“A shift in the wind…”
Okay. Now he is talking like a crazy person.
Still, I listen for the shift. Nothing happens.
I’m about to reprimand him when wind whips through the trees. It almost sounds like whispering—the ghosts of children who’ve long departed this world—and I grab onto Tegwyn’s cloak.
A smile sneaks across his impish face, yellow eyes burning like embers. What does he find so amusing? “What?”
He sniggers. “I just wanted to see the expression on your face. Seldom mortals have ventured this land, and those who have… well, they barely make it out alive.”
My brows knit together. “Land?”
“Look around.”
I do as he says, gasping when I crane my neck to gaze at a towering behemoth of trees.
The forest has changed—giant redwoods have taken the place of pines, their twisting roots stretching across the moss-strewn ground like the limbs of a mighty Kraken.
“Come along, and do mind the tree roots.”
I gaze at him, horrified. “Wherearewe?”
The smug faerie tosses me a conspiratorial glance. “Just follow me,human.”
He steps over the roots with ease, while I trail behind him like the bumbling human I am. I lose him several times, but before the panic has a chance to sink its nasty fangs in, I spy his horned silhouette.
There’s no missing his voice, either. “While we’re young, Ivy.”
I look across at him. He leans against a particularly large root several feet away, tapping at a broken pocket watch. “Do try to keep up. You don’t want to spend too long out here.”
I finally catch up, bending forward to plant my hands on my knees. “And whereishere, exactly?”
Tegwyn points a gloved finger at a glowing square of light in the distance. It’s a window.
“Who lives there?”
“You’ll find out. Watch yourself. It’s a rough establishment. Avoid eye contact with the other patrons, and youmayjust leave with your limbs intact.”
I give a nervous smile. “How reassuring.”
We hover along the edge of a clearing, gazing at a colossal house made from ancient stone. Its thatched roof is covered in moss, and itappears to be sunken on one side. I eye the giant door, the one choked in thorns and poison ivy.
My lip shakes. “Erm… Tegwyn?”
“Yes?” He turns my way, yellow eyes burning.
“What… what kind of people live here?”
He laughs, throwing up his hood, and now his eyes glow beneath the thick cowl. “It’s best you throw yours up, too.”
I take him up on his advice, following him towards the stone building. When we approach the door, we crane our necks.
A gulp bobs down my throat. Now that is one big door…
There are smaller doors fixed inside the larger, and the tiniest has to be as big as my thumbnail.
Tegwyn pushes the door that matches our height and slips inside, letting the sound of raucous voices pool into the night.
