in his eyes. He looked genuinely worried about her wellbeing. “You haven’t responded to me in the last five minutes and you have pulled out an entire section of grass.”
Willow looked down to see that he was right. Underneath her trembling hands was a patch of earth devoid of grass. There were signs of grit all over her hands. “You’re right, I’m not ok. I was reminded of a pain that I was trying to forget.” She gritted her teeth to stop the anger from lashing out of her uncontrolled.
Sherwood sensed it, because he sat down across from her and put his hands on her shoulders. The touch was enough to counteract the anger. She felt it ebb and wisp away in the wind. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. “Whatever it was, don’t dwell on it. To dwell on the past is to lose sight of your future. You don’t want to ever lose the future in waste in sorrows from the past.”
His wisdom was astounding. Willow knew that that kind of wisdom could not be faked. “Thank you. I really need that. I struggle with letting go of the past.” She said thoughtfully while staring at the patch of grassless earth.
“I can tell. I’m the opposite. I waste the present focusing on the excitement and anticipation of the future.” He said smiling.
Willow laughed. “Will you help me up?” She held up her hand.
“Of course,” He laughed and took her hand. He swiftly pulled her up without a need of breath, but he didn’t let go of her hand. “You seemed rooted to the ground. I’m surprised that you didn’t turn into a willow tree, Willow.”
“Oh look how witty you are. By the way, I’ll need my hand back. Besides, it’s really dirty.” She said laughing.
“Oh I don’t care if it is, but oh well. Here’s your hand back.” He let go of her hand, but her hand still left traces of his touch. A giggle escaped her mouth before she even had a chance to pull it back. She put her dirty hands to her mouth and turned red.
Sherwood just laughed and didn’t say a word. Willow exhaled. “Shall we go on?” She said before Sherwood could say anything.
“Yes we shall.” He said laughing even harder.
Willow still felt the flame in her cheeks as she ran. Her iron walls just couldn’t keep Sherwood out, but as she was running she kept reprimanding herself to be careful. The fact that she was running the anger began to ebb away. Running always helped her redirect her pain.
One moment of silence drifted into another and another until Sherwood spoke. “Is there any chance that you’ll tell me what was bothering you?”
“Not one,” Willow said laughing. “But nice try,”
“Oh darn, but I’ll somehow get it out of you.” He said smiling.
“I’m sure that you will, but it doesn’t matter at the moment. The information won’t help you a bit.” Willow said even though she knew that it was a lie. He needed the information because Aelius is coming to get him. She wanted to delay the moment of truth, however, because she didn’t want to tell him about a previous love of hers. It would taint her developing feelings for Sherwood.
He could see through the lie. “I highly doubt that, but I won’t press you. I will respect your privacy and secrets like a good soldier and man would for a lady.”
“You’re very charming. I bet that you could wheedle your way out of everything with that charm.” She said smiling teasingly up at him.
“Oh, well, I didn’t learn only diplomacy at the palace.” He said winking at her.
“Let me guess, most of the palace curriculum consisted on how to charm your way into a lady’s heart to gain a queen or a wife.” Willow said with an eyebrow raised.
“A man’s wife is his queen.” Sherwood said smiling humorously.
“That’s clever. Do you believe that?” Willow asked while suppressing a smile.
He looked at her deeply before he answered, “Always.” He then smiled a sincere smile. It took every ounce of Willow’s iron will to not smile giddily back and to feel the fire in her cheeks again.
She spoke before her will betrayed her. “Well, I hope that you find your queen someday.”
“What if I already have?” He asked smiling again.
That one took a minute for Willow to counter. “If you have, then I hope that you don’t blow it.” She hoped that too. Aelius blew it and she had been counting on him for years. So far, though, Sherwood hadn’t let her down. Except for the fight, but Sherwood immediately apologized.
He bluntly asked "Has there ever been somebody in your life that let you down?"
“Yes.” She said truthfully. She couldn’t keep everything about Aelius back from Sherwood at the moment.
“I see.” Was all he said, and so they ran in silence again. The silence was killing Willow. She had never been this open with anyone, well, except for her parents. It was because she mistrusted almost everybody she came in contact with, but Sherwood gained her trust within five minutes. That was unheard of. Even trusting Jonah took longer than it took for her to trust Sherwood.
“You should tell me about what palace life was like for you while you were growing up.” She said piping up.
He laughed. “Ah, my childhood, it’s funny that you would ask about it.”
“Why is that funny?” Willow asked.
“My childhood was the opposite of yours. While you were living in seclusion and tragedy, I was living in luxury and bliss.” Sherwood said with a perplexed look.
“I can see where it led you to your cheery self today, while my childhood led to my distrust and cynicism.” Willow said frowning.
“Hey, you’re not a cynic. You are strong and tough. You don’t break down under pressure. You hold your ground better than the average Sun Elf soldier, and I’ve seen you cheery. I mean, I heard you giggle a little while ago.” He said bumping into her.
“Why you,” She said while bumping him back. “I’ll strangle you for that.”
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Look, you can’t hold everything in. You’ll just explode. Letting a giggle loose is never a crime.” Sherwood said smiling.
“Unless you’re a man elf, giggles are very unmanly.” She said in a counter.
“That is different. Look, its ok to lighten up once in a while.” He said laughing.
“You know, not everything has to be a joke.” She said.
“Not everything has to be so serious.” He countered.
“Alright then, what do you propose then if you are the master of not taking most things seriously.” She said.
“Let’s play a game then. It will lighten the mood and it will take your mind off of all your troubles and woes.” He suggested.
“Explain the rules then.” Willow said impatiently. She was a bit annoyed that Sherwood was criticizing her. She waited for him to explain until she noticed that he stopped running. “What is it?” She asked.
He pointed to a crying little girl that looked like she was about five years of age. Willow reprimanded herself again. She was so focused on her annoyance that she didn’t pay attention to the violent crying in front of her. “What should we do, Willow?” He asked in a whisper. He looked confused. Figures this was Willow's world not his. While he was excellent at counceling soldiers, Willow was excellent at comfort the wayward and grief-striken elves.
“Let’s go talk to her. I have felt like how she looks; she needs me.” She whispered back. She just had this feeling. She never had this feeling before, but she felt like she was the right person to help and that she was led to this child. She also felt like all her life’s experiences led her to this point in her life, and she knew that she should always follow her instincts.
She started to walk towards the girl. Sherwood tentatively followed. The girl had golden brown hair that fell to the middle of her shoulder blades. She had tanned skin and small hands that covered her eyes. Her wails filled the whole clearing of the forest that she occupied. She was oblivious to everything around her and so she didn’t sense Willow’s approach.
Willow cleared her throat. “Dear child, what's the matter?” She said in her most calm, sympathetic voice.
The girl hiccupped and looked up at Willow in fear. She gathered her legs closer to her body and whimpered in fear.
“It’s alright, child. We’re not here to harm you.” Willow said reassuringly.
“I-I-I don’t th-think I can trust a-a-anybody.” The girl stammered. She had a high distrustful voice. Willow instantly knew how this girl felt.
“I know you feel. I don’t trust many people either, but there are good elves in this land. Sometimes you have to dig deep, but there are good people that can relate to you.” Willow said calmly. Sherwood looked shocked at Willow’s words, so she smiled at him to assure him that she could handle this.
“Really? I have had known nothing but bad people, except for my mother.” The girl said and more tears escaped.
“My mother died five years ago.” Willow said somberly.
“Really? I don’t know how anybody could live without a mother. I wouldn’t want her to die and leave me with my f-father.” The girl said crying some more.
“Is your father a bad man?” Willow asked. She had a feeling that this was the case.
The girl nodded. “He threatens mother and beats all of us.” She said crying violently.
“All of you?” Willow asked horrified.
“Yes. I have five siblings. H-h-he beats all of us. He drinks horrible stuff and beats us.” The girl said crying.
“I know that it is hard, but you can make it through. You are in charge of your own life, dear child.” Willow said reassuringly.
“Really?” The girl asked.
“Yes. I decided to make most of my life despite the fact that my parents died.” Willow said proudly.
“You are my hero, lady. What’s your name?” The girl asked whipping away tears.
“My name is Willow, Willow Ravenmark.” Willow said bowing her head.
“My name is Ferine. I want you to meet my mommy, Willow.” The girl said happily.
“Will your father be there?” Willow asked worriedly.
“No. He leaves all day to drink the horrible water and comes back at nighttime.” Ferine said.
“Take me to your mother then, Ferine.” Willow said smiling at her.
“Ok. Follow me, you too, boy.” Ferine said bounding ahead of them.
Sherwood whispered to her. “You’re good with wayward children.”
“Call it intuition.” Willow said smirking.
“You have a vast amount of it. Sorry about my teasing about how you are no fun. You are fun, I just wanted you to forget about what made you upset.” Sherwood said remorsefully.
“Don’t fret about it. I understand what you were doing and I appreciate it, but these things take time. You are right though, I shouldn’t dwell on the past.” Willow whispered back.
“We’re here. Mommy, I have visitors.” They saw a small forest hut. There was a beautiful garden in the front filled with an assortment of colorful flowers. It looked like the garden was well loved. The plants were spread about the front of the house and there were tall lilac bushes.
Ferine entered through the green door. Willow and Sherwood followed to see the humble front room. There was a small table and a hay cot on one side. On the other side there was a middle aged Sun Elf woman on an old wooden chair. Some of the chair had chunks taken out of it.
The woman had curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and full lips. Her face was full of bruises and under her eyes she had purple skin from sleepless nights. Willow felt so bad for this woman that endured a drunken man’s wrath for years.
“I have visitor’s, mommy.” Ferine said happily.
“What did I tell you about talking to folk you don’t know, Feri?” The mother asked sharply.
“Mommy, this lady was so nice to me. She listened to my woes and comforted me.” Ferine said pleadingly.
“Most folk seem nice until they take advantage of you, Feri.” The mother said.
“Lady, I have no desire to take advantage of your family. I only wish to help. You see I have gone through troubles myself.” Willow piped up.
The woman studied her for a second. “You are a Moon Elf?” She asked.
“Indeed, but I’m not like the others.” Willow defended.
“That’s what Armandus used to say until he became addicted to mead, and then he became worse than the average Moon Elf.” The woman said distraughtly.
“Your husband is a Moon Elf? How is that possible?” Willow asked frowning.
“You’re not the only Moon Elf that seems to have willingly left the Moon City. Armandus used to be in the Moon Army. Once he had to raid Moordom and he saw me when he visited the market for supplies. He would sneak out of his camp and visit me. He was charming and real. He always knew what to say to me and how to take care of me. I grew to love him and him me. He made all these promises to me and I believed him.
“I pled with him to stay with me and to leave the Moon Army. He said that we would have to run away together and hide in order for him to leave the army. After days of convincing, I finally agreed to leave my wonderful manor forever. I was 16 and my father would’ve never approved. He didn’t even know about Armandus, so I took great risks in leaving Moordom.
“One night he ran to my manor and threw pebbles at my window. I opened the window. He signaled me to come down, so I threw down my rope and climbed down. He told me that we were going to leave that night. I went back in the house and got all of my things. We ran into these woods, and we built a home here. He hired a Marriage Elf to perform our marriage and we began our life together.
“The first few years were the happiest years of my life. He was exactly what I dreamed of and we were in love. I had my first child and Armandus became a proud father. He loved our child with all of his heart. I began to have more and more. As a result, Armandus began to have trouble with feeding the family. He sunk into a depression and started drinking mead and ale. When he gained that addiction he started beating all of us. That was when I discovered that he was like all the other Moon Elves.
“I have tried for years to get away from him, but he has always threatened me death if I tried to run away with the kids. Out of fear of my life and the lives of my posterity, I have chosen to stay. I have kept that resolve until yesterday. Yesterday he was particularly drunk and he beat my oldest child to death.” The woman said somberly.
“That’s horrible! You don’t deserve to live in such misfortune every day. You must leave. Leave now before he comes back. I will help you. We can take you with us to the Sun City, right Sherwood.” Willow nudged him in the ribs so he would respond.
“Of course, I am Prince Sherwood Illuminus. I offer you my protection. I will talk to my father, the king.” Sherwood said calmly.
“Thank you. You are both most kind to me and my daughter. I don’t want to slow you both down. We will have to prepare our provisions.” The mother said blinking back tears of gratitude.
“That’s not a problem. You can get your provisions, but it’s imperative that you leave. You can’t put your children through this environment any longer.” Willow said sympathetically.
“Can we have some time to gather our things?” The mother asked.
“Of course,” Willow said smiling.
“Wait here.” The woman said. She retreated into the other room of the hut.
“You were great, Willow. I have one concern though.” Sherwood whispered. He looked impressed.
“What is it?” Willow whispered back.
“We can’t pick up any other folk during our journey. We can’t help the whole land.” Sherwood said.
“Trust me, there won’t be any others. I’m grateful that you are agreeing to this. I know that I jumped to conclusions on this before consulting you first.” Willow said.
“It’s perfectly fine, but please don’t do that anymore. I know that you want to help everyone, but please don’t. You need to take care of yourself too.” Sherwood said. He looked sincerely at her.
“I see your concern. I have you for that, I guess. Well, unless we don’t see each other after this.” Willow said.
“Don’t give me that. What you have taught me is that one is lead to another for a reason. I’m sure that we’ll see plenty of each other when this is over.” Sherwood said smiling warmly.
Willow couldn’t help smiling back. “Oh you,” she bumped into him. “How could you be so sure?” Doubt filled her voice. She wasn’t sure how things were between them. She was also afraid of taking the next step. One thing she knew for sure was that she needed to get to know him for longer before she took another step in the dark.
He laid his hand on her cheek. “Trust me; I’m sure that we will.” Willow swallowed and started to tremble. His hand was warm as if he warmed them by a fire. Despite the heat, chills sparked like lightening down her spine. She was trapped in that moment and she didn’t have the will to escape. She had the iron will to stay there. He was smiling widely with fire in his eyes as they met hers.
Just then, the unfortunate woman, three young male elves, a younger female elf, and Ferine entered the room. Sherwood quickly took his hand off her cheek and backed away from her. Willow’s cheek still felt warm, possibly even more so from the absence.
“We are all ready.” The woman said happily. The multicolored faces of the children were filled with hope, but that hope fled from their faces as the door banged open.
The whole room fell to darkness and shadow. Willow looked up to see a big dark man in the doorway. His shadow was the darkness that filled the room. His dark hair added to the darkness of his presence. His handsome features were contorted with malevolence and rage. From across the room, Willow could smell the rank of mead wafting from his breath.
The whole family cowered in the corner as the giant man came inside the humble hut. His presence breathed an air of sudden destruction.