Beside the pixies were sprites. They were very similar to Fortune Fairies, as they appeared to be small balls of glowing light, but if you looked closely, you could see the outline of small people with pointed ears and insect wings glimmering in the sparkle of the halo they created. The sprites made music as they bounced above the gardens, sprinkling fairy dust onto plants. The minute the fairy dust touched the flowers, they sprouted to tremendous heights, the average flowers sprouting up to the heavens until they were taller than houses.
“I didn’t realize these beings still existed, even here,” I stated. “I was told by my professors that they died out years ago.”
They have always lived here in the Great Hunting Grounds,Milonna told me.But now that the portal to Edinmyre is open, these creatures may travel between Edinmyre and Earth freely.
These types of faekin had been considered extinct on Earth, but now, they could go there to flourish. What a wonderful thing.
Among the pixies and the sprites, butterflies of all kinds fluttered in marvelous kaleidoscopes, so many that they flooded the air around us. The butterflies nestled in my hair and landed on my dress, cloaking me in an array of wings.
As I flourished in the sunlight, a sprite flew over me, shaking fairy dust over my form. At her magic, my clothes changed. The armor I’d been wearing melted away into a pale blue dress the color of ice, with a handkerchief skirt and fluttering sleeves made of gossamer. I felt my wings appear, and wolf ears appear on my head as my bushy tail skimmed the edge of the tall grass behind me.
In the Great Hunting Grounds there were stone ruins of all kinds, crumbling monuments and beautiful archways overgrown with thorns and roses. Everything here seemed ancient and timeless. There was no decay that didn’t have an element of beauty to it. The very air smelled sweet, and the temperature was neither too warm, nor too cold.
I realized that here, the aches that usually permeated my body were absent. I barely had time to marvel for a moment before Milonna smiled and said,Yes, Emma. There is no illness here. You are cured. You may never worry about your illness again.
The immense gravity of her words pressed against my spirit and nearly made me weep. I was healthy, free of my Earthly burdens. Despite what my illness had put me through during my mortal life, that was over now. I could finally rest—reallyrest, without any sort of agony— and be at peace. To think that I never had to consider another treatment, take another pill, worry about my body… ever again… was tremendous. I wanted to fall to my knees and thank Milonna for this gift, but she tugged on my hand, and led me onward.
“Where are we going?” I dared to ask.
Inward, to the Great Hunting Fields, the part of the Grounds reserved for the highest among fae, Milonna said.It is there we will celebrate your victory.
I could hardly believe Milonna wanted me to be part of herBrygada, no matter what I’d done, but I didn’t question her. On the horizon were buildings. Milonna drifted upward, and I fluttered my wings so we could fly together.
We approached the buildings, until I realized that they weren’t really buildings at all, but mushrooms. The mushrooms were absolutely gigantic, and were an array of different colors, with dots spotting their tops. My eyes widened as I took in the sight of other fae, sorceresses and shifters who’d lived and died. They roamed among the giant mushrooms, going in and out of wooden doors that had been built into their sides.
“What are those?” I asked curiously.
Illusion rooms, Milonna told me.Would you like to observe?
I nodded. We floated downward, and I let go of Milonna’s hand as I faced a masie purple mushroom with pink dots on its cap. The wooden door built into the side of the mushroom was carved with dozens of elaborate illustrations of sorceresses lounging beside shifters near a winding river. It was the most lovely art I’d ever observed, more fine than anything I’d seen on Earth.
You may create anything you wish here, Milonna told me.Merely open the door, and it will appear for you.
I put my hand on the doorknob, pondering what I could create. I wasn’t sure what I could fashion, so I set my intention on the room creating what I needed the most.
When I walked into the room, colorful images began playing around me. It was like I was caught up in one big movie screen as scenes from my life flashed before my eyes. I watched as I arrived in Malovia, and met Odette at the train station. I observed as Kiara and I saved Alexei from thetarinticulaand as Delmare and I laughed in the cafeteria. Arthur took my hand and fought beside me, and Tygrys rubbed his tiny face against my cheek. Ethan kissed me underneath the clocktower, and I finished my long program at the Eastern European championships to a standing ovation. The crown was placed atop my head, and I walked down the aisle to take Ethan as my husband.
All happy memories. All some of the most profound moments of my life, some mundane, others, tremendous.
I watched the images and smiled. My life had been so short, but what I’d done mattered. Although I’d died young, it hadn’t been a waste. I’d fulfilled my purpose. Now, my spirit could linger on in peace.
The images changed, until I saw myself as a baby. My mother held me, smiling as she turned in circles around the room. I gave a childish giggle, one that reminded me so much of Kalina.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadowy figure. It looked like some sort of deer, but as I attempted to peer closer, the figure vanished.
Once she disappeared, the images around me vanished also. I left the room, pondering everything I’d seen.
Milonna watched me carefully, and we began walking through the mushroom patch.Did you find what you desired?
“Yes,” I told her. “My life was one hell of a ride. And I didn’t regret a single moment of it.”
Not even my death.
As we left the mushrooms behind us, Milonna took to the sky again. I beat my wings to catch up to her, and found that she was leading me toward a forest. The trees continued to get larger and larger, until they were the size of skyscrapers, ivy and moss climbing up the bark of the beautiful behemoths.
Through the trees, I saw the shapes of massive animals roaming the Grounds— monsters. I didn’t think they existed here. I caught sight of theawlyawe’d killed in the pursuit of the dragon stone. The owl-like creature was chasing after a wolven shifter below. I called out a warning to the shifter below, to tell him to watch out.
Theawlyatackled the wolven shifter, and they went rolling. They tumbled into each other, wrestling around. I thought for sure the wolven shifter would lose, until I realized they wereplaying.The screeches of the owl monster were pleasant, while the wolven shifter laughed.
