// melting sugar //
"All this for a goddamn mysterious 'precious item'," I grunted in irritation as I trekked through the forest.
Despite the bright day, the forest was dark. The thick canopy blocked any light, aside from the few beams that managed to break through. Because I could barely see in front of me, I kept tripping. My pants ripped and my knees bled. And I was lost. I couldn't see the lake from inside the forest, so I had no idea if I were headed in the right direction.
I glared up at the trees. Why did the royal family subject us to this? Why did the royal family even hold a bride competition? Couldn't they date like everyone else?
Groaning, I kicked a nearby tree. It had a measly trunk, skinny and tall. It reminded me of the Prince — so I delivered another hard kick to it, watching the branches and leaves quiver.
It was instant regret.
Two by two, orange lights glowed above me. They were small, only slightly larger than a bird. As they neared, I noticed that their wings resembled a bat's.
I backed up, trying to slink away from them. But it was too late.
Claws scratched my skin, and I screamed. I smacked at the ones that came near me. But it didn't stop the onslaught.
Pivoting, I ran. I continued to scream, wondering if maybe someone would hear it and come to my aid.
I bent to pick up a fallen branch. I swung it at the flying pests. I hit a couple of them hard enough to send them hurtling into a nearby tree. But they still came in a swarm of cackling laughter and beating wings.
One grabbed my hair and yanked backward, tearing another scream from my throat. It slowed me down, allowing them to catch up. My swings became panicked and aimless.
A creature flew in front of me and turned around. I stopped and studied every detail of the little demon: a fur covered body, aside from the wings; long claws on both its hands and feet; and finally a pair of bloodied fangs protruding from its tiny mouth.
It growled and flew toward me, lips parted to bite. With a shriek, I closed my eyes and took a blind swing. And when I opened my eyes, it was no longer ahead of me.
Sucking in a relieved breath, I faced the swarm closing in on me, branch at the ready. But before I could attack one, it squealed and was pinned to a tree, an arrow through its wing.
Eyes wide, I watched as a large net forced the swarm to drop to the ground. My stick fell to my side, a grateful exhale escaping my lips.
Movement to my left brought another dump of adrenaline, and I held the stick up in defense. But the creature paused in the branches above me and said, "If you wanna be a hunter, you're gonna need ta upgrade your equipment."
It jumped down from the tree, into a beam of light — and I nearly screamed again. A crocodile stood on two legs before me, wearing khaki shorts, a dirty polo shirt that looked like it hadn't been cleaned since it was bought, and a sling bag draped diagonally across its scaly chest. It had shoulder holsters and belt holsters, each with a different kind of gun. It held a large gun in one hand — which I assumed had shot out the net.
"What - what are you?" I stammered, too shocked and scared to move.
"Huh" was all it said as its yellow eyes scanned me up and down. "You're an earthling. Aren't 'cha, bean sprout?"
I nodded once, holding my branch close. It didn't seem like it was going to harm me, but being stared at by a crocodile was disarming.
Its eyes narrowed. "Now what in the name of Kahla is an Earth maiden doin' here?" Then it snapped its fingers. "Ah, the competition. But what are you doin' in the forest?"
"Um, I have - have to get to the lake." I pointed to my right, even though I had no idea where the lake was.
"Lake Lusk?" The ridge above its eye lifted, as though raising an eyebrow. It laughed, shaking its large head. "Well, bean sprout, you ain't goin' ta get there anytime soon goin' in this direction."
My voice shrunk to a whisper. "I'm lost."
"C'mon," the crocodile said, a clawed and scaly hand grabbing mine. It dragged me away from the creatures panicking in the net. "I'll get 'cha to the lake faster."
"Wait!"
I didn't bother trying to pull away. My gut told me to trust this creature, and I knew better than to doubt my instincts here.
"I don't even know who you are."
It walked backward and bowed. "Name's Jack, faerie hunter." He winked a yellow eye at me.
"You're a fairy hunter?" I gaped at him. "How could you kill fairies!"
His jaw clenched. "Oh, right. Earthlings misjudge faeries to be good, don't they? Well, they ain't. Those little demons that just tried to eat 'cha? Those are faeries."
I just stared at him in shock. "Oh."
"Alright, bean sprout." He dropped my hand. "There's a little-known secret to gettin' around this forest. It's all in the trees. The trees'll tell ya everything. See, look here." He pointed to a whorl in the nearest tree. He clawed at it, and I gasped as shimmering blue liquid dripped down the bark.
"What is it?"
"The secret." He grinned, showing off his fangs. "Watch." He covered one of his fingers in the viscous liquid and then pressed it to the whorl again.
The trees lit up, reminding me of the globes of light in the underbelly ribbing of the mushroom trees. A gentle blue light went from trunk to trunk, and squinting, I noticed the trail of light curved to the left in the distance.
"It doesn't last forever." Jack wiped the liquid on his shirt, adding yet another stain to it. As soon as the statement was out, the light began to fade. "But just go up to a tree, dig at the little hole in it, and do what I did.
"So now ya know which way to go. This way you won't get lost so easily."
I smiled at the crocodile. "Thank you, Jack."
He waved and turned to leave. But he paused to say, "Look, bean sprout, when you see the royal asshats again, don't tell 'em you saw me, okay?"
My brows furrowed. "Why?"
He let out a quick chuckle. "Faerie hunting is kinda illegal."
"Wait, why would hunting those be illegal?"
He waved a hand vaguely. "Something about becoming extinct." He rolled his eyes. "But because they're goin' extinct, their furs get some hefty coinage on the black market."
My eyes widened. "You sell on the black market?"
"I'm good at what I do, bean sprout." Those yellow eyes twinkled, and for the first time I feared he could hurt me. "And a creature's gotta survive somehow."
My lips pursed, trying to swallow the fact that I was alone with a criminal.
"And don't worry about those faeries. I'll take care of 'em. You just worry about getting to Lake Lusk." He grinned. "See you around, kid." With that, he dipped his head and vanished into the thick of the forest.
Unwilling to waste more time, I refocused. I repeated Jack's instructions, digging at the whorls in the trees. I covered my finger in the blue liquid and touched the bark again. Once the faint path illuminated, my legs kicked off into a sprint. I wanted to get as far as possible before the light faded.
Despite Jack's reassurance about the faeries, each time I was swallowed by shadows, I jumped. Above me, in the thickest part of the canopy, I could hear rustling wings and something reminiscent of a scissor snip. Sometimes I swore I saw the shadows themselves move: readjust or reappear, as if they were living entities.
My legs pounded, muscles overworked. My lungs heaved, and my mouth felt cottony. As I trekked the forest and tripped over branches, I thought to the King's words: that this competition was like our Olympics. But what sort of sport could this be? An Olympic decathlon?
When the trees thinned out to reveal a golden-silver horizon, dotted by lazy clouds and distant mountains, the answer hit me squarely: swimming. The event was swimming.
Before me, gentle and tranquil in the hazy light, waited the bluest body of water I had ever seen. It was like a piece of an azure sky had fallen. At the beach, where the waves crested silver instead of white, the water turned aqua green. But at the water's edge, it was clear. A perfect snapshot of the sand beneath the lake.
Mouth gaping, I stepped toward the water. It was silent and smelled like melting sugar instead of brine. A glint off the sands encouraged me to crouch down for a closer look.
It was almost as if bits of gold and glass were embedded into the sand: shards of something larger. My mind jumped to the precious item the Prince had mentioned. Did I tread upon lost treasures?
Like during the last trial, I was alone. It didn't even look like any girls had come here yet.
But to my left, a wooden boat had been tied to a stick in the sand, and despite the waves lapping beneath it, the boat remained stationary.
It made me wonder if magic were the absence of physics.
My lips pursed and my eyes squinted as I glanced across the lake. The Prince had said a precious item waited here — somewhere. My gut told me the boat was essential.
So I jogged across the beach to the boat. I worked to undo the knot and then threw the rope inside. I shoved the boat into the water.
When my feet became soaked, I gasped at the warmth of the lake. It was like a bath beginning to cool, just a couple degrees above lukewarm. The feeling was refreshing — I wanted to bathe in it, scrub away the dirt and blood and sweat.
But I hopped into the boat, settling in. I grabbed the single oar that sat at the bottom, and I rowed into the lake.
I watched in wonder as the ripples moved inward around the oar. The water remained calm, more affected by the breeze than the movements of the boat and oar.
Here, near the middle of the lake, the temperature of the air matched the water's warmth. Surrounded by rock formations, mountain vistas, and endless blue, this place was truly beautiful. A place out of a dream, a painting come alive.
At one point, I rested the oar across my lap, letting the water drip into the boat. My eyes wide, mouth slightly open, I stared at the beauty around me. The hazy colors of the sky blurred into the sharp colors of the lake. The smell of sugar almost convinced me I had been sleeping, dreaming up such things.
I snapped out of my daze suddenly. I realized coming in last was a real threat here: Eternity encouraged everyone to stop and stare and smell the flowers. Time was easy to waste when you didn't know it was passing.
Shaking my head, my gaze focalized. A glint of sunlight off the rocks to my left caught my attention, and I paddled toward it.
Closer now, I could make out that it was a collection of bracelets, necklaces, photos, notes, and drawings. I pulled up to the rocks and steadied the boat. Hoping my balance from dancing would kick in, I stood in the boat and reached for the rocks. I hopped onto the formation and climbed to where the pile of treasures awaited.
I winced, sucking in a breath as I scrapped my arm against the edge of a rock. But the pain subsided when I recognized one of the photos: it was the polaroid of my sister and me from my wallet.
I snatched it off the rock and stared at it. Angry, hot tears welled in my eyes.
Someone stole this picture. Someone rifled through my personal belongings to find something precious enough — worthy enough — to steal. To then place it here, in a foreign lake, for me to retrieve.
How inhumane.
You aren't in the company of humans, Bell, I reminded myself.
Shoving the polaroid into my pants pocket, I climbed down the rocks. The boat hadn't drifted away thankfully, so I plopped down into it. I paddled away, turning back to the shoreline. My lips pursed and my arms pumped, propelled by frustration with the competition.
The water rippled next to the boat. My movements slowed. The ripples turned into waves, and as they crashed, the water started to bubble. My eyes widened. It looked like a shadow swam beneath the surface, rising higher and higher.
Then, a fin broke the surface of the water. Panic flooded my system — was the lake shark-infested?
Stunned into stillness, I watched, mouth gaping, as a pincer emerged. It dripped with water and stirred up the scent of melting sugar. Bile clogged my throat and my heart slammed against my ribcage as the claw came closer to me.
With a yelp, I ducked and covered my head with my hands. My eyes squeezed shut.
The boat rocked, as if the creature had latched onto the side to climb in. My legs felt like jello, sent trembling with the rocking of the boat.
I waited for the pinch, the tear, the pain. Instead, a voice yelled, "Bean sprout!"
My eyes flashed open and my head jolted up. On the rock formation beside me stood Jack. I had never been so happy to see a crocodile before.
He had a gun with a ballooning barrel trained on something just over my head. He shouted, "Duck."
As I crouched on the bottom of the boat, head between my knees, an echoing pop sounded to my left. Something whizzed by, fluttering my hair. The boat rocked again and a splash ensued. Before I could lift my head, a grappling hook latched onto the boat. Then Jack was hopping inside and instructing, "Steady yourself, kid."
I watched as he aimed another gun at the shore. A hook and rope shot off toward the forest. I had just enough time to brace myself against the side of the boat before the rope snagged and we jetted across the lake.
Beyond Jack, I caught glimpses of the lake creature. Its pincers flailed, splashing water several feet in every direction. The water continued to bubble, as though the creature were warm enough to boil the sugary lake. As we neared the shore, its fin dipped beneath the surface, leaving behind only ripples in its wake.
The force of landing on solid ground once more hurled me backward. My head slammed against the side of the boat, and I sucked in a breath, wincing.
When my vision cleared, I saw Jack climbing from the boat. He pressed a button on his gun, and the grappling hook came scuttling across the beach back to him. Meanwhile, he tied the boat back to its post with his free hand.
After rubbing my fresh head injury, I stepped onto the sand. I felt stable on my feet, my vision crystal, a lack of nausea — I hadn't gotten concussed, so far. But another blow like that and a concussion would be inevitable.
"Thank you so much, Jack." I stood beside him, hand on his scaly arm. I smiled at him, pretending his sharpened teeth and glaring yellow eyes weren't threatening. "You keep coming to my rescue."
He dismissed my gratitude with a wave of his claw. "Whatever. Back to the castle, eh, bean sprout?" Before I could respond, he marched across the sand toward the forest.
I jogged to catch up. I lingered a couple steps behind the crocodile, fingering the polaroid in my pocket. Pulling it out, I attempted to straighten out its creases. My fingertips caressed the image of my sister's smiling face, and tears sprung to my eyes. When a couple dripped down my cheeks, I shoved the photo into the back pocket of my pants and wiped at my face.
"Escorting me to the castle?" I ribbed, voice cracking. I coughed to clear my throat.
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "You flatter yourself, bean sprout. My money's in the forest, and the quickest way back to the castle is through that forest. So we're stuck together."
My lips twitched into a grin. "You sure you don't have a soft spot for me?"
Jack stared at me while one of his hands brushed along a gun at his hip. "Don't push it, Earthling."
But the playful twinkle in his eye caused a smile to bloom on my face and a quick chuckle to release.
In silence, we headed toward the forest. Jack led the way inside. But before I could set two feet into the darkness, the crocodile emerged again.
Noting his slitted eyes and clenching fists, I asked, "What is it? What's going on?"
"By the curse of Kahla, the forest's blocked off."