Page 1 of Phixmery

Prologue

Maeven – Six Years Old

WITH FEAR CRAWLING DOWN my spine, I hear the sound of metal clanging and fae screaming echoes in the distance. My momma thrusts me at her handmaiden as we stride hastily to the stables. “Please Gretchen, get her out of here. Protect her with your life,” she whispers frantically. “Go as far away as you can and don’t tell me where you plan on going,” she hisses. “Follow what we’ve talked about.”

Gretchen stiffly nods her head, and even though her hands are steady, the smell of fear seeping through the air is pungent. “Of course, your Highness. I know what to do—she’ll be safe with me. I swear it, on my life.”

My heart aches as the next words leave my momma’s mouth. “Don’t come back.” Her knees crack against the stone of the stable floor as she collapses to the ground, pulling me towards her. “Go with Gretchen and listen to everything she asks of you. Be strong, my Jewel.” She tucks my necklace into my tunic and taps it tenderly. “Don’t lose this, okay? It’s important you wear it at all times—do you understand? Never take it off,” she whispers frantically as she searches my face.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand, I give her a tight, jerky nod. “I won’t take it off momma, but I don’t want to leave. Why can’t I stay here with you and my fathers?”

She pulls my cloak tightly around me, settling the hood of my cloak upon my head, and drags me in for a bone-gripping hug. “Don’t forget who you are, my darling, but you can’t tell anyone—promise me.” She waits until I give her my promise before she continues. “Gretchen will instruct you more later. Just remember that your fathers and I love you, so very much. You are our heart, Maeven. Now go.” She rises gracefully and ushers Gretchen and me towards a horse the color of night.

Once Gretchen is seated in the saddle my momma hoists me off the ground and into her handmaiden’s lap before backing up with tears streaming down her face.

My hand stretches out to her. “Momma!”

Dust shimmers, falling from the stable ceiling, and I feel it before I hear it: an explosion sounds in the distance and we glance towards the noise in horror. My throat thickens and blood pounds in my ears.

“Go!” My mother bellows as she summons water to her hands.

Gretchen spurs the horse into a gallop and steers us swiftly out of the stable. The night and trees become a blur around us and the wind caresses my wet cheeks, and I shiver.

All too soon we reach the edge of the castle grounds, and as Gretchen turns us down the road beyond I get a glimpse of my home. Flames billow around the stone structures engulfing everything within their reach, lighting up the night like dragon fire accompanied by the sound of unnatural roaring wind.

A shout off in the distance to the left has Gretchen sucking in a small gasp. She clutches the reins and urges our horse into an impossibly swift gallop, heading deep inside the Nairiden Woods. My nails dig into the leather of the saddle, the air fogging with every breath that leaves my mouth. I was always told to stay out of the Nairiden Woods, especially at night where wild mythics, beasts and creatures roam the forest and untold horrors prowl, looking for their next meal—if you’re lucky enough to be just a meal.

Gretchen doesn’t stop as we ride through the night. Moments stretch tight, fear keeping me wide awake. I strain to hear anything amiss in the woods, though the only noises I hear are the steady thudding of the horse’s hooves and our heavy breaths.

The nerves never fade, no matter how far from home we travel.

Why would my momma send me away in the middle of the night? Why is our home on fire? Why wouldn’t she or my dads come with me? The questions continue to flow in my thoughts. What will happen to… my eyes widen in puzzlement as the memory slips from my mind as soon as it comes.

Gretchen pulls back on the reins until we are trotting at a steady pace along the dark paths of the forest. “We should be okay now, Maeven. We’ll keep going until we reach Calen. Then we will see about finding some lodging and food before continuing north. It will take us a week to reach our destination if we travel without delays,” she whispers softly, her melodious voice a sharp contrast between the creaking of the ancient forest.

I tilt my head back to peer up at her, my hood falling back. Even with my eyes adjusted to the dark of the woods, I can only just make out the outline of her face, and her comforting warm frame envelops me. “What’s going on? Why are we going north?” My voice quivers with fear as I’m jostled tiredly around on the trotting horse beneath us.

Her lips form a tight line before she takes a deep breath, softening her features and gazing down at me. “Some bad people attacked, and it’s not safe in Maleen for us anymore. We’re going to play a game, okay? Just like we did back home. From now on you will be known as Ravina Solace, and I’m your aunt collecting you from your late mother—my best friend who passed from illness. No one must know where you really come from. No one. Do you understand?” Her voice is hard but shakes with nerves.

As much as I want to demand she take me back to my family, I nod. “I understand, Auntie Gretchen,” I recite, automatically assuming the name she wants me to call her. “When does the game end?”

She holds me tighter, and her voice cracks. “I don’t know, sweet one. We will keep playing as we’ve played before, as long as we need to. You know what to do.”

My eyes shut and tears begin to flow once again. I will be strong and do as my momma instructed: stay away. Over and over as we ride, whenever I start to sink into sleep, I practice my new name and memorise the rules, and try to ignore my stiffness from being in the saddle longer than I have ever been before. Occasionally the sound of un fae like creatures scream in the distance, but none of them venture near.

We’ve been riding for what feels like hours but my fear has not subsided. My eyes stayed firmly shut for a time, but now, I can’t help but glimpse through my lashes. Every shadow that moves in the corner of my eyes has my heart beating so fast that I’m not sure if it’s the thundering of our horse’s hooves or the blood still pounding in my ears from the screaming. Never having been this deep within the confines of this forest before, I gather what little courage I can muster, can’t help but pushing past the fear and admire the beauty of the trees, with trunks so thick that I wouldn’t be able to wrap my arms around them if there were five of me. We fly by a glowing orange plant at breakneck speed and I nearly crack my neck trying to catch another glimpse of it, but it’s gone, lost to the darkness of the forest.

The noises and creature sounds become a buzzing noise in the back of my head as my eyelids droop with exhaustion from the tragic events of today, and my cheeks grow endlessly wet from tears as I cry myself to sleep over and over, drifting in and out of slumber in Gretchen’s arms.

We break through the brush after hours of riding—the fates must have been looking down upon us, keeping us safe. I am pulled back to my surroundings when the sound of rushing water fills my ears—a massive river flows just ahead of us. Instead of turning like I thought my new auntie would, she continues towards the noise. The deafening thunder of rapids pulls my fear back to the surface and with only the stars and moon lighting our way, a river, its raging rapids silver in the starlight, stretches in front of us. I watch in morbid fascination as a large branch gets pulled in and sucked away from sight—currents so strong it could pull under a fully grown gryphon.

Gretchen clears her throat as she struggles to keep our horse still. “This is Mistwhisper Flow. Once we cross over it, we will officially be in Allondë. There should be a bridge about a—” She cuts off, glancing around nervously. The woods behind us become eerily silent before a branch snaps, and suddenly she lets me go to throw a wall of fire up as giant serpentine creatures slither out of the woods. Next thing I know she’s lunging us forwards, pushing our tired horse into a breakneck gallop. I grasp for the saddle, barely in time to stop myself from falling off. Gretchen’s hand wraps around my waist. “Hold on,” she bellows over the wind as we ride for our lives.

Trying to block out the screaming of the beasts behind us, I focus on what I can see in the distance—torches are alight along the river on both sides, hard to make out with the glint of dawn in the distance. A long stone structure crossing the river must be the bridge, the well worn dirt trail we’re following thankfully leading right towards it.

As I go to peer behind us, Gretchen snaps, her voice full of fear as she yanks me around. “Don’t look back and don’t look them in the eye. They may be young but they can still blind you.” She urges our stumbling steed forwards, throwing more fire behind her as we go, and we don’t slow down again until we thunder across the bridge out of Spirrix and into Allondë—the home of the Elemi, or ’elemental Fae’, and my new home.

CHAPTER ONE

---