Stig, a strong and fearless hunter, is still mourning over the loss of Lif, his fairy friend. All he knows, is that she has asked him to be the protector over of the Elder Forest. Grief stricken, he doesn’t know what to do with himself, let alone, take care of the forest. One fateful night, as he is reliving the moments leading up to Lif’s death, something mysterious comes to the forest. He can’t help but to feel a small glimpse of hope as he runs towards this strange light.

Chapter 1: Hope is Renewed

“ Take good care of the forest Stig.”

Lif’s body was exhausted from the battle, I could feel it growing limp by the second as I tried to hold her from falling into the ravine.

What had just happened? One minute we were strolling in the midnight, next we were attacked. Where had that demon come from. Thankfully, Lif’s power struck the demon back to the pits of Hell where it came from.

My arms grew exhausted. Blood was dripping from my forehead. We had both taken a lot of damage. Lif’s dress was stained in blood. Whether it was her own or mine or both, it was hard to tell at the moment. I gripped the side of the cliff with one hand, holding Lif with the other. She was at the point of passing out from the looks of it. My grip no longer was able to get a good hold on her small delicate hand. I tried to think of something, anything.

“Don’t talk like that, hold on, we can make it,” I said trying to convince myself. Lif smiled at me the way she always did. She gazed up at the moon.

“Ohh my Stig, look up, is not the moon lovely tonight?”

I glanced up at the moon, saying a quick prayer to the gods to get us out of this situation. I looked back at Lif, wanting to tell her we could make it through this. If we were going to die, then we should do it together.

Lif looked back at me as if knowing what I was thinking.

“I am sorry,” Lif cried as the moonlight glimmered in her tear filled eyes. Just then, I felt just the smallest nudge of her fingers being released from my grasp and she fell towards her death. Her eyes closing in acceptance as she plunged downward into the ravine.

I jumped up screaming in agony. Every night I relive this nightmare in time. Each night, screaming as if the volume of my voice will bring her back from the dead somehow.

I felt the tears softly slide down my cheek. It was one year ago and yet, it felt as if it happened yesterday.

I slowly rose from the bed, adjusting my eyes to the darkness of the cabin. The cot which Lif slept upon was flooded in moonlight. The moon reminded me of her. It’s light and mysterious beauty.

Lif loved the moon, and we would often stroll around the forest at night and stargaze. She would often say, “ Doesn’t the moon look lovely tonight?”

I had always wanted to tell her that the moon did not compare to how lovely she was. I never told her this. How could I? A human in love with a fairy. Such things were taboo in the human world.

Fairies were beautiful but powerful creatures, that in the past had fought against humans who, invaded this land. Lif would tell me about the great battles that her grandparents endured when humans first came to live in the land of Pandias. So much life was lost, and not just human or fairy lives, but the lives of the animals and plants who called this place their home. By the end of the Great Fairy War, the land was decimated. Human kind and Fairy kind finally realized the destruction they had caused and called a truce, lest the land be completely decimated. The land was divided, Fairies were appointed roles to help recover the land and regrow the forests and to bring back life upon the land. The fairies decided to live in the clouds upon the floating islands of Verishic, away from human kind. After decades, fairies eventually became considered myths and legends as the books written about them were burned under the treaty guidelines between the King Fairy Urok and King Theous. Lif was fond of telling me the stories of her people, and I was was fond of the stories. I had learned so much about the past, just from our nightly patrols through the forest.

Lif had been appointed as the great protector of the Elder Forest by her father. She was wise, kind, and gentle. Her love of all living things was one of the things that I loved and cherished about her. Her powers were great, but her kindness and humility was much more. She spent her days caring for the forest and its inhabitants. The forest thrived under her meticulous care, I often would observe and admire her work from afar as her beauty and light touched each life in the forest.

Just then, I began to feel the heartache in my chest. Remembering our last morning together. Lif smiling and laughing from the tickle of the early morning dew on her bare feet as we waded across the meadow. Waving her hands as if orchestrating a symphony, she brought forth flowers from the earth. Fairy dust swirled from her fingertips, flooding the forest in a wave of beauty. Every time, I would be in awe, gazing at her bringing forth life and beauty that flourished throughout the forest. We had walked through the forest that morning, picking flowers, tending to the creatures, and tracking an unfamiliar foot print that we had found at the river.

Whatever creature had made it, was one that was large, had a long stride, and had fearsome talons. There was no such creature in the human world. Lif’s face of concern told me it was something of magical in nature. At the time, I was to caught up in tracking to actually pay attention to the situation at large. I was wanting to prove myself to Lif as someone useful. I had learned to forage, track, and hunt at a young age. Lif often put me in charge of procuring food as well as cooking. Lif would always join me as we foraged for food, although she never really could get the hang of cooking, she was a clutz in the kitchen and couldn’t be left to even cook a mere egg by herself. I chuckled at the memory of her attempt to boil an egg. She had trouble using the stove and thus decided to use her magic to heat the water to a boil. However, the heat was to much and ended up exploding the eggs. Yolk and eggshells were every where. Lif held the pot looking up at the ceiling embarrassed. I had let out the biggest laugh I had ever had. She began to giggle and we both laughed until we cried as we picked up eggs from every nook and crevasse in the cabin.

I made my way to the stove, perhaps a cup of tea would ease this heartache. Other than drinking my heart to oblivion, what else could I do? I had no interest in booze. My father had cured me of that addiction before I was even old enough to drink. His drunken induced episodes left me little attraction to alcohol as well as the side effects that came with them. I had a scar across my chest to prove that the anger induced fits were not worth the short lived numbness that came with drinking. I hated the stuff. However, it was partly the reason, I ended up in the Elder forest of all places, meeting Lif.

I had been given a job by old man Vulcan at the tavern in the village of Ranoa where I grew up. He had known of me since I was a young child and often would try to keep my father from going off the deep end with his liquor. I had been assigned to deliver some special exotic liquor to a tavern a few villages over. I was physically fit, adept with a bow and axe, and was told on several occasions that my strength was almost super human. I could carry an entire deer, horse, or cattle on my back with little to no issue. I had always been the go to in the village when it came to hunting and or lifting heavy items. It was a gift but also at the same time, a burden. I had been happy at the time to have a few days of freedom in nature as I traveled to Zener. I had bought my trusty mare to carry the liquor, her name was ZheZhe. She had been my mother’s horse that my father had lost in a gambling match after I was born. I had worked hard on a farm in order to buy her back from farmer Jezphiah. He had turned her into a work horse, which she was not accustomed too. She had been in poor shape when I bought her back from the farm. I nursed her back to health and she became my trusted companion on my journeys.

When I look back on my childhood, I can barely remember it now, all of my fondest memories have been here with Lif. My mother had died during my birth, causing my father to drown his grief in drink and pay little to no attention to me. If not for the house maid, Renea, I would have never made it past the age of 5. She took on that mother role, raised me the best she could, and made sure I was looked after until I was able to start doing for myself. She even taught me how to cook so that I could always do for myself and others. However, after a drunken fit by my father, that ended up with Renea having a black eye, she was dismissed. I would never see her again after that day. At times, I do wonder what came of her and if her life was happy.

The teapot began whistling on the stove, pulling me from my thoughts. I poured a cup and sat staring into the dark shadows of the small quaint cabin, letting the steam from the tea warm my face. It hadn’t changed since the day I had first step foot in the place. The furniture, albeit a bit dusty, was in the same place. Lif’s cloak and hat stood on the rack in the entry way as it always had. Even the flowers we had picked the morning of, lay petrified beside the end table of her bed. I didn’t have the heart to dispose of the last remaining remnants of her.

I closed my eyes, remembering her, allowing her memories to flush through my brain, filling the crevasses of my empty heart.

Remembering her long silver hair that glistened in the moonlight, her blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled. Her demeanor was that of a teenage girl, but her heart and soul was that of someone who had lived on this earth for quite some time. Her wing was gorgeously ornate with patterns of leaf veins that glittered when she flapped it. She had damaged her right wing during a battle with a demon, so she was unable to fly like most fairies did. She said that because of this, she was no longer allowed to visit the place of her people. Apparently her homeland was nestled in a floating islands that was far from human and demon reach. She would speak of its beauty, with trees that were magically bended to become buildings and homes, so often they would be adorned with flowers and ornate fauna. She had told me several stories of her childhood. I would listen intently, grinning when she would remember something funny or embarrassing and let out a sweet giggle. Covering her mouth with her small hand as if to hide her smile.

All of these memories of Lif, it felt overwhelming on my chest. I felt like I was being suffocated from grief. I walked outside, hoping to relieve myself by taking in a breath of fresh air, I stared out into the wilderness of the forest. It was quiet, unlike the nights whenever Lif was here. At times, I felt that the forest itself was mourning. Even some of the oldest trees in the forest had started dying.

The truth was, I didn’t know how to even go about taking care of the forest in her absence. What could a human do?

Just then, a beam light jilted across the forest. The beam of light radiated throughout, extinguishing the darkness . What was this I wondered. I grabbed my axe and raced towards where I had seen the light fall. For a moment, and for the first time in a long time, I felt hope.

Continue to Chapter 2