Chapter 3

  For Mark, all it took was the blink of an eye. One moment, Nobetu had stood in front of him with his inhuman features, and the next moment, the fae had vanished from where he had stood. Almost like he never existed in the first place.

  For a moment, Mark stood still, his mind and his body conflicting in messages. There is no way that just happened. Where did he go?

  Mark quickly scanned his surroundings for any trace of the Fae, but nothing seemed out of place. The stone steps underfoot looked the same, and the trees had no spooky faces warped into the wood that stared at him as he walked by. Nor did it seem like any animals were watching him; nothing was out of place, other than the lingering fog that made it hard to see through the canopy.

  Before he could panic too much, he stepped back into the crevase, making sure he could see everything in front without anything being able to sneak up behind him. Only when he felt slightly safer, did he let his mind run wild, think, Mark, think. We either had the craziest series of hallucinations that ended up with me wandering into a random forest, or all of that just happened.

  Pulling out his phone from his pocket, he tried to turn it on in vain, only to find that it would not start no matter what he did. Ah shit. I am in so much trouble. Having no way to call someone or reach out for any kind of help, he tucked it back into his jacket’s pocket.

  While he was pretty positive the forest was quite small, Nobetu had mentioned being close to a national park, and if there was one thing Mark didn’t want to do, it would be to wander into one of those. Lots of people died out in the wilderness as they could easily get turned around.

  The path he had come would be the best option for him, but he was a little concerned about the possibility of another creature like Nobetu lurking around the corner, instead of wandering off into the treeline or taking the path back to the car lot. Mark chose the third option.

  While the stone faces were sheer, Mark was still young and strong enough to pull himself up onto the rocky outcropping. Thankful that the gloves he had been given were of high quality, meaning he could safely use the cracks and gaps in the stone to crawl up the surface. This time, the stairs didn’t have any of the eerie feeling or aura that had been present, having left with the fae.

  Only when Mark stood on top of the stone face, and the obscuring fog no longer blocked the sky, did he realize how screwed he was. It was an overcast day, with the clouds far above swirling and passing overhead. Although he could see between the gaps of white. He could see the distant colors of yellow and green, splotches of color surrounded by an ocean of deep blue.

  It was like looking at the surface of another planet, or perhaps the moon, but covering the entire sky. If some god had created a giant mirror and placed it far overhead. For some reason, Mark was looking at another world, one with life. Even with the great wonder hanging above his head, more astonishing was the faint horizon and the land stretching out before him. While slightly blocked by the forest’s foliage, the earth never seemed to stop, and even slowly began to curve upwards; he could even make out where the sky continents seemed to connect to the land he was on.

  Mark couldn’t help but stagger slightly, almost falling off the stone ledge before finding a grip on the rocks below him. It looks like someone rolled the world into a tube. How does that even work? Just from his initial observations, the tube had far more land than Earth had. If the other side of the cylinder were actually ground, the amount of surface area would be tremendously larger than that of the planet Earth and all the other masses in the solar system combined, especially when considering the depth aspect.

  While he was by no means an expert at space stuff, the sci-fi nerd in him called BS. Maybe it’s an illusion? While he hoped this was the correct answer, he doubted it. I have a feeling I am no longer in Kansas, nor Earth, on that note.

  Feeling a bit nauseous, Mark had to look away from the sky; this version of reality just felt too alien. Mark was scared, but he also felt something else. Buried under the fear lingered the tiniest bit of wonder, and strangely enough, excitement.

  #

  It took a while for Mark to begin moving again. While he was normally quite calm and measured, there was only so much a single man could take before he began to struggle. Mark was a man of logic, and nothing here made sense. Magic truly did exist, and he unwittingly wished to be magicked to another world, or for all he knew, a different universe; he hadn’t been very specific.

  It was only when his throat became unbearably dry, and he felt the slight pains of hunger that he was able to distract himself from the impossible situation he had found himself in. Taking a few more calming breaths, Mark mentally marked the direction he should head in, seeing the end of the tree line no more than a mile away, and slowly lowered himself off the rocky steps that had begun all of this.

  Beginning his trek through the misty forest, he began a quick inventory.

  Unfortunately, Mark had not brought much with him, instead choosing to leave it in the limousine, assured that he could leave it in the car by Nobetu. But he doubted that was ever a part of the creature’s plan. For whatever reason, he was brought here, and there was no doubt in his mind that the conversation went the exact way Nobetu had wanted.

  Thinking back on what the receptionist and his travel agent turned fae referenced, many things clicked into place, and Mark felt like hitting himself in the head. He groaned internally at his stupidity. There had been so many hints! Nobetu had never said the owner had the building passed down to him, whoever, or more likely whatever, literally owned it for centuries. Nobetu literally is older than Christopher Columbus!

  Mark couldn’t believe he had laughed it off as a joke. Unfortunately for him, there was no changing the past, or maybe there is? There was that whole one wish thing. Then it dawned on him. Lisa.

  He was told to wish for anything, literally anything, and he wasted it on an ‘adventure.’ Guilt hit him in an overpowering wave; he was a few words from her, and didn’t take the chance. He could have been back home with her, able to hear her laugh in person and not only through the paltry number of recordings. He could have brought Lisa back. Would it still be the same Lisa he knew? Maybe. That was a risk he was willing to take, though.

  Immediately after this realization, Mark turned around, maybe, just maybe, there would be one last wish in the steps. Nobetu had said there was only one that you could make, but despite the likelihood that the opportunity was gone, he had to make sure. While the mistake would haunt him, not double-checking would crush him.

  Despite the hunger beginning to gnaw at his stomach and despite his parched throat that cried out for water, he searched for hours. Going late into the afternoon, so late in fact, that he could tell sunset wasn’t far away–however, that worked in this world. The later it became, the thicker the fog grew. By the time he had finally accepted the steps were gone, he could barely see past the trees a few feet from him.

  There was no explanation for it, but the wish-granting steps had vanished into the misty forest.

  Unable to do much else other than rest on a fallen tree stump, Mark cursed. At first quietly, then louder. His fit lasted several minutes, and despite his best attempts, he felt a knot growing in his throat and his eyes filling with tears.

  Having seen no other living creature in the forest during his entire search, Mark couldn’t bring himself to get off the log, the physical and emotional fatigue hitting him all at once. It was only after his cursing had quieted and the last drops of daylight had vanished that he made a truce with himself and fell asleep, albeit an uneasy sleep.

  #

  “Is it dead?”

  “More importantly, what is it?”

  “Its ears are smooth!”

  “What, no way! Lemmeee seeeeee!”

  Something small struck Mark’s nose.

  He jerked awake with a sharp intake of air, stumbling off the mossy log he had used as a bed. Three tiny voices shrieked in response, sounding like bits of glass shattering against stone.

  Looking all about the forest, there was no one that he could see, only the rays of a gentle sunrise peaking through the canopy. Still a bit confused, Mark nearly had a heart attack when a small face popped up at the edge of his vision, while he would forever attest that what was about to happen did not ever actually occur and was a work of fiction. Mark couldn’t help but let out a small yelp.

  Once again, three small voices also screamed in return. Sounding like an echo of his own.

  Cutting through his panic, a young girl’s voice clearly spoke to him, “Oh, PLEASE stop doing that! Why are you so jumpy! Did your mothers ever explain manners?”

  Before Mark could even begin to formulate a response, one of the other voices from earlier cut in. Quietly, it said, “Well, I mean, we did get a little close.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  There was a very faint thunk, followed by the familiar sound of ringing chimes that filled his surroundings. “Oh, pipe down, Bell. No one likes a party pooper.”

  Realizing where he had once heard the chimes before, when a very specific receptionist had laughed, Mark asked his surroundings, “Is that Shelvanna?”

  There was a brief pause as the voices went completely silent, then a delighted gasp.

  “Oh, you know our sister? How fun! How is she, by the way? I have heard awful things about the realm she migrated to.”

  “...Excuse me?” Mark said, were they talking about Earth?

  “Hey, look at us instead of talking to thin air. Down below,” one of the voices instructed.

  Following the command, Mark looked down, and indeed, there were three glowing orbs of light hovering just above the ground. With his eyes adjusting to the light, he could make out three tiny human shapes, attached to their backs were prismatic wings that shimmered like dust motes in sunlight. Fairies?

  There was only one thing on his mind at that moment. Oh, I have lost it. This cannot be happening. He must be in a padded cell right now, deluding himself with a fake world of his imagination. While on some level, he had registered that everything he knew was wildly incorrect or partially wrong, this was a step too far.

  Even if I am crazy, I should still be polite.

  The miniature women were messing with their hair and clothes, and so Mark waited for the fairies to finish whatever they were doing. Not knowing how to introduce himself to the little creatures, Mark leaned heavily on his Dungeons and Dragons days and just erred on the side of caution. “Hello, ladies, I apologize, but you startled me. My name is-” Never give a fae your name, “Matthew.” While he had already given it to Nobetu, the fewer faefolk that knew his real name the better.

  One of the fairies drifted closer to Mark; Jamie, judging by her voice. She was the one who complained about his manners. Crossing her arms in an exaggerated manner, the little fairy blew a tiny strand of her brown hair out of her eyes. “Matthew? Nice to meet you. Anyways, pleasantries aside, what are you doing here?”

  He was still wary of literally anything in this forest, but these little people didn’t seem like the brightest tools in the shed, especially with the way the other two creatures were poking and prodding at his clothes, and despite his unbelievable situation, Mark felt a flicker of amusement. “I am trying to leave the forest.”

  Jamie blinked and seemed to take offense at his words, “Why?! Are you too good for it? Fairy forests are the most pretty places in existence.”

  Vain, isn’t she? Mark thought, taking a different approach, he continued a bit more carefully. “Of course its absolutely stunning.” To this, Jamie preen, seeing this, Mark continued, “but it is simply too much for my human eyes. I must leave the forest to better appreciate it from afar.”

  Before the talkative fairy could respond, something else happened.

  The other fairies had curiously approached Mark’s ring, attracted by the reflective surface. The two fairies were jostling one another, trying to get a better view of themselves, at least that was until one got too close and brushed her arm against it.

  The fairy screamed, unlike the ones eariler, there was no magic to it, only agony. A thin wisp of smoke drifted up from where she had come into contact with the metal.

  Mark froze. Shit, it’s Iron! Faries are a type of faefolk.

  Instantly, the atmosphere shifted into that of fear. Jamie, the most talkative of the fairies, zipped out of his range, as did the other two. Although the one that had been burnt moved just a bit slower than the other two.

  Able to make out what the creatures were saying, Mark heard them muttering about the “Cursed metal,” which could only mean the ring. Raising his hands slowly, the fairies ducked around a tree, no longer willing to come close. Taking off the iron band, he slipped it into a pocket on his muddied jacket and made sure it was zipped up. “It’s okay,” he murmured. Then he moved his hands away from his pocket.

  With the fairies peaking around the tree, he watched as the little creatures once again approached, but this time more hesitantly. Jamie had returned to hovering in front of him, but this time, he could see the wariness in her body.

  Posture stiff, she pointed in a direction, voice wavering, “The forest ends over there; we don’t want you here anymore.” Shivering slightly, she gave a resolute nod and disappeared into the forest’s foliage.

  With the last flicker of fairy lights fading into the foliage, Mark was once again alone.

  There is no way I imagined that. The weight of what just happened slammed into him: the glowing fairies, the iron burns, the chimes of childlike laughter. It was real, all of it.

  Rubbing his tired face with both hands, he tried to steady himself. The most important thing to do when in an unknown place is to stay calm. Panic kills.

  Mark looked in the direction that Jamie had pointed, and without a better option, he decided to have some faith in the fairy’s directions. If not out of hope, out of the assurance that the ring had scared her too much to lie.

  Walking in that direction for several minutes, he had just begun to grow doubtful, but just another minute later, the forest thinned, and the shadows began to lighten with the sun rising overhead. Or is it passing by? Rather than dwell on the manner in which the sun moved in this world, he quickened his pace, anxious to get out of the forest that was slowly lightening with the day.

  A minute later, Mark came across a dirt path, not unlike the one he had taken to the Feentreppe. With it going the same way as the fairy had pointed out, Mark decided to walk along its edge. Walking along the edge of the cleared treeline rather than directly in its center. It may be a bit paranoid of him, but Mark was in a world of magic and fantasy, and he felt his concern was justified.

  As he continued along the path, the trodden-down earth widened, large enough for a two-way road. Feeling more at ease now that he was further out of the forest, and could see the end of the trees, Mark realized that the chirping of birds had returned, unfamiliar birds but life other than himself.

  He was so focused on the return of the wildlife that he didn’t notice the old man until a cane tapped the ground gently.

  Standing a mere few feet away from Mark, the man was leaning quite heavily on a polished wooden cane. He was wearing a robe, and his beard was long but still neatly groomed. The man’s face was full of wrinkles and creases that could only be made by smiling and laughter, although at the moment his face was serious, and his piercing blue eyes were fixed on Mark’s hand, more specifically, the ring.

  Considering Mark’s luck with strangers in the last few days, he cautiously approached the waiting man, but stayed out of both arms and canes' reach.

  The man’s eyes never left Mark’s ring, but his expression tightened in awareness that many reserved for only the most dangerous of weapons, “Either put that away,” his voice calm yet firm, “or put your hands into your pocket. It makes the trees nervous.”

  Mark blinked, the request catching him offguard, “The trees?”

  Nodding, the older man glanced at the trees lining the road. “All trees have eyes and ears. Although few can share their hoards of knowledge, many do not have mouths, though, so do not be concerned.”

  Despite the older man’s assurance, Mark would likely never walk through a forest the same way again, nor would he feel comfortable going about his ‘business’ in a random bush anymore. Although I do not intend to make that a habit. One way or another.

  “Ah!” The man exclaimed, “I am terribly sorry I forgot to introduce myself; everyone around here knows me as Billy the Wizard. Who may you be?” Bowing his head slightly, the self-proclaimed wizard grinned a little as he said his name.

  Understanding the game that ‘Billy’ was getting at, Mark responded similarly, “My name is Matthew Solomon. I am a newcomer to these parts.”

  “Apparently so…” Billy muttered to himself before clearing his throat and speaking louder, “Well, we'd better be off then! Now that you arrived, we can finally make progress.” Knees crackling with age, Billy began to hobble at an oddly fast pace for a man his age.

  Yet the ‘wizard’s words made Mark pause. “Were you expecting me?” His voice was full of wariness. It was obvious he was ready to run if need be.

  An incredulous look passed over the old man’s face, “Well, of course! Isn’t that what I just said? I was told to come here by some friends and wait for an unusually dressed man.” Looking Mark up and down, he continued, “Which you are.”

  “Are your friend’s a Fae?” Mark asked, while he had seen no sign of Nobetu, who knows what the creature could do, he was a magical being afterall.

  “No, just some random who dabbles in a bit too much foresight magicks.” Billy whispered conspiratorially, “I think it’s made her a bit mind addled if you get what I mean.” Once again, he wheeled back around, “Anyways, let us get going, I want to get back to town tonight. A hot meal would be a lovely way to finish off the night.”

  Despite the possible consequences, Mark’s stomach growled in agreement.

  #

  Thinking back to what his temporary walking companion had said about the trees, curiosity got the better of Mark, and considering what the iron ring had done to both Nobetu and the forest fairy, he decided to ask, “Why does my ring make them uncomfortable? Earlier, the fairies I met called it cursed metal.”

  “Ah, so you didn’t know.” Billy turned back to the road, “Iron cannot be found in Fairyland; its special property is completely at odds with the magicks that hold this entire world together. That metal in particular stabilizes the world, makes the ‘natural’ laws harder to break or bend.” Once again, the wizard glanced at where it was hidden beneath Mark’s jacket, “It’s a wonder that you could be brought here while wearing it. This Fae you met must have been quite powerful. How curious.”

  Considering the opportunity to get answers more valuable than subtly, Mark asked something he had been thinking about. “If my wish was what brought me here, then why am I not in a utopia? You told me that the fae that brought me here had to follow the Rules of Word.”

  The old man chuckled at that, “Ah, yes, but you would find that he did follow the Rules of Word. You asked for an adventure, are you not on one right now? You asked for a utopia. Well, many people find Fairyland to be a utopia.” No longer strolling, the wizard turned to Mark, “A fae’s power over words is binding, but to both parties. You would find that this ‘Nobetu’ did follow through with the agreement you unknowingly had with him. He must follow the law of words, not the law of intent. You would do well to know the difference.”

  If this really was my Utopia, then Lisa would be here with me, enjoying this with me.

  The conversation once again had a lull, and the rhythmic thudding of the mage’s cane against the dirt road attracted a moment of Mark’s attention. I thought wizards had staffs? Despite the thought, he internalized the question, spending some time looking around at the world around him.

  Whether he liked it or not, he would be here for the foreseeable future, and truthfully? He felt a bit excited about that. It’s not like he left too much behind on Earth, and he did come searching for an adventure. Maybe Lisa would forgive him if he did this. She would have wanted him to enjoy it for her.

  Noticing that the old man had managed to put some distance between the pair, Mark cursed internally. Somehow, he was struggling to keep up with the stride of the elderly man.