The Secrets of Pimsim Cove - 17. Chapter 17

I couldn’t get out of there quick enough. The stench clung to my clothes. I swear before this trip is over, I’m gonna wind up having to burn these pants. That totally sucked, since my khakis were my favorite pair of pants.

Mental note to self, hit the mall as soon as I’m back in Atlanta. I’m gonna have to do some serious shopping therapy.

Reaching the illusion of the tiny gopher hole, I breathed in a deep breath of air. It was still stagnant from the stinky water in the moat below, but right now, anything was better than the disgusting filth behind me.

“One, two, three…” I leaped for the watery moat, as far as I could, so I only had to swim a foot or two to the other side.

The final rays of sunshine streamed across the sky as the deep purple of night eagerly chased away the fading day. Where had the day gone? Time was slipping away. I had been down in those tunnels too long. I needed to hurry up or I would be stumbling along in the dark very, very, very soon!

Crossing through the wide open meadow, I felt a slow breeze beginning to stir around my shoulders. It was thick and heavy and smelled like the musky forest. I didn’t have to look at the mysterious formation of twisting trees to know that the Forest Fairies were watching me.

I kept my eyes down, judging each step that I took, carefully trying to avoid another bad fall. Continuing along, I passed over the meadow until I heard the loud CRACK of a tree branch splintering into pieces.

Okay, that did it! My head snapped up and I changed direction in an instant. With the sea at my back and the King’s Ring tucked inside my pocket, I felt powerful. There was no way that I was gonna let those monsters intimidate me anymore!

When I looked up, she was standing no more than ten feet away from me. Her stark white skin was pulled tight over her long bony limbs. She stepped towards me, snarling her jagged, sharp teeth and I crouched down closer to the ground and snarled right back.

The Fairy was long and lanky and when she leaped forward, I sprang up and caught her by those twiggy legs, catching her off guard and crashing her back down to the ground. The growl that burst from my throat, echoed through the cool night air.

The creature flailed around on the moist ground. With little more than a bump to my side, I recovered quicker than she did and pounced on top of her, straddling her bony chest in one quick move and pressed my knee against her throat.

Rustling in the trees overhead warned me of the other Fairies’ as they advanced towards me for a second attack.

“Stay back or I’ll kill her!” I shouted without taking my eyes off of hers.

She glanced over my shoulder and hissed into the wind and I heard their footsteps retreating.

“Listen up, ‘cause I’m only gonna tell you this once!” I growled at her loud enough for the rest of her people to hear me too. “I’m sick and tired of you guys trying to eat me every time I turn around. I am not a Triton, but I’m not Human either.” She sniffed at the air and the scents clinging to my skin and clothes. “I’m something entirely different…I’m something new!”

I reeked! Salt water mixed with grass and mud covered my clothes. Fighting the urge to gag, I could still smell of the stinky, horrible stench of the Troll tunnels and the moat water clung to my skin and pores.

“I’ll let go of you, only if you promise to go back to your forest and to never cross over the moat again!” Our eyes were locked on each other as I waited for her answer. She closed her huge blue eyes and nodded her head in surrender.

Cautiously climbing off her chest, I held out my hand to her. She hesitated for a second, but then placed her long bony white fingers inside of my hand and let me help her up to her feet. From across the moat the creatures had looked tall, but now standing so close to her, I could see that they were absolutely towering.

I took a step back and had to tip my head all the way back to see her face. “Good, then we have a deal.” I said while taking another step backwards towards the ocean followed by another, then another. Glancing back at the rest of her people, I narrowed my eyes and coldly told them. “This promise also binds each and every one of you. If you trespass again…you will die!”

The musky breeze retreated with them as they headed back towards their home in the enchanted woods and I headed back towards the water calling to my soul.