Zoey cherished every moment she had with her little sister. Violet was laughing again – really laughing. She was not pretending to be all right to make her family feel better. She was playful and spontaneous, and the Wright family ended up spending the day together.
Violet never asked about the elixir Zoey had made her drink. She had been half asleep when Zoey had given it to her; maybe she thought it had been a dream. Either way, Zoey was glad they did not talk about it, because she didn’t want to tell her sister about traveling into Wandering Woods and finding the Fata.
She had hoped Eric would come by so that she could tell him the good news in person. She did not call him – she didn’t even look at her phone once that day. How could she? All her attention was on her healthy sister.
That night, Zoey was too happy to sleep. Energy flowed through her whole body like blood through her veins. She tossed and turned and feared that she would wake Violet, who used to sleep in her own room, until she got sick. When she had needed love, comfort, and support, she used to sneak into Zoey’s room. Zoey did not mind. Now that Violet was healthy, there was no reason for her to be in Zoey’s bed, but she slept there none the less.
Zoey shoved off the covers and got up. She went to her closet and put on sweatpants, snow boots, a long-sleeved red shirt with a V-neck, and carried a winter jacket over her arm. She did not take a backpack because she was not planning to stay out long.
She tiptoed out of her room and closed the door behind her, without waking Violet. Zoey couldn’t help but smile at the thought that when Violet woke, she would still be happy and healthy.
As Zoey left the house, the cool night air welcomed her, and she was filled with a sense of adventure. Any other sane person would have told her she was crazy for wanting to go back into the woods. There was nothing for her there. Yet would Caynin be displeased or happy to see her? Why had he taken such interest in her anyway?
She was also interested in him, drawn to him by an invisible string of attraction and adventure. He had told her so much about his kind, but she knew very few personal things about him, which made her curious and hope that her curiosity wouldn’t get the better of her.
She headed to the forest through the empty streets. Her father always told her that only drunks and troublemakers were awake at this time of night. The row of streetlights led her past many houses – some had porch lights on while others were dark. It was a quiet night, and the stars smiled mischievously down at her.
She reached the forest and did not hesitate to step over the border. The woods were dark and eerie, but she was not scared when she entered. She had been there many times before and had a good idea where what was, and she doubted she would get lost again.
But everything was different at night. The trees appeared foreign, the blossoms unfamiliar, and after she’d been walking a while, the air got colder, too. As she went deeper, the plants turned white, and the flowers disappeared. The branches, high in the trees, swayed in the wind – like claws. They dripped snow from the sky, like blood, and a shiver traveled down her spine. Some of the trees had thorns as long as her arms.
Zoey stopped dead still, holding her breath. Every bush looked the same, the trees were twins, the ice was unchanging. What had she been thinking to come back in the first place? It had been a stupid decision.
A twig snapped, and Zoey spun around, only to look into two big, yellow eyes. The moonlight shone down on the creature, so she could see its long white fangs. Its mouth was open, and saliva dripped from it.
Zoey moved backward, and the creature stepped out from behind the bushes and into the moonlight. It was a snow-white leopard, with paws the size of Zoey’s head, feathered wings, and curly horns. It was as big as a polar bear, and much, much scarier. A small sound escaped Zoey’s lips, and she lifted her hands, as if they could shield her from an attack.
Zoey inched backward slowly, averting her gaze from his yellow eyes while trying to get her legs to stop shaking. Hadn’t Eric told her that there were dangerous creatures in the woods? She had thought the worst thing she could run into was a Fata – then she might be able to talk her way out of the situation. With this winged leopard there was no way she could.
Zoey had to think quickly, and her first instinct was not to fight. She was a poor fighter, and her bare hands wouldn’t do anything to the leopard. Standing still wasn’t an option, as the leopard slowly crept closer, tail swishing. Without warning, she spun and began running. To her amazement, the leopard paused before it pounced after her.
She looked to her left and noticed another winged leopard running. If it weren’t for the black spots, covering his fur and feathers, he would have been camouflaged in the snow, like the first, spotless leopard. He was clearly much faster than she was, but he did not cut her off immediately. That was when Zoey realized they were playing with her; they were enjoying the hunt before they would devour her.
Zoey’s terror grew, and her heart felt like it might explode. She was trying not to cry, trying to escape, trying to live. She was so focused on the leopard to her left that she did not look where she was running. Her foot got caught in the root of a tree, which had been obscured in snow, and she stumbled and fell. She tumbled down a small hill and rolled until she came to a stop at the bottom. The fall did not hurt, but it had cost her precious time.
Zoey looked up from where she had fallen, expecting to see teeth inches away from her face. Instead, she saw both winged leopards standing at the top of the hill, gazing down on her with narrowed eyes. She struggled to see their camouflaged figures in the night, but she could clearly see their glowing yellow eyes and teeth. What were they waiting for?
Someone was running, and moments later, two Fata males appeared next to the leopards.
With a shock, she realized they were hunters, and the leopards were essentially their hunting dogs, but she was not going to be an easy prey. Zoey jumped to her feet and began running again. She wanted to cry out for help, but who would come?
Zoey could feel the leopards gaining, could hear the thump-thump of their paws. One was on her heels! She felt his hot breath on her back moments before he opened his mouth to bite. Instead of trying to outrun him, she fell to her knees. The leopard knocked her over as it passed her. She jumped to her feet again, ignoring the disorientated leopard, and started sprinting. She looked up at the second leopard flying and realized the trees didn’t give him enough space for his wings. She battled in the snow and ran beneath low-hanging branches, where he couldn’t reach her from the sky. Zoey turned sharply right, and in the distance, saw something glowing, as if she were a ship in a storm drawn to a lighthouse. She ran toward it, only to find out that it was not a lighthouse, but a glowing tree.
Zoey stopped and tried to catch her breath. She was sweating in her jacket, and she had lost both her gloves during her flight. She turned around to check on the winged leopards – they kept their distance from the tree but watched her intently. The Fata were not with the predators, but they would likely show up shortly.
She turned back to the tree and studied it. It had an otherworldly appearance, like the Fluver-luzile. It was not brown, like most trees, and it did not have any flowers, leaves, or snow. It was a glowing gold, and as she stepped closer to it, she could feel an electric energy in the air. It was almost as if she was standing in front of a heater.
It was as if the tree was calling to her. She was drawn to it in a way she had never been to anything before. Slowly, she reached out and touched the tree, and her hand was suffused with an intense heat that quickly traveled up her arm. The Fata cried out, and she quickly retracted her hand.
“Get away from that!”
Both Fata males were standing next to their leopards on the small hill. Instantly, one of them was behind her, and she tried to bolt, but he grabbed her arm and mercilessly threw her to the snowy ground. When she looked up, she saw the boots of the other Fata male.
“Shall we kill her, Bane?” the Fata in front of her asked.
Zoey was not ready to die, and she was not going to give up without a fight. She did not have any iron, and she doubted one of these Fata was about to step into a bear trap. A long, silver knife hung from Bane’s belt.
“No, Lore.” Bane shook his head, and his green hair hung over his ears like a hat. “She touched the Globetrot-tree.”
“And survived,” Lore added.
Zoey looked back to the Globetrot-tree. What did it do? Maybe she was imagining things, but she could have sworn she saw waves of energy bounce off it. What had she done to herself by touching it?
“This is a matter for the prince,” Bane decided.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled Zoey to her feet. Her attempts to pry his fingers away were futile, and she couldn’t help but scream. Her fear resulted in Bane laughing. Laughing! Her fear turned to boiling anger, and she tried to strike the faerie, who caught her hand then forced both behind her back. He pulled thin vines from his coat pocket which he used to bind her hands together. Her bonds were flexible, strong, and held fast – something told Zoey they were magical.
“If you try to run,” Bane warned her. “Our leopards will eat you.”
She took one look at the horned leopards. She was not going to run again. It was obvious she could not outrun them with her human legs.
“Walk,” Lore ordered.
She did not want to take orders from him but did not have a choice. The two leopards took the lead – they were well trained and did not run around sniffing trees or marking their territory like dogs would. They were terrifying, majestic, and beautiful creatures, and Zoey didn’t dare take her eyes off them.
The two Fata males walked behind Zoey, and this added to her nervousness. They were unpredictable creatures, and she couldn’t see what they were doing. Would one of them stab a silver knife into her back? Zoey quickly decided they would not. They had, after all, said they were taking her to the prince. But which prince were they talking about? Caynin had said there were two others.
They walked for miles and miles, and Zoey lost all sense of direction. Everything looked different at night, and no map could help her find her way back. Her plan was to escape the Fata and rush home and never return again. She had learnt her lesson.
Bane and Lore did not speak to her or each other which suggested they had been friends for a long time and were comfortable in each other’s silence. They didn’t always keep their eyes on her, and she concluded that they knew running away would be useless. It was as if she was a part of a marching band as they headed toward the castle.
Their destination was visible in the distance due to multi-colored fires. They emerged from the woods onto a footpath that led into the castle. Surprisingly, the structure was not surrounded by a wall, only a small, frozen river. They crossed a bridge with a large archway that had ice crystals dangling from it, and entered the castle.
The place was breathtaking, its beautiful gardens filled with ice sculptures of centaurs, sprites, and chimeras. Twixies danced between blossoms like fireflies, and the walls were covered in ice patterns such as Zoey had never seen before. It looked like someone had spent years carving them. Other walls featured frozen water dripping off them, like waterfalls. Small fires burnt everywhere, and yet they did not melt the ice. The castle was uniquely beautiful, and Zoey could not help but gaze about her as if she were touring a museum. Her guides, Lore and Bane, did not share any interesting facts or stories about the castle, so she used this as an opportunity to study the Enerly, who were dressed in fine clothes and observed her with judging faces. They turned their predatory eyes to watch Zoey’s progress, making her feel unwelcome. She refused to show any fear and stared back at anyone and everyone who stared at her.
Fata would stop speaking when she passed, and none of them tried to talk to her. They deemed her inferior, and she was not going to make friends here. She had to leave.
They passed through the garden and headed deeper into the castle. Zoey tried to ignore the cold but couldn’t stop shivering. Lore and Bane led her up the stairs to big, open doors. The leopards stopped on either side and sat down.
Zoey was the first to enter the throne room; she’d rather go on her own than have Bane and Lore throw her inside. Ice carvings of Fata adorned the walls, and in front of Zoey stood a throne made from ice crystals. Seated upon it, where he belonged, was Caynin. Gone was the curious, playful faerie who had taken her to the wine market. Sitting in front of her was a powerful, intimidating prince who did not object when Bane forced her onto her knees.
Zoey almost did not recognize him.