Mellissa

I gasped as my foot disappeared under a layer of snow. I lifted my foot and shook the snow off it. Stepping forward, I smiled as my foot disappeared into the snow again. Greg had warned us it had been snowing here, but I hadn’t expected such a drastic difference in the weather from where we just were. I pulled my hat down over my ears and wrapped my arms around myself as I shivered. The sun was shining high in the sky, but it was still freezing. I turned on the spot. The forest looked truly magical. The last time I was here, it had been after dark. Everything was brighter, and the shadow that had loomed over the forest was now nonexistent.

“How is there so much snow here?” I asked. “It isn’t even slightly icy back home.”

“It’s just like back home, where the different regions of the country have different weather,” Victoria explained. “This place and our village may seem to only be separated by the veil, but we are still in a completely different place. Who’s to say that if the veil came down, this place would even be next to where we live? Magic is funny like that.”

I had never thought of it like that. I’d always assumed this forest and our village were next to each other, not that crossing the veil was the same as hopping on a plane to another country.

“Where is this riverboat?” Matt asked sarcastically.

Greg pointed up the river. “We will be boarding at the water nymph village up there.”

Matt did a little dance. “Oh yeah. Water nymphs are blue and mighty fine.”

“You do realise that water nymphs are genderless creatures,” Victoria said.

Matt’s eyebrows squished together, and he tilted his head. “I thought water nymphs were all female.”

“Technically, water nymphs have the potential to become either gender,” Greg said, correcting them both. “Once water nymphs pair off, they decide as a couple which one of them will take on the male role and female role for reproductive purposes, but other than that, gender doesn’t really matter to them.”

“They can pick their gender?” I asked.

Greg nodded. “Gender is pretty fluid for many of the magic folk that originate from the ocean.”

We walked toward the water nymph village. I covered my eyes as the ice covering the river reflected a stray beam of light my way. “The water is iced over. How is the boat going to get through?” I asked.

“Don’t worry. The water nymphs will have it sorted,” Greg replied.

I trudged behind him, kicking up snow as I went. The snow was so deep it almost reached my knees. My new winter boots were pointless as they didn’t come far enough up my leg. The snow was filling up my boots and slowly soaking my leggings. This walk seemed a lot longer than I remembered, and I seemed to be the only one having a problem. Greg walked through the snow like it was a clear summer’s day. Victoria was gliding across, leaving no footprints behind, and Matt was leaving puddles of water.

I turned to walk behind Matt when something in the trees caught my eye. Something fluttered between the branches. I ran over to the tree to get a closer look. Whatever creature I’d seen had disappeared into a tiny house hidden in the branches. I looked around the trees. All of them had these houses in them. Each house was made out of wood that matched the trees. They had cute little doors and windows, and roofs made from straw. What or whoever lived there must be tiny.

“Greg!” I shouted. “What are those?” I pointed at the tiny houses in the trees.

Greg walked over and looked where I was pointing. “I thought you would know. You have loads of storybooks about them. However, your books are not very accurate.”

I looked at him, confused. I had a lot of storybooks about magic from when I was little. I’d loved the idea as a little girl. Finding out I was part elf would have been a dream come true for the younger version of me.

Greg could see that I wasn’t getting what he said. “They are houses of the Fay. They light the way of those lost in the forest. More commonly known as fairies.”

I grabbed his arm and squeaked. “They are fairy houses! The lights I saw in the trees before were the fairies in their homes? Why didn’t you tell me?” I felt like a little kid. I don’t really know why I was so surprised—I was travelling with two warlocks and a changeling—but I loved fairies as a child. I still had a habit of drawing pictures of fairies on all my textbooks. It was possible all the magical creatures I had dreamt of as a child were real.

Greg shrugged. “You never asked.”

How could he say that? There was so much to discover in this world. I had no idea what questions to ask.

Matt strolled over. “You know, fairies aren’t always that small. They can change their size at will. Sort of like how he changes into animals.” Matt linked arms with me and pulled me away, narrowing his eyes at Greg. I felt like I was missing something.

As we continued walking, Matt told me all about fairies and what they really looked like. He was loving the fact that there was something he knew more about than me. Usually, it was me helping him with schoolwork. I was the smarter one out of the two of us—on paper, at least. I was more academically inclined than Matt, but there were things Matt was good at that I wasn’t. Our differences, as well as our similarities, were what made us such good friends.

The stone bridge came into view. Just beyond it was a boat. It was a lot bigger than I had imagined. It was a long, grey and white barge. There was a mast for a sail, but it was currently tied up.

“You call that ‘just a riverboat?’” Matt scoffed.

“That’s what it is,” Greg replied, ploughing forward.

When we reached the boat, we found a group of people gathered around it. One person stood out in particular. One, because of his height, and two, because he was the only one that wasn’t blue. He had short brown hair and was dressed like he was ready for work at the office instead of standing by a frozen river. He was engrossed in conversation with an older man.

“Samson?” exclaimed Greg.

The brown-haired boy turned around, a smile spreading across his face. “Greg, you’re finally here.” He embraced Greg, who appeared to be in shock. “You look well, though still in need of a haircut.”

Greg swatted Samson’s hand away as he flicked his fringe. “Samson, what are you doing here? I wasn’t told you would be escorting us.”

“It was rather last minute, but I managed to persuade your father to let me come meet you. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Yes, of course. Everyone, this is my cousin Samson.” Greg ushered me forward. “Samson, this is Mellissa Hail, keeper of the Heart and heir to the elf throne, and her guardians, Mathew and Victoria Street.”

Samson bowed. “It is an honour to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Oh wow. He is bowing,” I said. “You don’t have to do that, and just Mellissa is fine.”

Samson’s eyes widened. “But that would be improper.” He sounded just like Greg.

Matt and Victoria snickered behind me.

Greg put his hand on my arm and whispered, “Mellissa, we spoke about this.”

“No, you spoke, and I tuned you out.”

Greg put his head in his hands. Samson looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh.

“Is that her?” came a voice from the group gathered.

“It is. I heard him say her name,” said another.

“Your Majesty,” cried a chorus of voices. Then they were all on their knees.

My eyes widened. “What is happening?”

“They are bowing to their queen,” Greg replied.

“I thought I was heir to the elf throne.”

“You are. The water nymphs follow the old ways, making you their queen too.”

“What? No.” I shook my head. “Why aren’t they standing?”

“You need to tell them to rise—something you would know if you actually listened to me.”

This was crazy. I turned to the crowd and cleared my throat. “You may rise.”

And they did.

A young woman stepped forward. She had long, wavy black hair and deep blue eyes. “Permission to approach?” she asked.

I looked to Greg, and he nodded. “Permission granted,” I said.

“My name is Yuri, and I have been chosen by my people to assist you on your journey. It is an honour to serve you.”

“That’s nice.” I gave her what I hoped was a believable smile, while on the inside, I was freaking out. A very big part of me wanted to run away, and the other wanted to collapse on the ground. This was too much. I hadn’t expected anything like this. All this attention was unnecessary.

Greg turned his back to the crowd and tilted his head toward my ear. “She will be making sure the river stays clear of ice.”

“Oh, that’s what she meant.” He nodded. I grabbed his arm as he went to step back. “Can we just get out of here?”

“As you wish, my lady.” He turned to Samson. “Shall we get going then?”

“Of course,” Samson replied. “All aboard. We shall depart immediately.”

We followed Samson to the boat. The girl, Yuri, eyed Matt and Victoria with wide eyes. People bowed and reached out to me as I passed. I let out a long breath when I made it onto the boat. A man grabbed Greg’s hand just before he could climb up.

“Master Ainsworth, you honour our people by bringing the keeper to us.”

He put his hand over the man’s. “The honour is all mine.” The man nodded, releasing him, and Greg climbed aboard the boat.

I raised an eyebrow. “Master Ainsworth?” I asked.

“I told you we are more formal here,” he replied.

“They are, and it’s really annoying,” Matt said as he leant against the railing of the boat. “Are we going to get moving?”

“Yes, we are.” Greg made a hand gesture to Samson, who nodded in response, then disappeared. After some loud bangs and thuds that made my stomach clench, the boat began to move. Yuri was at the front of the boat, waving her arms about. With each of her movements, it sounded like something was breaking. I ran to the railing Matt was leant on and looked out at the water. The ice was cracking and being pushed apart.

“Amazing,” I said.

“Yeah, I know. He didn’t even have to use words to order people about. His Royal Highness is really in his element here.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Samson and I grew up together,” Greg snapped, cutting me off. “We developed our own form of nonverbal communication long ago. I am not any more royal than you are.”

Matt snickered. “Yeah, right. Who are you kidding? We all know you are just some rich, privileged kid. You have no idea what it’s like for us normal folk.”

“You know what—” Greg paused, then said, “Doesn’t matter. You’re a waste of my time. I’m going to see if Samson needs help.”

Matt stared in the direction Greg had gone. “Yep, always better to boss people around while standing over them.”

I grabbed Matt’s arm. “What’s gotten into you? That was uncalled for.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do. Seriously, you say you don’t hate him and then act like that. This negative energy really isn’t helping my nerves. We are meant to be a team.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just, when I saw you two together and the way he was looking at you, it’s like you’re just another item to add to his display cabinet.”

I blinked. That statement made him sound jealous, but I knew that couldn’t be right. “What are you even talking about?”

Matt sighed as he gazed up at the sky. “It’s like this—even before I became your guardian, I felt the need to protect you. You are just so naïve. You have this idealistic view of the world, but just because that’s how things should be, doesn’t make them so. Guys like him take advantage of people. It’s in their nature. Even if he is trying to be decent, it’s hard to break out of what you’ve been raised to do.”

“Cut him some slack. He did kind of save me. We wouldn’t have any transport without him, and I never would have learnt the magic I need to know. Besides, I am extremely capable, and you are constantly pushing me to make new friends.”

“Yeah, well, not friends like him.”

I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t see you acting like this when Victoria makes a new guy friend, and I use the term ‘friend’ very loosely when referring to your sister.”

“That’s because my sister is an ice queen in every possible way. She could kick any guy’s butt with her arms tied behind her back. You, on the other hand, are easy pickings.”

“I am not.”

Matt raised his eyebrow and tilted his head. Annoyingly, he was right. I was nowhere near as tough as Victoria, and based on what I’d seen of her magic, she was lethal. He put his arm around me. “Look, I’m sorry. I will play nice from now on. You’re right; there are worse rich snobs out there than Greg.”

Not quite what I had meant, but I’d take what I could get if it meant Matt would stop with the snide remarks. I needed our odd little team to get along for my own sanity.

I opened my mouth to respond when I was hit by a chorus of voices.

“Our Queen.”

“You have returned to us.”

“We owe you thanks.”

I pushed Matt away and turned slowly on the spot. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Matt stepped toward me, but I put my arm up to stop him coming closer. My ears rang as the voices got louder. More joined in, and they began to shout.

“Your Majesty.”

“The forest is where you belong.”

“You must stay.”

“Don’t leave us.”

I clutched my ears. Where were these voices coming from? Matt edged toward me. I screamed as he placed a hand on my arm. My head was ringing. I stumbled backward, turning my head side to side, searching for the voices. They kept calling to me. Matt shouted my name. I slapped his hand away to stop him from touching me. Branches suddenly shot across the boat, slamming into him.

The voices became angry. “Danger. We must protect the queen.” Vines wrapped around Matt. I needed to help him, but my body wouldn’t move. My head was throbbing. It was the trees. They were calling out to me and were trying to protect me. They thought Matt was a threat. I needed to stop them. Make them understand.

Fire blasted through the vines, then ice shot across the deck. The trees screamed in pain. My heart was racing. I ran to the edge of the boat and leapt in the air. Two arms grabbed me around the waist. I screamed, kicking my legs about.

“Have you lost your mind?” Victoria yelled in my ear.

“I belong in the forest!” I shouted.

She spun me around, forcing me away from the edge. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m not about to let you kill yourself.”

“Can’t you hear the screams? The trees are in pain. They need me.”

The trees surrounding the river stretched toward the boat. Branches slammed down on the deck. Vines wrapped around the boat. I tried to push Victoria away. She grabbed my arms and twisted them behind my back.

Matt appeared on his knees in front of me. “Mel, what are you going on about? Please calm down so we can help you.” I could hear the worry in his voice. What was wrong with me? None of what I was doing made sense.

“Matt,” shouted Greg, “you need to get through to her before she destroys the boat.”

I was destroying the boat. I’d thought the attack was just the trees, but it wasn’t. They were calling to me. The worry and need for help that the trees were feeling had trigged something inside me but I hadn’t meant for this to happen. Their cry for help had added to the pressure I was feeling and sent my powers haywire. I had to stop, but I didn’t know how.

Matt put his hand on my cheek. “Mellissa, you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You’re scared and overwhelmed. You’ve been playing it cool, but inside, you are freaking out, and I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I was too busy trying to protect you from the wrong thing.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Something you don’t need protecting from, because you are way stronger than anyone gives you credit for. I let you down, but that won’t happen again. We will face whatever happens when we arrive at the Tree of Time together—you, me, Victoria, and Greg. We are a team.”

Tears streamed down my face. He had put into words the feelings I hadn’t let myself acknowledge. “I don’t know how to stop it,” I croaked. “I’m not strong enough.”

Matt leant his forehead against mine. “Yes, you are. You have the strongest heart of anyone. You can do anything.”

Matt was suddenly yanked away from me. “No!” I screamed.

The Heart Crystal glowed. Everything seemed to slow down. Matt was thrown by a tree branch. Victoria rose up while forming an ice wall. Greg was directing a spell in Matt’s direction. The crystal floated up from round my neck and shot out a flurry of multicoloured lights. Everything around me lit up. Then, it all went dark.